Juggling Medication

For those of you who take medication, it can be a nuisance to fit them into your schedule, right?  Some interact with each other, so you have to be sure to take those hours apart, while others have to be taken with food, and still others on an empty stomach.  Then there are the meds you have to take first thing in the morning, before anything else hits your stomach.  A few medications, okay, but when you're taking 10, 20, or even 30 pills, powders and potions a day, it can get a bit frustrating, to say the least.  

My husband has gotten into the habit of asking me when I can eat.  I'm on one medication which surrounds all food to help it digest properly.  I have to take it with each meal.  The problem is that it also surrounds vitamins, minerals and other medications, too, possibly reducing their effectiveness.  So, I have to take my medications spaced apart all throughout the day, to make sure it doesn't have a run-in with that particular medication.  Such fun.  One pharmacist told me that it's bad enough when patients have to take one dose of that "surrounding" medication, let alone three per day.  They and my doctors who see my medication list tell me to do the best I can. 

How do you manage your medications?  Do you keep a journal, have a pill keeper, or commit your medication schedule to memory?  I use a pill keeper, which seems to empty out pretty quickly.  Before I know it, I'm sitting at the kitchen table filling it back up again.  It's not that big a deal, really, to fill it, but it's just that it takes time away from the things I'd rather be doing, like reading, exercising, writing my blog posts, and spending time with my husband and furbabies.  

Living your life on your own terms is important.  Don't be a prisoner to your medication schedule.  If you are feeling overwhelmed, wondering how you're possibly going to fit all your medication into your day, seek out some help.  Your pharmacist can tell you which medications may interact with each other or certain foods. You can also ask him to devise a medication schedule for you, so you're sure you're taking them properly.  

Good luck!  Keep in touch.  :-)