Don't Be a Pill

 Okay, in the series of posts of things I'm a little embarrassed about: medication.

I would like to say I'm not at all embarrassed about the medications I take, which is much more true than it was a few years ago. My mother mentioned the other day that her doctor was shocked that she doesn't take any daily medication, and she's eighty in September, so I get being a little ... not proud, I guess, because most of it she didn't really control, but happy?

I take .... adds in head, takes an unforgivably long time .... six or seven pills in the morning and a nasal spray. One pill is a prescription - proton pump inhibitor/ acid reducer. One is a prescription only because it's cheaper - allergy medicine (I have terrible allergies that apparently aren't actually allergies according to the allergist, but allergy medicine helps them, so I take it, because otherwise I'm a snotty mess). Two or three are vitamin D pills - two 1000 IU in spring and summer, three in fall and winter. Magnesium for restless legs, which I've had intermittently since I was a teenager but was getting more and more often and it was wretched. Prescription nasal spray because of the aforementioned allergy-or-not snotty mess.

In the evening, four and a half pills. Two and a half are antidepressants - one is the kind I've been on for years and years, after trying for a couple of times to switch or go off it and having things go horribly wrong (that time I felt like I was dying after not taking drugs), and the booster I was given last fall when my doctor agreed that I probably have ADHD (without the H) and said this is a good antidepressant for people with ADHD. One is gabapentin because the magnesium wasn't giving enough relief from the restless legs (so maybe I should stop taking the magnesium. Shit. Never thought of that. Hang on, looking it up. What do you know, it says magnesium might lower gabapentin's effectiveness, but that should be helped by taking them at least two to four hours apart, WHICH I AM, I'm a genius). One is a low dose of blood pressure medication which I was given after this fun little episode (I'm not giving you homework, this post just has excursions- and that I was embarrassed about, but it's whatever. My doctor consolingly said, "so you have high blood pressure - so does the rest of the world", which is not true, but was kind and funny.

So yeah, not so much embarrassed about the stuff I take as the way it's all arranged (if you can even use that term).

For behind the doors of this poor, innocent armoire....


lurks absolute chaos.

On the left...

.

..we have the morning meds, beside stacks of books I don't have shelf space for. I also shoved my new shower curtain in there for when I get my bathroom painted and can put it up. I go from right to left, and then grab the nasal spray from the box where the evening meds are kept, because... jesus, I just realized this makes the absolute least sense of an already senseless routine.

On the right...

we have the evening meds, on top of and inside a box of old Broadway show soundtrack CDs, which I still have because...why? Uncertain. I start with the ones precariously balanced on top of the CDs, and then go down to the ones in the box that the CDs sometimes collapse on top of. 

To the extreme left and back, we have occasional-use stuff - migraine meds, Tylenol with codeine, melatonin and *whispers* marijuana products. Also a couple of things from the book subscription a friend got me where you get little presents corresponding to pages of the book, and I haven't finished the third book yet because it's not a library book and there's no deadline, so I haven't yet let myself open the present. 

Oh, and up top there's the bin of all the other crap - Advil, Tylenol, cold medicine, nausea medicine, ancient Ativan (just kidding, I think I took the last one of those in the last post) etc. 

Why am I like this? WHY? I only recently looked at this whole ridiculous mess and realized how ridiculous and messy it is. Do I occasionally very nearly take the wrong meds at the wrong time? Why yes, yes I do. I was talking to Eve about this and said I really needed to get a weekly pill counter thing but they seem so old-persony and clinical and ugly and she said "there are cute ones, Mom". Are there really, though? Huh, well this one isn't bad. And these are... possibly confused about fruit designation, but not terrible. 

I think we all agree things have to change here Is there hope?

Perhaps. On the other side of the room....

My charge cords for my phone and ipad used to be plugged into the power bar between the chair and the window. This was terribly inefficient, I would have to lean over and nearly fall out of bed or - gasp!- GET OUT OF BED when I was already half asleep to plug things in and set them on the arm of the chair. I finally got my ass in gear and ordered another power bar for between the bed and the bedside table, and now the cords are neater, it's easier to plug everything else in and I am always inordinately pleased with myself when I use the setup. 

Am I in the post? Am I helping?

So past experience dictates that every few months, maybe years (decades?) I am able to use my powers of logic and organization to make things a tiny bit less lame. Stay tuned. 


Comments

Suzanne said…
DOES THE MAGNESIUM HELP? I had to rush here before reading the rest of the post because I, too, in we are the same person fashion, have restless legs. It started, I think, when I was pregnant, and has worsened over time. I hate it.

Oh. Okay, so you answered my question already. This is why I should control my impulses and just READ THE POST.

Those pill holders are actually very cute! I am looking forward to what happens next!

Favorite line: "I'm not giving you homework, this post just has excursions"

NGS said…
Look, I take about the same number of medications you do and it's okay. Every body is different and every body does what it has to do to get by in this world!
Swistle said…
I take a lot of different pills---and quite a few of them, when the doctor/nurse asks why I take them, I say "All I remember is I read some article that said I should." I have one of those 28-compartment organizers where you can put in medicine for four times a day, even though I only take medicine twice a day, but I use the other squares for things I like to travel with (ibuprofen, sleeping pills, Tums, etc.) and things I take sometimes but not consistently (iron, B-complex, etc.).

I take magnesium for various reasons, and there is a book at our library that is called something like WHY MAGNESIUM WILL MAKE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE BETTER, and I have never read it, and I'm not sure magnesium HAS made my life better, but anyway this is one of the things that makes it difficult to answer the doctor.
Busy Bee Suz said…
You should never be embarrassed by the medications you need, or take. (In my case, loads of supplements that will probably not make me live a long and healthy life as I hope)
You really did make me giggle with your ORGANIZATION methods. *giggling again just writing that*
*whispers* marijuana products. LOL!!

I had an incident this past weekend while traveling. I have little ziplocks with some meds/vitamins in them tossed into my toiletry bag. Why? Why don't I use the cute, efficient travel pill containers? Not sure. But I accidentally took an antihistime instead of something for my stomach because things weren't labeled. I ended up feeling 'high AF' from the Sudafed and my stomach was a wreck. GO ME.

I've been taking magnesium too...it's been so long that I don't even know why I take it now.
Busy Bee Suz said…
Oh, the pic of your doggie make my heart smile!!
Nicole said…
Those pill organizers are super cute and I want one. I have been taking a really expensive supplement for hair loss, because I was going bald, and IT WORKS. My hair is no longer falling out. The thing is, for some reason the dosage is four pills at a time. Four! Why wouldn't they just make a couple bigger pills?
In terms of cords, my dad gave us a charging STATION a few years back and it was life changing.
ccr in MA said…
It’s so satisfying when we improve a setup, and so frustrating when it takes forever to figure out the solution!

I have my pills on a shelf, with the bottles in order so that, once a day, I can go along the line and fill my little containers for morning pills, night pills, and middle-of-the-night pills. It isn’t terribly attractive, but it works well enough. So many pills, though! Prescriptions and vitamins and supplements, oh my.
amyboughner said…
I take a lot of different meds, I am embarrassed by the number I take, but I am younger than you and have one of those pill organizer things and it makes it so much better. I actually recently switched from taken all my pills at night to actually taking the ones in the morning that I was supposed to take in the morning and now I have a split am/pm organizer. I only have to get out my unorganized bag of bottles once a week.
StephLove said…
I keep my prescription meds in a pill organizer because when I find myself wondering-- now did I take my morning meds or not?-- I just have to look and see if I did.

The supplements don't seem as crucial, so I take them straight out of the bottle.
Ernie said…
I died at *whispers* marijuana products. You are too funny. I have a pill organizer. Over the last year or two, I've had to start taking pills. Cholestorol pill. The anti acid pill for my gut. The anti inflamation pill for my painful pinkies. How many of these pills were necessary because of my undiagnosed SIBO? The pinkies - probably SIBO. I was just tested for SIBO and found out I'm positive for it and a week after I got the results I STILL HAVEN'T HEARD FROM THE DOCTOR ABOUT HOW WE ARE GOING TO TREAT THIS THING. Surly she isn't waiting till my June 30th follow up, right?

I take magnesium too. I take other vitamins. I keep those pills in a pull out drawer cabinet that needs to be organized in the worst way. One pill bottle spilled and I can't find the bottle or anything in the cabinet so I just haven't been taking it. Now that's a disorganized system.

I'm curious what med the doc gave you for ADHD without the H. Lad doesn't take anything and we believe that he really needs to. His last RX was given to him in college and he said it made his head hurt and I'm like THEN GO TO A DIFFERENT DOCTOR AND ASK ABOUT OTHER OPTIONS.

Oh, and my mom is in her early 80s and hadn't been to a doctor in decades and she SHOULD'VE been taking some meds but didn't and that has probably contributed to her Alzheimer's issues. She takes meds now but tried to tell the doc she didn't like meds and he asked her DO YOU LIKE YOUR MEMORY? Love that.
Pat Birnie said…
I loved the “not homework, just excursions” so funny. No need to be embarrassed- we all have messy areas of our lives. Most of us just don’t post them for everyone to see! Also many of your pills are supplements, not prescription drugs - and that’s a good thing. All my drugs are inhalers so they are easier to store. I do take a LOT of supplements, which I think has had a big effect on my good health. I use a craft tray like you buy at the dollar store and dump them all in the different compartments. That saves opening all the bottles. BUT I recognize them all on sight so that might not work for you. Those little pill dispensers are really cute. Looks like a good idea to me.
Shawna said…
I have 3 ugly dollar store weekly pill organizers - one for my son and two for my dog since she sometimes has to be dog-sat for more than a week- and two of them live on my kitchen counter. It never occurred to me to mind that they aren’t cute until this moment. Now I’m going to keep my eyes open for nicer ones.
Lisa's Yarns said…
Clicking over from NGS's post today to say that I am also on SO MANY PILLS but I use a days of the week pill box w/ morning/night boxes. Otherwise I fear i would forget if I took my meds for the day or not. I used to try to manage it myself w/ all the many bottles but I gave up when things got too complex!

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