[Blueberrybook]

I'm pretty alert right now, so I went ahead and refilled my meds for the week. I have to be careful because it's easy to slip up and put the wrong thing in a box for the morning or evening or afternoon. Also, it's a giant pain because until certain of my meds (i.e., especially propranolol, run out, I have to cut them in half for 3 times a day; the pdoc reduced the dosage by a lot because I kept falling and that was his main suspect; he prescribed me pills in the smaller dosage, but the insurance company won't pay for the smaller dose pills just yet. I also realized I have not taken the Buspar all week. Oops.

I've pretty much concluded I'm a walking pharmacy.

Anyone else feel this way?

[HALLIEBETH87]

Heck yes I do

[BeyondtheRainbow]

very much so

[BipolaRNurse]

Oh, yeah. In addition to all the psych meds listed below, I take four blood-pressure drugs, Vitamin D, fish oil, and a baby aspirin.

[Movingon69]

I'm always saying, "let me go get my pharmacy". In addition to bipolar I have Crohn's and high blood pressure. At some point the pill box is going to be too small for my daily pills.

Don't get me started on insurance. I just went through a thing where they were telling the pharmacy they wouldn't pay for a medicine. But on line and when I called they'd say, "no, it's covered." It took THREE days to get it straightened out!

[~Christina]

I take all my vitamins at one time , many are horse pills so no way to fit in my med box.

My husband keeps his night meds and day meds in 2 separate gallon zip bag so when he fills his boxes it’s just pull a bottle out put in slot and once bad is empty he’s done.

I’m actually on very few psych meds right now. Takes me about 5 mins to fill my dinner and night meds

I went to pickup a refill yesterday at Walmart and the pharmacy people knows me by name ... I have to laugh

[Pookyl]

Yep. My doctors even use the term ‘polypharmacy’ referring to me.

[scatterbrained04]

Heck yes, I sure do. And a lot of the people at the pharmacy know both me and my son by name.

[Blueberrybook]

Glad I'm not the only one! I have vitamin/minerals too, on top of a multi-vitamin due to osteopenia, so vitamin D & calcium for me, along with magnesium. I have found the calcium/magnesium combo to help restless leg syndrome. I thought I was past it until I didn't get vitamins in the hospital in February and forgot them a week or 2 back home, and then one night, it was back. I'd forgotten I even had it until it came back. It is awfully hard to sleep with RLS even when you are taking drugs that normally knock you out flat.

[Blueberrybook]

Originally Posted by scatterbrained04

Heck yes, I sure do. And a lot of the people at the pharmacy know both me and my son by name.

I don't know if my insurance thinks it's great fun to deny payment on certain medications by different days based on my last prescriptions. Now, it has gotten so bad, I literally have to log into my pharmacy website daily and check if there are any there waiting to be picked up. I feel like I go there every other day. Some days I show up, and they already know which last name to look under...sigh...I'm hoping I'll be stable enough at my next appointment, maybe my pdoc will put some of these meds back on mail order.

[Gabyunbound]

Yes, and I get scared too when I put the pills in the boxes; I'm always afraid I'll mess up.

I now take Lamictal, Abilify, low dose of Zoloft, klonopin, propranolol, Mobic (pain), methadone (pain), and a heartburn med, don't remember what it's called. I took Seroquel until recently, but I told my pdoc I wanted off it because it's yet another AP and at that point I was only taking it for sleep, not therapeutically, like before, so I'm taking a night klonopin as well as the morning, for sleep.

I'm afraid of what it has and will do to my brain. My memory is AWFUL, I mean really really bad. Just yesterday I realized I forgot something utterly fundamental that happened in May, but I forget within the same day, from one day to the next. I just wonder what I would be like cognitively without the meds. I'd probably need far less espresso, I'd be more awake, better memory, more alert, etc. But I'm also deathly afraid of what might happen if I were to get off of them...

I still take quite a few medications, but fewer than the OP. At one point I took more, especially if supplements are counted. I did almost always manage to get my pill boxes right, but the following became too distressing psychologically:

1. Going to the pharmacy and dealing with mail order prescriptions.

2. Just looking at the heaps of pills in my hand and thinking how I possibly got to that point of "sickness".

3. Taking meds 4 times per day and often forgetting two of my doses (usually my morning Synthroid and afternoon med -- I was more reliable taking my breakfast and evening meds).

I just HAD to simplify! I started with the supplements. I asked myself "Which ones clearly do zip?" My answer? Most of them, so I stopped those and only kept a couple. Strange thing was that some reasons I took them improved more AFTER I stopped them. Good riddance!

Another question (to my psychiatrist): Can I please start taking meds A & B's afternoon doses divided as add-ons to meds A & B's morning and evening doses? Answer-- Yes. And I experienced no ill affects from doing so. That totally eliminated the need for afternoon pills, which I often forgot anyway. In the end, I was taking my full daily doses of those meds more reliably.

A question for GP: Can I please take my Synthroid with my breakfast meds instead of 30 mins plus before, which made me often forget the Synthroid? Answer: Well, ideally it should be taken on an empty stomach, but give it a try and we'll see if that affects your TSH level. In my case, it didn't. Hooray! Gone was that extra dose. Now I only take meds twice per day and rarely forget them.

Sometimes you need to ask if a med (or two) really is necessary or if raising another could allow for an elimination (or two) without sacrificing stability or bringing on or worsening side effects. In my case, my psychiatrist and I were able to eliminate Lithium (which was affecting my kidneys) and Geodon (which gave me wicked akathisia and whose elimination was compensated for by increased Seroquel XR, a relatively friendly med for me).

Currently, I take 2 anticonvulsant moodstabilizers, one antipsychotic, 1 benzo, another benzo prn, a beta blocker, Synthroid, a multivitamin, and an iron supplement (during my period). Still a lot, but much less than before.

[MoodyMountain]

I kinda felt like a test tube today when I had to list my medications, and they wouldn't fit in the space provided.

Lithium, Latuda, Seroquel, Strattera, Temazepam, and Propanolol.

[Blueberrybook]

Originally Posted by MoodyMountain

I kinda felt like a test tube today when I had to list my medications, and they wouldn't fit in the space provided.

Lithium, Latuda, Seroquel, Strattera, Temazepam, and Propanolol.

This happens to me all the time. Worse, is when a medical assistant is writing or typing your meds as you list them and has no clue what they are or how to spell them, even the brand name of a med. I’ve gotten, “Seroquel? Now what is that? How do you spell it?”so many times. It’s even more fun when they are able to log into my account at my pharmacy and get the generic names of these meds because that’s what the insurance will pay for. Then, they have no clue what any of these psych meds are

[Standup2me]

I always think that I must rattle when I walk with all of the pills rattling around in my tummy
A human maraca

[Tucson]

I do feel like I have much too many meds to take. At one time, I was taking about eight. This included two different benzos.

[Unrigged64072835]

I can probably get by on fewer supplements. I don't know about the rest. I do take quite a few meds.