Organizing Medications for the Household

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This morning was a parenting nightmare.

My epilepsy kid flat out refused to take his meds.

We went through the steps we had agreed upon, and it became clear that he would be late to school (and have to take the consequences of that behavior).

UPDATE: He was 20 minutes late.

Poor kid has to take 6 pills twice a day, plus a liquid med and a chewable. (Epilepsy sucks.)

I also have a chronic illness (or three) and take many pills three times a day.

Nothing we did could change my little one's refusal to take the meds this morning. 

But I do something every week that makes it easier to make sure we are taking the right pills at the right time.

*Store Meds All Together

I actually use a zippered tote bag to store all of our pills, so I can grab the whole tote if we are going to the ER.

TIP: Add a cheap phone charger and a list of medical conditions, surgeries, and allergies for each family, along with contact information, to the tote in case of an emergency.

*Schedule a Day of the Week to Sort Meds

I do mine on Sunday nights so that I can go to the pharmacy on Monday morning.

*Use Appropriate Sorters

I have to take one of my meds during the work day. That one goes in a tiny pill sorter.

For am and pm meds, there are bigger, more appropriate pill sorters.

There are even travel options.

TIP: If multiple people in the household take meds, color code the sorters.

*Make a Post-It Pharmacy List

Although I rarely use post-its on my weekly pages, I do (as pictured above) for pharmacy lists.

That's because on Monday I might drop off the refill, but it might take a day or two to fill, and then I need to add to certain (empty) days in the sorter.

A list of what I need at the pharmacy and what day I need it by can move from day-to-day on the weekly list, until the pill sorters hold the pills that are necessary to cover the rest of the week.

Typically, my list will say something like:

Crestor (We - Su).

That means that crestor MUST be refilled by Wednesday and then the refill must be added to the Wednesday through Sunday part of my pill holder.

I hope this helps you deal with daily meds.

If anyone has a brilliant idea for getting my 7 year old to take his meds, I am all ears. Let me know in the comments!

Etcetera.

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