Taking Rx at different time of day

mama, I take four pills with my evening meal every day, irregardless of the instructions. Why? Because otherwise, I'll probably miss taking some pill every day. This way, I'm assured that they'll be taken 97.5 percent of the time. (Gotta leave some leeway for the times I forget.) We don't drink grapefruit juice, so I'm safe there. It works out pretty good - for me. c.i.

That's how I do it, too, except I do it in the morning. I love grapefruit, so that's why I found out about it. There are some meds you have to be careful about, however. One of mine made me photosensitive. And my son sure comes in handy. I knew there was a reason for all that education!

My wife's a nurse, and she has those Drug Manual she refers to. They're pretty handy. c.i.

They have more info than I ever wanted to know! I'm fortunate in having doctors I can talk to and ask questions of, friends who are nurses, and a medical condition that gives me all these questions to ask. Who could ask for more?

One drawback for me with the evening dose was if we went out to dinner it became a real nuisance.

Ain't we got fun!

mama, I've taken my pills for a dinner outing to find them still intact in my plastic container when I got home. LOL c.i.

I have a big box with separators, where I dump all my medications, vitamins, supplements etc. I take everything right after breakfast. The stuff that I take only as needed, I keep in their bottles.

And then there's this. When traveling, I take along all my pills, in their bottles, in a plastic bag. In the morning, I line them up and take them. Done for the day. I had one that said morning and night, but my doctor said take them both at the same time. When I was first on meds, I used to try following every instruction carefully. Wine, no wine, before food, after food, no food. Inner clock. (I'm very much a night person, so did that apply?)

Now enough time has elapsed so I see I can have that occasional glass of wine, observe my own time table. I take my meds, don't resent them, they've become a habit - life is good.

mama, I had to smile about the "wine, no wine" instructions, because I have never followed them, and never will. c.i.

Mamma:

Most MDs know little about drug metabolism. For information, you should consult a pharmacist, since pharmacists study drug metabolism and side/effects for 1-2 years in pharmacy school.

AND: It does matter when you take the drugs. It also matters if you take them with food or liquid and mixing drugs together for convenience is not a good route to take. To avoid side effects and most importantly drug-drug interaction, you must consult a pharmacist and you should consult the little handout you receive with your medications.

I might add, RNs know as little, if not less, about drugs than do MDs.

Meds
I over see, my wifes medication. For handy references, I would recommend the PDR (Physicians Desk Reference and the Merk Manual)

Always follow the prescribed instructions for taking the medicine. We use three, seven day four times a day pill caddies.

When we travel, I always make sure that the pill caddies are full. We bring along all of the rest of the medicine, if our trip is longer than three weeks.

I would highly recommend, not taking pills directly out of the bottles, but start using pill caddies. The chance of mis-medicating yourself is less likely, especially as your need for taking more and more medicines, increases.

Get in the habit, of learning to handle your medication in a safe and efficient manner.

To prove a point, my wife takes thirteen types of medicine, for seven major deseases, including phenobarital for siezures and Morphine for pain. Her PTSD drugs include Fluvoxamine, Clonazepam, and Trazadone. Lansoprazole for GERD, Potassium Chloride for low Potassium levels, Fludrocortsone for low blood pressure, and Nitroglycerine for Unstable Angina. Add in Chronic Bladder infections and UTI's and Fosomax for Osteoporosis, and one can see, that we could make a career out of just overseeing her medication.

ferrous:

Your advice is absolutely correct.

By the way, since your wife takes so many meds, does she ever have stomach problems?

Taking your medicines at various times is one way of minimising side effects. I'm new to this taking medications business, and found I was quite disabled by side effects. As I spent several years in a previous life advising people on taking their meds., for one of the big pharmaceutical companies, I decided to take my own advice and experiment.

Of course, those that can affect the gut should always be taken with food, but most others are not quite so important regarding food. There are really very few that interact with alcohol, despite the warnings. Unfortunately, I'm taking one of them now, for a week

I've found that changing the time I take them did have significant effect on my functioning. I found overhelming tiredness and difficulty concentrating (not a good thing driving in Sydney traffic) when I take my pills though the morning.

I'm still struggling with some side effects, although this combination is working well medically.

ferrous, Boy, your wife's 13 types of pill is the most I've learned from all the people I have met. The general guideline that usually works for most is one pill for every decade of life - for people in relative good health. I take 3 prescription pills and 1 baby aspirin every day. I missed too many pills when I tried to follow a daily regimen of taking a different pill at different times of the day. What works for me is to take all four pills at dinner time. Your rommendation to follow the instructions you get with the pills is a good one, but it just doesn't work for me. c.i.

New Haven - as I said, I do what works for me. I have been on meds for quite a time. And yes, my pharmacist is quite well versed, and yes, I do talk to her. But I find that my doctors are also quite well versed in the interactions of meds, and will look up what they don't know. (And they have told me they've found that mostly the different reps who come have some basic knowledge of what they're pushing, but not much else They feel, also, that sometimes older meds are just as effective as newer ones, and the reactions to them are well known.)

So it comes down to what and who you trust. As I said, I only know what works for me. It seems to me that if you suffer any side effects, you discuss this with your doctor, who prescribed in the first place. Dosages get changed, as do meds. I, for instance, take more than CI, and they were prescribed with an eye for balance and what works with what I have. But they were also prescribed for my lifestyle. And this is something I discussed with them. Another important part of this is that, if you use more than one doctor, each should be aware of all prescriptions plus the whys and whereefores.

Different things work for different people. Like CI, I drink my wine, take my pills, get checked regularly, feel free to talk to my doctors, have the feeling that many times nurses do know more about a lot of things...but each must find his own way.

So it goes.

The medical student take 8 weeks of pharmacology in medical school, while the pharmacy student take 1 year of pharmacology, 1 year of medicinal chemistry, and one year of therapeutics.

I also teach pharmacology as well as do research in the field.

Ferrous<

I found much sound wisdom in your post. Thank you very much for sharing with us re: your wife's drugs. Quite helpful.

Ferrous, I bought those weekly med holders with one week to four weeks, but they just don't work for me. I tried and tried, but I'm a great failure at too many fixed schedules for every day. I have that type of personality that doesn't like fixed habits. I've even seen med holders with clock alarms on them. After all these years, I don't think I'm gonna change. c.i.

c.i.<

Ferrous was not asking you to change. He was only stating what is best for him and his wife. Regardless of what you may think, I think his post is valuable.

I personally wonder why some patients are put on so many drugs. Do they really need all of them? The few meds taken, the healthier your liver will be.

william, I understand that Ferrous was not asking us to change our habits. I was just trying to show him another side of his well organized schedule for taking pills. When I go on trips, I put my pills in a plastic box with compartments, and date each day I must take my pills. In that way, I know if I have missed a day. I may take my pills to dinner, but may come back to my stateroom or room still not taken - the same problem I have at home. If I get any more forgetful, my wife is going to be doing for me what Ferrous is doing for his wife. c.i.