Medication Management
June 26th, 2009
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Managing your medication plays a vital role in your recovery from mental illness, so I thought I’d share my ’strategies’.
I don’t particularly enjoy doing all the refill and repeat stuff, but since it’s a big part of my life I might as well try and make it as painless as possible.
Tools of the trade
Because I need to take my medication at various times of the day I just tend to carry them all with me in what’s called a “medication organizer” (or pillbox).
Top to bottom: Supplements, Lithium, Clozapine, …
The box will hold a week’s supply of medication, and has 4 compartments for various times of the day. Each day has a vertical plastic slider so you can easily open the compartment you want and tip the box upside down (to get them out) without leaving them all over the floor. Works really well actually.
The orange bit of paper is a reminder for myself that I need to get more medication (and in my case also a blood test). When I’ve just received a new repeat I simply clip the orange reminder to the bag with the new medication. When I run out of medication I put the orange reminder in the box so I can easily see it, and know that it’s time for another repeat and blood test.
Refill when empty
One of the rules I have with regards to refilling my box is that it needs to be done when I’ve run out. If I don’t do that it’s much easier to forget them the next day.
I don’t always feel like refilling it immediately, but the alternative (grabbing what you need from the individual pill bottles) is far worse as now you effectively have to do it twice.
The fewer annoyances you have while taking your medication the better.
Repeats
I generally get about 3-4 repeats on one prescription, and my chemist will (almost always) let me know when I’m about to run out. Sometimes they even put a big orange sticker on the bag itself. Either way you can always ask them and make a note on the bag itself. I’ve found the staff of the chemist I go to very friendly and helpful.
Before I used the orange reminder I ran out of my prescription once or twice without having any pills left (oops). In that situation they can generally give you your medication for say a day at the time. This is generally long enough to sort something out. Your doctor/nurse can also fax the prescription if needs be.
Medipack
If you don’t like any of this there’s also something called a Medipack. It’s very much like having a medication organizer, but now all compartments are separate from each other and wrapped in plastic. This way you can easily tear off Monday-morning and take it to work. More discrete if you like.
Try it out once if you think that a Medipack is for you.
Taking medication in public
When I was in hospital for a mental illness everybody knew, so I decided early on not to hide my medication. I just take them to work and take them as required. I’ve been asked about them only once and I jokingly said that they were brain candy. Everybody else at work already knows I have a mental illness and they don’t even pay attention to it anymore.
The reason I don’t want to hide my medication is because I feel they are a part of me, and that there’s no reason to hide that. The worst thing that I reckon can happen is that someone asks and then you’ve just been giving an opportunity to talk about mental illness to someone. You can explain to them what mental illness is about and as a result they might develop a deeper understanding of it. That will undoubtedly also affect other people in that person’s life, so you can’t go wrong here really.
Miscellaneous
Going on a holiday or overseas can be somewhat of a logistical nightmare, especially when crossing several time zones. It doesn’t matter for me when I take my Lithium, but when I take the Clozapine I’m a zombie for 10 hours – not a good look when you’re on a plane. Definitely talk to your doctor before you go.
I’ve forgotten to take my medication once or twice (oops). Definitely discuss what to do with your doctor as your medication will almost certainly be different from mine. From my own experience; taking a double dose of Clozapine (to catch up) really is a good incentive to remember it next time. 
If you get an aftertaste after taking your medication try having your medication with some food. I often eat something first, then take my Lithium and follow it with some more food. Lithium sandwich -yum!
Conclusion
It’s important to stay on top of your medication as it leads the way to recovery. I can not stress this enough.
If you think your medication is not good for you, never just stop taking it – always run it past your doctor first.
Suddenly stopping your medication may have undesired side-effects. I switched medication twice (while in hospital) and each time the old medication dosage was reduced first while (simultaneously) increasing the new medication dosage. In both cases my psychosis temporarily flared up, that’s the last thing you want.
It’s important to take your medication at regular times so your body gets used to it. Make taking your medication at fixed times a habit so that it becomes almost impossible to forget.
Make it fun. 
I know, I know, but let’s face it – you’re going to have to take them anyway so you might as well have some fun with it. I look forward to taking my medication at 1.30 pm every day because it is accompanied by a treat!
Hmmm… Scooby Snack!
Posted in Mental Illness
