Skipping Doses
Your first step is to identify why you’re not taking your medicine. Most people skip doses because they either cause unpleasant side effects; they’re confused about how and when to take them or they just plain forget; they can’t afford them; or they don’t think they need to continue taking them if they start feeling better. Depending on your reasons, here are some tips that may help.
Side Effects
If unpleasant side effects are causing you to balk on your meds, talk to your doctor. They may be able to prescribe a substitute, change your dosage, or give you a brief supervised break to see if your symptoms disappear.
Confused or Forgetful
If confusion or forgetfulness is the problem, some simple suggestions that can help you stay on track include:
• Keep medicines in a place you’ll notice them like your bedside stand or kitchen counter. But don’t keep them in the bathroom medicine cabinet where they’re exposed to damaging humidity and heat.
• Take medicines at the same time each day – if possible. To help you remember, try linking your medicine to something you do regularly like brushing your teeth or eating lunch.
• Keep a written schedule or checklist of the pills you take and how often to take them.
• Use calendars, pillboxes or medication timers (see www.epill.com) as reminders, and to keep organized.
• Put reminder post-it notes around the house (on the refrigerator, by the phone, etc.), or get a friend or relative to call and remind you.
• Try out a savvy new service called DailyMed (www.dailymedrx.com). A pharmacy dispensing system that sorts and organizes monthly prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and even vitamins into single-dose packets making it easy to take the right medication at the right time of day.
I Feel Fine
Some patients may not understand why they’re on a medication, and why they need to stay on it, even if they feel fine. If you fit into this category, your doctor can help by reminding you why you’re on a particular drug and how long you need to take it. Another tip is to monitor your condition. If you take medication for hypertension, for example, checking your blood-pressure regularly with a home monitor can help motivate you to continue taking your medication.
Too Expensive
If you can’t afford your prescriptions, again, talk to your doctor. They may be able to switch you to a cheaper alternative or generic drug, or give her free samples of the drug. Also ask about cutting your pills in half. Pill splitting allows you to get two months’ worth of medicine for the price of one, but not all pills can be split. And depending on your income level, you may be able to get help through Medicare’s’ extra help program, pharmaceutical patient assistance programs (see www.rxassist.org and www.pparx.org), state pharmacy assistance programs, or national and local charitable programs. To find out if you’re eligible for these programs visit www.benefitscheckuprx.org. Also see www.needymeds.com.
Savvy Tips: If you have questions or concerns about the medications you’re taking, gather up all your pill bottles (include all prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements) and take them to your primary physician or pharmacist for a drug review. Web sites like www.drugdigest.org or www.medlineplus.gov are also great resources for finding out medication information. And always remember to use the same pharmacy or one pharmacy chain to get your prescriptions. Pharmacy computer systems can automatically flag any potential drug interaction problems.
