Hello, I am a 45 year old father of 2 looking after a widowed 68 yr old mother living together in the same house. I am managing her medications with the use of a pillbox and currently struggle to keep up with all the changes and feel burnt out. I would like to know in average how long you spend organizing your loved one's medications (e.g., sorting their medications into a dosette), reminding them or administering the medications for them, and staying informed about any changes in their drug regimens. I am wondering if anyone has tried the compliance packaging offered at pharmacies such as weekly blister packs and had any success? What are the pros and cons? Is it worth the money?
I kept my dads meds that changed often out of the packs, such as his warfarin that was adjusted 2xs monthly. This kept it simple.
You can also buy monthly organizers and do them for am, midday and pm. Be creative in how you manage this and you will find the best solution for you.
You should ask your pharmacist if they carry them. It sounds helpful. I wish I had heard of this while my mom was still alive.
The answers as to having a pharmacy fill the pills for you is an excellent one. Also, you should know what each med does, what to expect as far as side effects and such, IMHO, pharmacists know a TON more than do the docs. All my dh's med mistakes were caught by PHARMACISTS.
It takes a while, when there are changes to the regimen to know what pill does what--my DH went from being a simple liver transplant patient to be a heart attack patient and his med's more than quadrupled. Some he will go off of at the year mark, some are for life.
* the packs aren't large enough to accomodate a transdermal patch.
* they will not include otc supplements, unless prescribed
* when there is a change in medication, the change doesn't happen with the packets for a month.
* when a scrip needs renewing, they contact the dr. If the doctor fails to respond, we only find out about it when the month's packets arrive with that pill missing.
* we requested the packet label be changed from "bedtime" to evening (sundowners medicine). That didn't happen for another 60 days, after another phone conversation
* they will not half a pill
So, there are issues to remain aware of.
My client has many natural supplements, as well as medicine. 3 x daily. It takes close to 2 hours start to finish for me to take care of a couple weeks' worth! The family cannot fathom why. (I'm going to give them a chance to find out, when her son comes to visit next week, and I'm off)
It does take some time (I average a little over an hour to prepare 4 weeks worth of pills using this method. And, of course, it is much cheaper than the blister packs from a pharmacy. A good source of capsules is capsuline.com, but I'm sure there are others.