Meds, meds, meds, meds.
I've always had bins for my meds -- one big shoebox for prescription pill bottles and vitamins, another big shoebox for over-the-counter medications like Tylenol, Gravol, and decongestants -- but it was starting to get kind of chaotic in there even back when I was roommates with Kevin (harald387), and after moving twice in six months, it was officially a mess. So I've been going through and organizing everything.
First I started with consolidating all my medications. (In some cases, I have two or three bottles of the same pills, just because the bin was a mess and I was in a hurry and I refilled my weekly travel container out of a new bottle instead of looking for the old one. I hang my head in shame!) So unless the old bottles were way too out of date, I dumped them into whichever bottle was my newest/most recent. This way I only have one bottle taking up space, and I have a more accurate idea of how many meds I've got before I need a refill. (In a few instances, I wound up with two bottles, not one, because there was too much for one bottle. For those, I made sure the older meds all went in the second-most-recent bottle and the new meds got left alone. The older meds got labeled "OLD" and the newer meds got labeled "NEW", so that I know to take from the "OLD" bottle first and get them used up.)
Second, I got a bunch of ziploc bags from the kitchen so I could package bottles by type and label them accordingly. For example, I have one bag with all my Dicetel in it (one new full box of foil wraps, and all the loose foil wraps from an older box that still have pills in them) that's labeled "DICETEL (GI, daily)". For my hormones, I have both in one bag, labeled "HORMONES: Marvelon (COCP) & PROMETRIUM (progesterone), AS NEEDED". For my migraine meds, I have them all in one bag because their packaging is small, labeled: "MIGRAINES: APO-AMITRIPTYLINE (daily), FIORINAL (as needed), MAXALT (as needed)". The exact syntax isn't always consistent, but it's whatever made the most sense for each bag, and the point is that if I am ever in the hospital or something and I need someone to go get my meds, they can easily do so without having to bring the entire bin.
Third, I created a new wallet list. What's a wallet list, you ask? Well. I keep a list of all the meds I take, including dosages, in my wallet so that if I'm ever in an accident and am unconscious, whoever's treating me will still know what I'm on. I don't think any of the drugs I take would have serious contra-indications, but I'd rather not leave it to chance. And besides, if I miss an anti-depressant/-anxiety by even 12 hours, I get really nasty side-effects like vertigo and nausea and muscle spasms and the sensation of full-body electric shocks, and I'd like to avoid going through them if at all possible. (I am the kind of person who also keeps an "In case of emergency, please contact X" card in my wallet. I made ones for my parents and brother and stuck them in their wallets, too, where I am the emergency contact person, because God knows they would have no idea to call me otherwise if my parents ever wound up in the hospital on one of their little roadtrips, and my brother isn't home ever and doesn't check the house phone's voicemail even when he is. Does nobody else think of these things?!)
Fourth, I refilled my weekly travel container. This is the green refurbished Altoid tin from here that I keep my daily meds in. It lives in my purse and has a little list stuck to the inside of the lid telling me what pills I take at what time. (My Watchminder only tells me when it's time for meds, not which ones.) I also took the opportunity to update that list too, since it's changed over the last six months.
Now everything is nice and organized! Compared to the huge overflowing jumbo shoebox it was before, this is pretty impressive:
I feel much better for having done something productive with my day despite being sick. Next I have to go through my OTC meds. (Don't worry, I won't post about that.)
First I started with consolidating all my medications. (In some cases, I have two or three bottles of the same pills, just because the bin was a mess and I was in a hurry and I refilled my weekly travel container out of a new bottle instead of looking for the old one. I hang my head in shame!) So unless the old bottles were way too out of date, I dumped them into whichever bottle was my newest/most recent. This way I only have one bottle taking up space, and I have a more accurate idea of how many meds I've got before I need a refill. (In a few instances, I wound up with two bottles, not one, because there was too much for one bottle. For those, I made sure the older meds all went in the second-most-recent bottle and the new meds got left alone. The older meds got labeled "OLD" and the newer meds got labeled "NEW", so that I know to take from the "OLD" bottle first and get them used up.)
Second, I got a bunch of ziploc bags from the kitchen so I could package bottles by type and label them accordingly. For example, I have one bag with all my Dicetel in it (one new full box of foil wraps, and all the loose foil wraps from an older box that still have pills in them) that's labeled "DICETEL (GI, daily)". For my hormones, I have both in one bag, labeled "HORMONES: Marvelon (COCP) & PROMETRIUM (progesterone), AS NEEDED". For my migraine meds, I have them all in one bag because their packaging is small, labeled: "MIGRAINES: APO-AMITRIPTYLINE (daily), FIORINAL (as needed), MAXALT (as needed)". The exact syntax isn't always consistent, but it's whatever made the most sense for each bag, and the point is that if I am ever in the hospital or something and I need someone to go get my meds, they can easily do so without having to bring the entire bin.
Third, I created a new wallet list. What's a wallet list, you ask? Well. I keep a list of all the meds I take, including dosages, in my wallet so that if I'm ever in an accident and am unconscious, whoever's treating me will still know what I'm on. I don't think any of the drugs I take would have serious contra-indications, but I'd rather not leave it to chance. And besides, if I miss an anti-depressant/-anxiety by even 12 hours, I get really nasty side-effects like vertigo and nausea and muscle spasms and the sensation of full-body electric shocks, and I'd like to avoid going through them if at all possible. (I am the kind of person who also keeps an "In case of emergency, please contact X" card in my wallet. I made ones for my parents and brother and stuck them in their wallets, too, where I am the emergency contact person, because God knows they would have no idea to call me otherwise if my parents ever wound up in the hospital on one of their little roadtrips, and my brother isn't home ever and doesn't check the house phone's voicemail even when he is. Does nobody else think of these things?!)
Fourth, I refilled my weekly travel container. This is the green refurbished Altoid tin from here that I keep my daily meds in. It lives in my purse and has a little list stuck to the inside of the lid telling me what pills I take at what time. (My Watchminder only tells me when it's time for meds, not which ones.) I also took the opportunity to update that list too, since it's changed over the last six months.
Now everything is nice and organized! Compared to the huge overflowing jumbo shoebox it was before, this is pretty impressive:
I feel much better for having done something productive with my day despite being sick. Next I have to go through my OTC meds. (Don't worry, I won't post about that.)