How to Take Multiple Medications Without Getting Confused
- 1). Buy a multiple-day pill box. Pill boxes marked with the days of the week are available at your local drug store. You can place your daily medication in the different slots, so that each morning you will have a full day's dose ready to go. This is especially helpful for medications that you have to take every other day. You can also get pill boxes that are marked for certain times of day or for mealtimes.
- 2). Consider an electronic pill box if you have trouble remembering when to take your medication. These boxes have alarms that beep when it is time to take your medications. Some electronic pill boxes have extra-loud alarms for people who are hard of hearing. More expensive electronic pill boxes have advanced features like moving pill slots that prevent double dosing (see Resources below).
- 3). Cut pills in half with a pill-splitter. Using a pill-splitter is much easier than using a knife to cut pills. The pills are less likely to be lost, and you need less hand strength and hand-eye coordination to produce two equal halves. Pill splitters are widely available in most major drug stores.
- 4). Speak with your doctor about your medications. You may be able to cut back on the medications that you are taking, or change your dosage so that you don't have to take pills quite so often. Remember to tell your doctor about any vitamins, supplements or alternative treatments that you are taking, as they can affect your medications and produce possibly dangerous side effects. If you are seeing multiple doctors, tell them about all the medications you take. They may only know about the medications that they prescribed to you and not know exactly how many medications you are taking.