Pills, Pills, Pills

This post is a personal account of different pill management methods our family has tried with my father (PWP and PWD). Shoppers please check our newer reviews of weekly pill organizers for one, two, three, or four doses per day. Longer planners can shop four week pill organizers, or pill crushers and splitters for those extra meticulous with even smaller doses. Fashion bugs can shop pretty pill organizers, and tech geeks can shop electronic and smart pill organizers.

Medication or pill management is key in the care of individuals with many chronic diseases. Graycare is NOT a doctor.

My spouse has Parkinson’s Disease and a few other chronic diseases that are being helped by medication…..lots of them at this writing.  Earlier in his diseases, he could manage his own medications.  He had a variety of pill containers during that time…..all that would fit in his pocket. The two he used most frequently over the years are pictured below. 

These fit easily in his pant’s pocket or on a belt key chain for easy access.  He used these to put a variety of pills for different ailments that needed to be taken during his workday. This worked for a long while when he was able to recognize the pill that needed to be taken at designated times and was able to physically remove the desired pills from the mass of pills in the container.  

But as time took away hand movements and the ability to think well, new systems were needed.  What was tried next was a weekly pill organizer that was adapted to be a daily one to accommodate the pills taken every three hours from 8 in the morning to 11 o’clock at night.  At that time he took at least 25 pills (some were big) a day to manage a list of chronic illnesses.  

This pill organizer (also on Amazon) is quite large (just shy of 9 inches long) but easy to open - just a push of the front lever opens each compartment about ½ inch.  Even though it is big and doesn’t fit in a pant’s pocket, it is fairly easy to find (we have “beings” in our home that seem to move things) on a table or bedside and surprisingly in your purse when you are driving. (Hint:  when in my purse I put a small headband around it to keep the compartments from accidentally opening….learned this one the hard way.)  

This pill organizer was first adapted with blue painter’s tape to change it from a weekly to daily pill organizer.  This worked well for a while until the artist in the family “improved on the numbers as illustrated by the “8” between the 5 and 11 compartments (an example).  When this happened new blue tape was applied with new numbers written.   We did this several times until WE got smarter.

Where we are now using the same pill organizer, with stickers on both sides of the compartment lids on each time of day pills are to be taken.  No artist has tried to improve on the numbers for 8+ months ……success!  (This was actually my son’s idea….good to have smart, creative people in your corner.)  

To make this adaptation both products were purchased through Amazon.  Stickers are about $7.00 for 480 numbers from 1 to 40.  These were chosen because they fit the compartment lid, were easy to read with a black number on a white background with a brightly colored circle border.  The pill organizer was a little less than $8.00.

Initially, he was able to get the pills out with his fingers or by “drinking” them from each compartment and remembered to take them when appropriate.  This didn’t last too long or maybe I tried not to see that he was mismanaging when to take the pills because I didn’t want another thing to do in a day….probably the later to be honest.  So now caregivers manage the pills completely….with some additional stuff to support the processes…

I make up pills for 9 days at a time by using 2 - 4 week pill organizers (pictured below) plus the one pill organizer he uses every day.   Remember I have to use each 1 week pill container in this pack as a single day’s worth of pills. These pill organizers can be purchased from Amazon for about $15.00.  This helps lighten the load a bit… I know I could buy more of these 4 week packs to have more of a ready supply, but am okay with the way it is for now.

Each morning, I fill his everyday pill organizer with the stickers with the day’s pills.  To help remember to give him the pills at the appropriate time, a talking clock is used.  My son has recorded the verbal reminders (you can use regular alarms if desired).  The clock face shows 

The day of the week and the time of day in large white print on a black background, making it easy to read.  The volume of the reminders can be adjusted for different hearing abilities.  This gem has quite a few more features that you can read about if you are interested.  It can be purchased through Amazon for about $65….an investment for sure……but it has helped this harried caregiver remember to give pills on time more that I care to admit.

We are still in the mix of caregiving and I am sure how we manage medications will change as time goes on and medication needs change as the disease progresses.  Cost is always an issue…I am afraid to total what pills cost per month.  Will leave that for another time…maybe.  

Thought after writing this post: 

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.” – Irish proverb