Nyargh.

Aiken · Post by **Aiken** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:09 am

I've been sitting here for the last two and a half hours, wondering if was the pizza that was damping down the effect of my pill, with my leg bouncing and jiggling and all the other things I do with it, only to look down just now and see that very pill sitting on my mousepad. As opposed to in my tummy. Where it ought to be.

I guess I can add one more item to the list of things to check automatically when things are going poorly. You'd think this one would have been on it already, but apparently not. :roll:

SquirmingSusan · Post by **SquirmingSusan** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 10:35 am

Yup, that's how it goes. I seem to have taken my 5 or so various herbal sleep preparations, as well as a Lunesta. And here I sit at 5:30am wide awake and cheery. Oops, I bet I forgot the Sleep MD. No matter what all I take, if I miss that one there's no sleep.

Now last night, I was dozing off by about 1:30am and was thinking how great it was that I'd be able to sleep without sleep meds. Then the 50 mile an hour wind gusts started. Doors and windows slammed, the power went off and on, and I was startled awake about 6 times in the next 2 hours. By about 4am my heart was pounding so bad from being startled so many times that I took some Ativan to settle it back down.

There's no rest for the wicked! Or the forgetful. :roll:

Apparently I need to remember the ear plugs as well.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 5:37 pm

Indeed, that is the worst. Well, maybe worse is when you're not sure you've taken it....I set an alarm, but sometimes am busy cooking when it goes off. I say, "Oh, I'll do that as soon as I finish chopping/toasting/battering/whatever I'm doing." Except, on foggy days, my short term memory is just that: SHORT. Even if I start to wash my hands, I can forget before they are dry and simply think I was washing them, so I go to the next item on my prep list.

Then I spend ten minutes meticulously counting pills in the bottle, counting the days since the script, and hoping I wasn't wrong somewhere.

I like the idea of setting them out earlier in the day, though I'm not sure where I would set them....or if I'd remember to set them out.

Maybe, for people like Aiken and Susan (who are probably on the computer every night - guess I am in that group, too) a programmed message that would pop-up reminding us, but would actually be dated with today's date/day of the week. "Hello, Aiken. It's Tuesday at 8 PM. Do you know where your meds are?" You could actually program it in case you took different things on different days - like DH takes Fosamax once a week. Of course, to make it more annoying, once you clicked <Yes> the next message would pop up, "Great. Glad you know where they are. Now, go take them. When you are done, come back and tell me you have done so." And it wouldn't let you click immediately, so you'd have to go do it and come back and click. If you didn't click within a specific amount of time, it would start sirens shreiking or make colors flash on the PC.

Of course, at that time you'd disable it, so it wouldn't be nearly as useful as once envisioned, lol.

SquirmingSusan · Post by **SquirmingSusan** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 6:24 pm

Yeah, that would be like all those built in security features in Windows, like virus scanners and firewalls, that I always need to disable just to get the darned computer to work at all. :roll:

I'm a lot better when I sort my pills into the daily boxes I have with my pill timer. Then I can look in the pill box and if the pill is there, nope, didn't take it. Of course some times I take the pill out of the pill box and set it somewhere else and then forget about it...

jumpy · Post by **jumpy** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 8:24 pm

Ok, kids..I know I'm old..but I don't forget to take my pills. Because there are so many, I keep them in a daily box with four sections. There are seven days and I sort them once a week. My morning and evening are easy . I take them when I eat and I don't forget to eat. The supplements I take at lunch and mid afternoon. The mid afternoon is hard to remember.

But I do luv the warning on the computer. I am afraid it would p*** me off and go flying across the room.

Love you guys ... Pat

Aiken · Post by **Aiken** » Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:00 pm

Well, I don't normally forget. I take four different meds each day, and the various consequences of not taking them tend to be pretty dire (subjectively, anyway), so I have really good habits.

This time, I went and got the pill, came back to the computer, and realized I had nothing to drink. I went to get something, but I got distracted on my way back. The error here is that I didn't take the pill with me, the way I usually do. The lesson for me is: don't put the pill down, ever.

becat · Post by **becat** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:51 pm

Oh Aiken your no worse off than I am my dear.

I have the brain of a sponge most of these days. Worn out from traveling and getting ready to do so again on Tues......... :roll:

A 7 1/2 drive, who knows wherer I will end up in the long run. LOL

Honestly, I have struggle this week so hard, that I really pulled a big one.

Got up in the middle of the night, about 2-3 days ago, I was coughing like crazy. I figured that a cup hot honey and lemon water (of course, Decaf, LOL) would do the trick.

The trick was on me, I fell right back to sleep on the couch while waiting for the water to boil. YUP, :shock:

. Now I'm hoping that it was very close to 5:50 am, but I have no clue. My husband found the glowing mess when he woke up. I trashed a beautiful tea pot. Who knows how many chemicals I let roam around our house that night, no I do not want to know. And, I could have set the house ablaze. Yeah, great way to boost an ego for the day. :roll:

Just down right embarrassing. I swear. I'm lucky to have a great guy in my hubby........he laughed, called no harm, and proceded to tell me about how many slips and falls he's taken since his foot surgery.

I have an electric water boiler with an automatic shut off for the "just in case I fall asleep" issues I have.

I need sticky notes just to remember my name, babe. I so feel your pain. LOL

Hugs Lynne

jan3213 · Post by **jan3213** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:35 pm

The daily pill box is a great thing.....most of the time. The other day, I went to lunch with a friend. I have a pill box---AM and PM for every day. I take two pills in the morning, and the rest in the evening, including all of my RLS pills and pain meds for my back.

As I said, I went to lunch at, ummmm, around 11:30 a.m. When my lunch came, I promptly took out my pill box and took all of my PM pills. YEP! Didn't even think anything about it until I started getting verrrrryyyyy sleeeeppppy. Then it dawned on me!!! Just a little bit too late. LOL

So, along with not being able to remember my best friend's name, forgetting to pay a bill, or who knows what, you can now add taking all of my pills way too early and not even realizing it until I get sleepy! Geeze Louise!!

Actually, I guess with the lack of sleep a lot of us have to deal with, I'm surprised we can even remember who we are!

Signed.....
Ummm, wait a sec, it'll come to me....uhhhhh

P.S. Hey Becat! Sure am glad you didn't have a worse outcome with the teapot, honey!

Aiken · Post by **Aiken** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:04 pm

Oh, I hate that wrong-pills in the morning thing. I did that once when I was taking methadone. I'm not opioid-naive, but doubling my daily dose still knocked me out for much of the day.

And then there's the day last month when I stopped my hand halfway to my mouth, realizing I had two 10mg hydrocodones in it instead of two FiberCons. Lesson for that day: Don't work on difficult programming problems in my head while taking pills.

Lynne, I'm to the point where I don't like to use electrical appliances that don't have timers on them. My memory's still good, when not addled by this or that medication, but I get so easily engrossed in other things that I've spent my life eating burnt toast, burnt pizza, burnt cookies, cold hot cocoa, etc. Add in random sleepiness and a simple task goes all pear-shaped all too easily.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 12:00 am

I just bought the electric tea kettle...having burned one up yet, but I could see it happening. Lynne, mine also just shuts off immediately after boiling, so, no big deal if I forget. Think of it this way, you saved yourself from having to throw away the teapot you loved. This way you just can't use it anymore. :shock:

I've left burners on several times....usually with nothing over them (took the pan off of extremely low heat and just....forgot) thought a couple of times I left an empty pan on the heat.

I've had to really scold myself. I, like Aiken, get absorbed, and I also have no brain....between the two, it's a disaster waiting to happen.

lyndarae · Post by **lyndarae** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:14 pm

Aiken......This is a really good thread! Because I thought I was the only one doing all of these forgetful things (chaullking it up to old age) my excuse........

But after reading threads and saying to myself I do that too......well HELLO!!!! I am not losing my mind after all HMMMMMMMM well not all of it.Lynne, I forgot I had food cooking a couple of times too, my upstairs living room is so far away from the kitchen by the time the smoke gets up here you know it's toast, and I do have a working smoke alarm??

That is what scares me the most living here alone I don't have anyone to save me from myself, so I do the pill box thing every day and refill it every Sunday. And I dont cook anything anymore unless I can stay in the kitchen.

I do wake up in the morning with chips or nuts all over myself and my bed because I fall asleep while eating not too smart......Wouldnt it be nice to have a robot come around with our meds in the little white cups just on time everyday and night... HA a girl can dream RIGHT!!!!

Jan, I have done the same thing too.......you swallow and then go ohhhhhh MG. What did I just do, sorry folks gotta run.

I went to my phramacy the other day and questioned them on why the price of my vicaden had gone up from 19.00 to 56.00 oopps they had been charging me wrong...........DUH well they are going to make it up to me but I was in tears when I went in telling them I am at a point where it's between meds and food, well we know which one is going to win.

I even had to cut back on the mirapex because I simply can't afford it so I cut them in half now and only take half so far the only thing I have noticed is I was very depressed all weekend. So bad that I was thinking of the S word all day and lots of tears.

But something came over me(my higher power) I think because all of a sudden I just felt this warmth come over me, as tho someone else jumped into my brain, I picked myself up and just got busy on things I needed to do and the depression was gone.

So for those of you who have me in your prayers. Thank you! Once again my family pulled me through a rough time. I can say one good thing about age it makes you wiser.........still forgetfull but gratefull none the less.

And the weather< WELL I need some sunshine, we are not having problems like alot of folks are, and my heart goes out to them, these rainy,windy cold days are getting to me........I need to be out on my bike, or fishing, or pulling weeds, just outta here........ well I am rambling now but I just wanted to **** my two cents in here..........thanks for reading this is a good one GOD BLESS ~~~~~~~~Lyndarae