Managing your medication schedule can be tricky, especially if you have been prescribed several different medications to treat the conditions you are experiencing.
In the UK, data combined from 2015 and 2016 surveys showed that 25% of women and 24% of men had taken three or more prescribed medications in the prior seven days.
Here are some tips to help keep you on track.
Understand your medications
When picking up your prescribed medications, confirm the timing and precise dose with your pharmacist. While some medications need to be taken with food, others may be more effective when taken on an empty stomach. These are factors that need to be considered when establishing your medication schedule.
Write down your schedule
Writing down your schedule and keeping it in a location that’s easy to see can be helpful. In fact, this is a critical step that forms part of safe handling of medication training for healthcare professionals, which can be accessed on the websites of specialist training services such as https://www.tidaltraining.co.uk/health-and-social-care-courses/safe-handling-of-medication-training.
If your medication changes, make sure to update your schedule accordingly ASAP.
Set an alarm
If you’re having trouble remembering to take your medication at set times each day, consider setting an alarm on your watch, phone or clock.
Use a medication organiser
If you take several medications each day, it can be helpful to use a pill organiser. Some organisers have one compartment for each day of the week, whereas other models have multiple daily compartments for medications to be taken in the morning, afternoon and evening.
