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KatME13 Asked November 2013

I try to help Mom, she mixes up her medications and then complains that she "is not a child"!

It scares me to find that she has taken her medications too much or too little, too soon or too late, not at all or too many! I said that I would give them to her as she needed them and she was not happy with me. She says that I am the problem and that I gave her the wrong medications in the first place. I don't think she is deluded just confused.

blannie Nov 2013
Yes my mom also uses the pill boxes. I fix them for her or she would never be able to remember them or figure them out. She takes morning meds and an evening med. The scary thing is when I go over there and it appears she hasn't taken her morning meds. She never can remember if she did or not. Sometimes when she starts a new pill set for the week, she'll start on the wrong day. So it's always a crapshoot whether she's just a day off (and taking her pills) or has forgotten them for that day. I never have her take another set, as I don't want her to OD on her heart meds. So I have to start the reminders to take her pills when I speak to her (2X a day). She also occasionally drops them on the floor. But so far, so good...she'll be 94 next month and has outlived all four siblings (both older and younger than her). I'm just glad she doesn't fight me on fixing them for her. She knows she couldn't handle it on her own and says so.

Equinox Nov 2013
katMe13
I also did what pstiegman suggested. it works great. When my mom started turning the pill box upside down and she was taking meds at evening time in the morning. I decided to just leave her the meds she needed to take in the morning box. That way there was no confusion, and i knew she took them. I always checked the floor. Her eye sight was not very good. Purchase the pill boxes with the big print. Mom started out with the small size and dr added more and the small ones did not fit them all. Sometimes they would get stuck at the side of the inside of the pillbox. I would always write down what I did in my journal so I would remember what I did for the next time.Hope that's helpful.

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KatME13 Nov 2013
Thank you for your kind response. I will give it a try, I hope to help her not treat her like she's lost it!

pamstegma Nov 2013
Been there. Get a 7 day pill box, fill it and take the bottles away. We had to do this with mom, she resisted at first and complained a lot. We held our ground and she begrudgingly gave in after several weeks. She feels better, is on an even keel, but still fusses over the box. C'est La Vie.

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