Managing Medications Well – Tips, Tools and Tricks to Make Everything Easier

Medications can play such a large role in health. But, they’re complicated – and often expensive. Honestly, managing medication well can feel like a bit of an art form some days.

And, that’s only half of the equation.

Many of us are taking supplements as well. That supplement might have been prescribed, or it might have been purchased over the counter.

There are two key parts to managing your medication.

• The first is to think about the medications that you’re taking. Overprescription remains a serious problem. Some people end up taking medications that they don’t need, ones that may compromise their health.
• The second is to make sure you take the right medications at the right time. Medication management apps and devices can help with this. We talk about some of our favorites later in this post, along with some features that can be helpful.

The Problem of Over-Prescription

Over-prescription refers to people how people end up taking far too many medications. The word polypharmacy is sometimes used – and the problem is a serious one for seniors.

One estimate gives an average of 15 prescription medications per year for people in their 60s. That doesn’t include all the over-the-counter supplements and products that they might be taking.

This pattern of medication has many serious issues.

• Even safe medications have side effects, some of which can be severe. It’s difficult to avoid these entirely, even for good doctors.
• The effects of medication can be easily missed. Side effects like fatigue, nausea or worse might never be attributed to the medication that caused them.
• Medications and supplements interact, often in unexpected ways.
• Taking the right medication at the right time can be difficult, confusing, and overwhelming. For some medications, even missing a single dose can have serious consequences.
• Many medications just aren’t needed. Similar effects may sometimes be achieved with lifestyle changes or with another approach. In other cases, medication may only be needed in the short-term.

So, why does overprescription happen? And, more importantly, what can we do about it?

Causes of Over-Prescription

Cause #1: Medications Aren’t Discontinued

Much of the time, doctors will keep patients on the current medications, even in the face of health changes.

In some ways, the idea makes sense. After all, some medications take time to physically adjust to, so starting and stopping isn’t ideal. Sometimes it takes a month or more to get up to the right dose and just as long to wean off, so changes need to be considered carefully.

And, if a combination of medication appears to be working, a doctor may be unwilling to change things.

After all, each medication change means an alteration in the patient’s medication routine and the potential for side effects.

These practices can mean that, over time, you end up taking multiple medications that you don’t even need. Some of those might be to counter the side effects of other medications (which is beyond frustrating).

Cause #2: Reasons for Medication are Unclear

Most medications have many effects on the body. They’re often prescribed for an ‘official’ or on-label use, but not always. For example, a mild antidepressant may be prescribed to help with anxiety or high blood pressure.

If the doctor knows you well and is familiar with the medication – the approach can be powerful.

But, doing this is also confusing. It might not always be clear what a given medication is for.

Cause #3: Fragmented Care

If you had a single doctor that knew you well and knew your medication history, then managing your medications well wouldn’t be too difficult. That doctor would know why they prescribed a given medication and would know when it was time to try something else.

But, things rarely work that way.

Our healthcare system is seriously fragmented.

For example, seniors who go to hospital are often prescribed additional medication – from doctors who may only have a partial understanding of the patient’s medical history. Patients may end up with multiple prescriptions from multiple sources, which gets confusing fast.

And, most patients aren’t going to have the same single doctor indefinitely. Perhaps that doctor retires. Perhaps they move house. Perhaps their finances change.

While the new doctor will get their patient’s medical history, prescription details and other information, there may be details missing. As we mentioned before, the doctor may not know why the patient is taken specific medications and could choose to keep following the same pattern.

This whole problem gets complicated and confusing fast once patients have been through multiple doctors and various sources of prescriptions.

Cause #4: Alternatives Aren’t Considered

Another problem is when a physician focuses on medication over a lifestyle change. For example, high cholesterol can often be managed entirely through the diet, but many people end up on statins instead (which can have significant side effects).

There are certainly times where statins are important. The same is true for other medications.

But, it’s also critical to look for lifestyle changes. These really can be powerful for long-term health.

For example, a Mediterranean-style diet is often linked to longevity and may improve health in a number of areas. This type of change could reduce the need for medication in some areas.

Likewise, sleeping medication tends to be a bad plan, especially in the long-term. There are various alternatives that you can consider, including meditation apps and improving your sleeping habits and environment.

Cause #5: Medication is Complicated

Finally, medication and supplements have many impacts on the body – and interactions with each other. The effects are different from one person to the other.

These factors make it difficult, if not impossible, to find a perfect medication balance for any one person.

Healthcare professionals won’t always agree on the best course of action either. They have their own opinions and biases.

As such, medication is often a matter of trial and error. It can take multiple attempts to get a good balance of medication. Needs may change over time too, especially as health conditions improve or decline.

Regular adjustment and readjustment is essential.

What Can You Do?

The first step is simple – be your own advocate (and/or the advocate for the person you’re caring for).

Ask about the benefits of the medications that you’re on. Why are you taking them? What are the side effects? The interactions? What are the alternatives?

Weigh up what you’re told.

Are the side effects worth the benefits? For example, iron supplements can cause stomach upsets and iron isn’t too difficult to get in the diet. Could you use a meal replacement shake instead of supplements to increase your intake?

Make sure you get a clear picture of why you’re taking a specific medication.

Ask about alternative medications too. Drug companies sometimes provide incentives to doctors. That process may influence the medication your doctor chooses to recommend. While your doctor isn’t likely to recommend something harmful, there could easily be a better option out there.

Managing Your Medication

The next important approach is managing medications well. Doing so includes:

• Being sure that you take your medication on time and don’t miss doses.
• Getting medication refills before you run out.
• Keeping a backup supply of medication, to prevent problems if you can’t get your refills as soon as you would like to.
• Knowing exactly what medications you are taking, their doses and why you are taking each medication. Having this information written down is important too, so you can easily communicate with healthcare providers.

The same approaches are true for caregivers. Caregivers may also benefit from tools that tell them when their care recipients have missed a dose.

Diabetes Help? For more tools to help track your diabetes medication and supplies, check out our tracking sheet.

On that note, let’s take a look at some tools that can help medication management.

Physical Tools

Pill boxes are the simpliest ways to management medication. These allow you to section out your medication for each day. There are multiple advantages:

• It’s easy to see when medication has been taken.
• You don’t need to deal with multiple bottles every time you take medication. Simply tip the contents of the container into your hand and you’re good to go.
• If a person has cognitive challenges, someone else can set up the box. This dramatically reduces the chances of under- or over-medication.

The simplest pill boxes provide space for a week’s medication at a time, with a single box for each day.

This works well if you only need to take medication once every day. The next step up is an AM/PM box, which works exactly as you would expect. Some allow you to remove individual compartments and take them with you, while others are a single unit.

There are even some that allow you to set out medication for up to four times per day, seven days a week.

For people who struggle to remember medication, some devices provide alerts. You’ll often be able to set up the device with multiple alerts at different times of the day.

The products highlighted are all from Amazon, but you’ll find many basic pill boxes in local stores. You could use these in conjunction with a medication management apps to get many of the features of a medication system with an alarm.

You can also take a more old school approach and rely on a spreadsheet (like this one for diabetes medication and supplies). Spreadsheets can help you keep track of important information, such as the product number, when you’re likely to need a refill, and who to contact.

Medication Management Apps

Apps really are a powerful way to work with your medications. They are able to store a lot of information at once and also remind you about taking medications when you need to.

This can include situations where your medication schedule is complex and you have multiple medications to focus on. A medication box with an alarm, on the other hand, wouldn’t be flexible enough to keep up with complex medication needs.

Apps can have other features too, including (but not limited to):

• The ability to maintain an active list of your current medications, including what each pill looks like, your dose, and why the medication is being taken.
• The ability to share details with family members. For example, some apps can be set up to message a family member if the user misses a dose of medication.
• Details about the medications you are taking, including any potential side effects and interactions between different medications.
• Reminders for each time you need to take your pills. These can often be customized to meet your needs.
• Storing other related information, such as your doctor’s appointments and when you will need a refill.

One of the best apps to begin with is the Pill Reminder & Medication App – Medisafe (you can read our full review here). The app name is a mouthful, but the app is incredibly popular, gets good reviews, and has more features than most.

There is a free and a paid version of the app.

But, the features most people are looking for can be found in the free version. The paid one is most useful if you need to manage medications for multiple family members or send regular alerts to other people.

If you’re only managing your own medication, then the free Medisafe app would be ideal.

We’re still in the process of reviewing in-depth, but some other interesting apps that we’ve found are:

• Pill Reminder & Medication Tracker – My Therapy. This app gets good reviews, is free, and does not rely on ads. It also offers a health journal and a mood tracker.
• Pill Logger – Meds Tracker. This app is simplistic and isn’t as popular as many others. But, it also offers more control than most other apps, even giving you the chance to track medications that you take as needed, rather than on a schedule.
• Meica: Medication Reminder, Pill Tracker & Review. This app is another interesting choice. It rivals the Medisafe app for popularity and has many of the same features too. There is also the chance to send refill requests from within the app if your pharmacy is compatible.

There is also the Drugs.com Medication Guide app. This one focuses on helping you to understand your medications, keep records on hand, and check for interactions. It does not have the same reminder features that other apps have. Plus, you need to be online to use it.

But, if you want to take a more active hand in understanding your own medication, or the medication of a family member, this app could be powerful.