4 Tools To Help With Medication Management

Two things that are true at the same time:

1. I take multiple medications a day.

2. I have issues with my memory.

As such, I’ve had trouble making sure I’m taking my meds. I’ve experimented with a few different ways of tracking if I’ve taken my meds so I don’t miss one or accidentally double dose (in case I can’t remember whether I took it or not), and I wanted to share some medicine tracking methods with you.

Before we get into it, I will say that often times the best solution (for me at least) is to use multiple methods to make sure I’m taking my meds. I’ll talk more about that at the end of the post.

Use a Pill Box (or Two)

This is the most old school way of tracking your meds. You fill it up for a certain amount of time in the future and you take your meds when it’s appropriate.

Pros:

• know you’re taking all of your pills

• awareness of how much of your meds you have left

• easy to tell if you have or haven’t taken your pills

• saves time when you’re taking it

• great if you take certain meds on certain days

• gets pill bottles off your counter

Cons:

• can only organize pills and not other treatments

• requires prep work of filling the box

• may need more than one

• might need a complex system if you take meds multiple times a day

• doesn’t remind you that you need to take your meds, just shows whether you did or not

When I’ve found pill boxes helpful:

• when my fibro-fog is especially bad and I’m struggling to remember if I’ve taken my meds already (or remembering to take them in the first place)

• when I’ve had a lot of meds to keep track of because it means I have less to think about day-to-day

• when I’m good about re-filling them weekly

Use an App

There are tons of apps out there that can remind you to take your meds and track what meds you’ve taken when. This can be really helpful if you have trouble remembering to take your meds or have meds you take sporadically that you want to track.

Cons:

• reminders are easy to ignore

• reminders can be annoying

• can mark meds as taken when they haven’t been, causing confusion

• requires use of a smart phone

• annoying if your meds change often

Pros:

• free!

• will remind you to take your meds

• will help you remember which meds to take when

• allows you to track as-needed meds

• some will give you refill reminders

• can enter other treatments as meds to track

When I’ve found apps helpful:

• when I’m having trouble remembering to take my meds

• when I’m having to take medicine I usually don’t

• when I’m taking as-needed medicine and need to know when I’ve taken doses so I know when to take the next one

Pill Bottle Stickers

This is something new I recently discovered that I’m currently trying out. These are stickers you put on the side of your pill bottle. When you take your meds, you pull the tab off of the sticker for that day.

Pros:

• can keep your pills in the bottle

• can easily see if you’ve taken your meds

• come in multiple time options

• low effort (as opposed to sorting pills into a pill box)

• can be used for medications other than pills

Cons:

• pills stay in bottle

• not eco friendly

• does require purchasing (and re-purchasing)

• doesn’t remind you to take your meds

• less awareness of how many meds you have left

• only really useful for regularly taken meds

Why I’m trying pill bottle stickers:

• I want to see if I find the stickers easier than re-filling a pill box weekly (even though aesthetically I prefer a pill box over pill bottles)

• I need accountability

• I want to get used to a method before I have my next flare up so it’s already a habit

Pill Bottle Trackers

These can be either things you put around a pill bottle, attach to the lid, or a replacement lid you use. These are good if you only take 1-2 medications or if you need to frequently reference the last time you took your medication.

Pros:

• easy set up, little upkeep

• multiple options

• pills stay in their bottles

Cons:

• not cost-effective if you take a lot of different medications

• not all are easy to read

• only work on pill bottles

• possible that your tracker of choice won’t work with all your meds

• requires pills to stay in the bottles

• don’t remind you to take your meds

Why These Don’t Work For Me:

• I take too many meds for this to be cost-effective

• I feel like this would be too finicky for me to continually use

So, What’s My System?

My system changes based on my needs.

My current system (non-flaring) is to use the pill bottle stickers because I’m remembering to take my meds on my own but I still want to have that back up in case I do have a day where I forget (or if I forget if I have taken my meds so I don’t double dose). I like the stickers because I can put one on my inhaler.

If I’m having a flare up of my fibromyalgia and my brain is working less well, I’ll use an app to remind me to take my meds and I’ll use a pill box so I know I’ve taken all the pills I’m supposed to. I don’t know that the pill bottle stickers would work as well because then I’ll have to really focus to make sure I take all the ones I’m supposed to.

And, finally, what’s your system?

Do you use something I mentioned in this post? Do you use something I didn’t mention? Do you use more than one method? Let me know in the comments!