I'd say I'm pretty good.

I used to forget all the time, and use the medications I have as passwords to remind me, but I've got better.

sometimes I think what's the point, it doesn't help, but I also know I need it and wold struggle without it.

what about you?

[Soupe du jour]

I always intend to take all of my medications, and am usually quite reliable in doing so. However, on rare occasions I do forget, mostly if something different than usual is happening on a particular day. This is especially the case if my meal routine is changed by eating at different times, or eating at different places other than the usual. On the rare occasions I forget my morning medications at the normal time, they are sometimes not taken at all. When I occasionally forget my evening medications at the regular time, they are always remembered before morning, because I'll find myself not all tired at 12 midnight. Then a light bulb goes on in my head. I then take them late at night, but still don't fall asleep until 3 am or later. If I totally skipped my evening medications, I'd likely get 0 hours of sleep. That's really bad for me!

Not taking my morning medications, for just one day, is no biggy. Two or more days, would be. Neglecting to take my evening medications, even for one day, is destabilizing. Even when I take my evening medications late at night, I suffer some consequences (feeling mentally and physically unwell for part of the next day). For me, this is why timing and regularity are crucial for medication taking.

I utilize pill boxes and routine to ensure I don't forget my medications. As a backup, I use an medication reminder app on my phone. These protections will always result in me realizing that a dose was missed.

Once, by accident, my husband took my evening medications (day's pill box contents) one morning instead of his own. I had to go and pick him up from work because he was passing out. He slept for over 14 hours (during the daytime) because of that mistake. If I accidentally took my evening meds in the morning, I'd be tired during the day, but not nearly as affected as my husband was when he made that boo-boo. That screw up happened to me once, some years back. Obviously, my evening medications are far more sedating than my morning ones.

[Trippin2.0]

I admittedly suck, but not on purpose. It's more like I will take it religiously and then it will just drop from my radar because I feel better, and although I don't for one second think I'm cured, it just doesn't seem like a big deal to take it or skip it and when I'm manic I just don't care if I take them or not.

I think my issue with meds is subconscious tbh. Deep down I hate taking them, and I hate the fact that they make me okay, acceptable, functional...
Like why can't I just go back to being med free? It's sad that I have to accept that that ship has sailed and has long past the horizon.

I have alarms set to take my meds, because my honest intention is to take them, but still I just don't seem to have it in me to take them religiously, and that sucks too because I feel like I'm failing at a very simple thing.

My daughter was joking the other night about me being a commitment phobe, said I can't even commit to meds, that I only commit to them for a week at a time then I lose interest, and that the only thing I've ever fully committed to is her.

[Miss Laura]

Well... you all know me around this situation.

Meds were fine when I started taking Anti-depressants in 2009-2010. Then when I was diagnosed in late 2010 with bipolar 1 I started on meds less than a month after being diagnosed. I have not been med compliant since Nov 2010.

1. I feel they suck the goodness/ social butterfly-ness out of me

2. I'm dumb down due to them

3. I resent them

4. I'm gagging cause of them

5. I'm only technically on a Mood Stabliser and an Anti-Psychotic in total I'm meant to take 5 tablets in the morning and 2 tablets at night

6. I'm prone to finding them tampered with/are poison

I set my meds out every Sunday night for the week in a dosset box. I have 3 alarms on my phone, 2 apps for meds and i have a visual on my wall saying to take them. But nothing is helping me.

My CPN and Psychiatrist thought about the depot injection but they say there isn't one for my mood stabiliser. Just for my Anti-Psychotic. So there would be no point.

I'm crying out for someone to help me get back on track, although I feel good I know this isn't always be the case and the psychosis will come then the depression will come....

Will I ever be med compliant God knows... I'm tired of fighting it though

[Mountaindewed]

I absolutely suck at med management. If I were to die from anything it would be an accidental OD. I never take my meds at the same time. I undertake, overtake, miss doses etc. Sometimes on purpose, mostly on accident. I take my meds in the dark a lot. I’ll sometimes turn on the light and I’ll have the wrong bottle in my hand. And I’ll be like “whoops that would have been a disaster” I wonder why I’ve slept 12 hours and then realize I’ve taken 2 Ativan instead of 2 Topamax. I keep forgetting to get a pill box.

[Blue_Bird]

I always remember to take them, no exceptions. I have a pill box which sits right in front of my bed on my dresser and I always make sure it's filled every week. Every morning, evening, and night I take my meds. It's become such a habit over the years that it's ingrained in me and hard to forget.

If I forget or miss a dose it’s usually in the morning. I’m pretty bad at “missing” a lot when I wake up. I get in a hurry (I feel rushed in my head — time wise there is no reason) and forget to do stuff before I leave the house or before I do whatever thing I had planned that morning. I get preoccupied with everything else. At night my mind isn’t exactly calmer but I’m usually in bed right next to my meds. So night time isn’t as tough to remember before bed.

[bpcyclist]

Terrible. Forget refills. Get angry at side effects and just stop them. Idiot. I do care, it is just hard. Much better since started using the medisafe app thigy bobber.

[Scooter9]

I'm good with taking my meds. I have an app on my phone that reminds me. And I use my phone for a lot of things so I don't miss the reminders.

The app also keeps track of the number of pills I have left and reminds me when to refill.

There was only one time I missed taking my meds for 3 days. I have no idea what happened but it hasn't happened since then and that was years ago.

[Miss Laura]

Originally Posted by Scooter9

I'm good with taking my meds. I have an app on my phone that reminds me. And I use my phone for a lot of things so I don't miss the reminders.

The app also keeps track of the number of pills I have left and reminds me when to refill.

There was only one time I missed taking my meds for 3 days. I have no idea what happened but it hasn't happened since then and that was years ago.

Scooter,

Can I ask what app you use to keep you on track?

[Scooter9]

Originally Posted by Miss Laura

Scooter,

Can I ask what app you use to keep you on track?

It's called medisafe and it's available on Android and iPhone for free. It's really good and customizable.

[*Beth*]

I never forget my meds. If I'm even a couple of hours late with taking them I'll know because I start feeling dizzy and have brain zaps. I don't understand how others are able to skip meds. But maybe it's because I do take them so consistently, so when I miss a dose my body really notices.

My problem this year is that, for some reason, I have gotten my dosages messed up several times. That feels disorienting and disturbing.

I hate having to be on meds. Hate it. It makes me so sad, and I worry about the damaging side effects. But the alternative would have been tragic for me. Also, when all is said and done, I'm grateful that there are medications to treat MI. My great-aunt had a mental illness and spent 41 years of her life in a "mental institution", as they were called. She was 19 years old when she was admitted in 1919 and age fifty when, on Thorazine, she was able to leave the hospital and live with family. She died a few years later.

[swimmingly]

I'm with you @BethRags. I take them religiously. If I don't, I get bad side-effects within hours. Mostly the dizziness, but also leading up to the severe zaps.

[Victoria'smom]

If I miss a day my head gets louder, I get confused So I usually don't miss a dose. Every three months or so this passed year I go off them because I really can't remember why I'm on them, or I miss my ED voice. for 2 months or so 2020 has not been my most insightful year.

[FluffyDinosaur]

I always take them, never forget. It's just a routine for me. I usually leave my morning meds in plain sight (in a locked box to ward off kids) on my desk so I can't miss them when I start work. My evening meds are just part of my routine, I take those almost automatically.

The only time when I might almost forget is when I'm visiting someone around the time I usually take my meds and I don't have them with me, but in that case I've usually left them in plain sight at home so I take them when I get back.

My pharmacy has been known to mess up dosages now and then. The other day they gave me 5mg Lamictal tablets instead of 50mg. Gotta keep an eye on those guys because before you know it you're taking 1/10th your dosage without realizing.

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by FluffyDinosaur

.....
My pharmacy has been known to mess up dosages now and then. The other day they gave me 5mg Lamictal tablets instead of 50mg. Gotta keep an eye on those guys because before you know it you're taking 1/10th your dosage without realizing.

That is terrible!!

[FluffyDinosaur]

Originally Posted by BethRags

That is terrible!!

Yeah, they did it to my wife, too. She got prescribed twice the standard dosage of supplements when she was pregnant. The pharmacy just silently assumed it must be an error and "corrected" it to the standard dosage. Except we were having twins, so the double dosage was correct. It was a few weeks before we noticed it. Luckily the kids turned out healthy. The pharmacy even said it was a "minor issue" when we confronted them about it, so that goes to show how much they care.

[scatterbrained04]

I'm generally pretty good about remembering to take them. I take one in the morning with some vitamins and the rest in the evening before bed. I do well as long as I keep my routine. Sometimes I forget my morning medication on the weekends because I don't have my routine of going to work to help me remember.

I suck at remembering to take doses if it's not before work or before bed. Lunchtime doses I can't remember. I've tried this in the past and ended up working with my pdoc to move all meds to morning and night.

I'm good about taking them, with the occasional forgetting. I just don't even think about it. I also take a multivitamin, calcium and vitamin D, so it's all just whatever. I don't think about it being unfair or a burden or whatever, I just take them. If I want to talk unfair, there's a whole 'nother topic that that's about to me.

P.s. scatterbrained, Hear you on mid-day doses. Never was good with that.

I chose does it matter?. I don't think it helps me anyway
I'm on an injection so things won't go too far south if I stopped the pills (though I did just get out of IP for mania, but I was taking all my meds as prescribed anyways so it really doesn't make a difference.N
Just reminded me to go take m meds. 6 pills in the morning/4 thoughtout the day/10 at night until the pharmacy gets their **** togetoer

[Jmayfair]

I make my best effort at it but I still occasionally forget to take them in a timely manner.

[Moose72]

Originally Posted by BethRags

I never forget my meds. If I'm even a couple of hours late with taking them I'll know because I start feeling dizzy and have brain zaps. I don't understand how others are able to skip meds. But maybe it's because I do take them so consistently, so when I miss a dose my body really notices.

My problem this year is that, for some reason, I have gotten my dosages messed up several times. That feels disorienting and disturbing.

I hate having to be on meds. Hate it. It makes me so sad, and I worry about the damaging side effects. But the alternative would have been tragic for me. Also, when all is said and done, I'm grateful that there are medications to treat MI. My great-aunt had a mental illness and spent 41 years of her life in a "mental institution", as they were called. She was 19 years old when she was admitted in 1919 and age fifty when, on Thorazine, she was able to leave the hospital and live with family. She died a few years later.

That's sad about your great-aunt. I'm glad they don't do long-term institutionalization now. I'm almost 50 and I hope I don't die soon!

[Moose72]

I forget my meds several times a week. I have them in blister packs- one for morning and one for bedtime. All I have to do is open it, pour the pills into my mouth and swallow (with water). But I wholesale forget to take them and when I wake up in the morning, the night time meds are still sitting there and/or my morning pills are still there when I go to take my night meds.

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by Moose72

I forget my meds several times a week. I have them in blister packs- one for morning and one for bedtime. All I have to do is open it, pour the pills into my mouth and swallow (with water). But I wholesale forget to take them and when I wake up in the morning, the night time meds are still sitting there and/or my morning pills are still there when I go to take my night meds.

A few hours after you forget, do you feel weird in your head...like, brain zaps? Or nausea?

I was good at taking it every day at the right time for years until my recent backpacking trip. I left in a hurry and forgot my meds, and then I never went back to my ex-boyfriend's house where I was living to pick them up and now I'm living with my sister, with nothing but her stuff and what I brought on my trip in a backpack haha. It's a complex situation, but basically I've been off meds for a month now. I'm not doing any worse so I think I'll just wait until I get a new psychiatrist to get back on them. I was only on Trileptal anyways.