Interstitial Cystitis Advice

For many of us with Interstitial Cystitis life includes having to take oral medication, and this may often mean a number of different medications each day. If we have overlapping or non-related medical conditions and/or take supplements/vitamins this number can climb even higher.

Taking your medications in a routine manner can be one of the best ways to get the maximum amount benefits out of them. But trying to remember which one you took, and when you took it can be a challenge for even those with a razor sharp memory. Organizing your pills into their daily doses is a great way to help you remember to take you medications and to let you know just what pills you have a consumed that day (this is very important, as some medication should only be taken in the exact amount prescribed by your doctor).

Fortunately there are a lot of great day-by-day pill dividers on the market. They range from the ultra-basic to the highly elaborate. Depending on the number of meds you take you may need one with larger daily slots (some also break down each day into three or more slots/boxes, such as morning, afternoon and night). Some are designed to be replenished each week; others are laid out to accommodate an entire week or month. A few designs even include locks, calendars or alarms (to alert you that it is time to take your medication). As well separate medication reminders/alarms (usually digital these days) are available. Designs of such devices include watches and digital devices (some look like pagers or palm pilots).

A see-through organizer can be handy, as it allows you to see if you have missed any doses for that day. If you have missed a dose you may be able to take two doses of the same medication at one time, but please consult with your doctor or pharmacy first if you are not one hundred percent certain that is all right, and that no negative affects could occur from doing so.

Organizers are easy to find at your local pharmacy, though more elaborate models may require you to go to a medical supply shop, large pharmacy or order them on line (Amazon has a wonderful, thorough selection of all kinds of medication organizers).

If you have some medications that you do not take on a daily basis, but always want to have on hand you may want to keep a couple pills of each of these kinds of medications in one slot of the organizer. When you take these pills, replenish them right away to avoid being caught off guard the next time you go to reach fro them. For example if your pill organizer comes to work with you, and you take a pain med when your IC symptoms flare you would not want to be without that med when your symptoms act up. By replenishing the non-daily drug you took as soon as possible, the risk of discovering you do not have it with you is greatly decreased.

Also when you are replenishing your pill organizer remember to check the expiration dates and levels of medication remaining in each bottle (as well as the number of refills left on each prescription). Try to never let your prescription(s) run out entirely. Many pharmacies now offer phone in refill services where (assuming you have refills remaining on your prescription) all you have to do is phone your pharmacy and ask them to refill your medication(s). Some (but not all) doctors offices will also phone in refills for you, or let you call the receptionist and ask for a new refill on your existing prescription(s).

Different tricks work for different people when it comes down to remembering to take their medications every day as scheduled. If your medication needs to be taken with food or drink, meal times are helpful reminders to take your med. You could also jot down the times and meds in an easy to see spot (on the fridge, on your desk, etc), or if you only take a few meds/doses a day assign certain hours of the day to them. Say pill "a" at 9am, pill "b" at 1pm and pill "c" at 5pm. This method works better if you only have to take one dose of each medication per day. Keeping your pill organizer in an easily accessible and noticeable spot will also encourage and remind you to take your medications.

In addition to helping you remember to take your meds each day it is a great idea to keep a running, current list of each and every medication and supplement/vitamin that you are taking. Update or change this list each time you alter your meds in any way. You could keep this record on paper (such as in your IC/health journal ) or on the computer, in which case a simple spreadsheet program can really come in handy.

Not only is this information valuable to you and your family, if you provide your health care team with such info it will help keep all your doctors up to date on your medications you are taking. This can be very helpful for both them and you, as well as it may cut down on time spent being asked what meds you re on, how often, etc.

The more details this list takes into account the better (such as date you began taking the med, it's full name and generic name if known, doses a day, which doctor/hospital/etc prescribed the medication and where you get it filled. If you like you could even include notes about how you have reacted to each medication, and the time of day you ideally try to take each medication/dose. (It's very important that you list be as current as possible.)

If you wear a medical alert (such as a
MedicAlert bracelet, necklace or wrist watch) of some kind, it is also crucial that you keep your medical alert information as accurate and recent as can be. In the event of an emergency this info can potentially help to save your life, especially if you have had serve reactions to certain types of medication in the past.

Remember virtually everyone forgets to take a dose of his or her meds now and again, and we all need to make a conscious effort to remember when to take our pills. Organization can go a very long way in helping to make the task and stress of taking your IC medications more bearable.