Hiding meds to keep husband from overdosing. How do you do it?

Have your husband care for by professionals and relieve your frustration of watching him

You go to Target and you buy a safe with a combination and you put all of his medications inside and you give them to him when he needs them. It is easier if you fill the plastic boxes once a week and then they are ready when needed.

I will never forget the day my mother plopped down in front of me holding all the bottles of her medication...to take them, when she had already been given all her meds. If she had taken these and I was unaware I do not know what would have happened but it scared the crap out of me!

Do it fast and stand your ground if he gets angry with you.

Frankly, If someone locked up my meds and I wanted them, I would destroy the container. Fortunately, I don't take any meds. What I would suggest is one of those fire proof safes. I wouldn't be able to open that and neither would he. Hide it someplace that you frequently go and he seldom goes - maybe the laundry room?? Don't be seen bringing meds out of that room. Fix them up while he's sleeping or while you're making wash day noises - like running the dryer. My husband would never find anything in the laundry room. It's like the old joke, "honey where do we keep the dishwasher." If he is someone that does laundry, then you will have to think of something else.

I'm afraid I don't appreciate this "problem." If I want to hide something from my dementia husband, I hide it and there is no way he can ever find it. Why is a hiding place such a problem?

I'll trade husbands with you, since mine has a fit when I give him medicines.How does that sound? marymember

Re: the Philips device with a $49/month charge. No way. Completely too expensive, and NOT necessary to rent something you can OWN. Do the math-- $49 a month is about 3 or 4 times more than buying it. Or just get a lock box. Or hide the medications in maxi-pad box (eh, maybe not, men with dementia might have forgotten the taboo).

I have to say this funny thing. When my dad was alive, he commonly stole pain pills from my mother and put them in his pocket. My mother found them commonly when doing laundry and told me about it. After a week or so, I asked my mother what she had figured out what to do. She told me that she found an answer. "I cut holes in his pockets and they just fall to the floor." Oh,,,,,that sounds like a good plan, indeed.....

There are some high tech pill boxes that automaticlly dispense only when it is time. That way the box would be the demon and not you at least :-), but maybe he could even learn to trust the thing and might like the little bit of independence from caregiver telling him everything. E-pill is one, and you can Google automatic locking pill dispensers for more.

I agree with getting a lockbox & putting it someplace the patient can't get to it.
If that has to be in the basement (because they can't go downstairs), fine.
Or in the car (but not in hot weather).
Be sure it has a cable to attach to the car (frame, or the trunk latch loop, or part of the seat frame), or something solid that's attached to the house, so the person can't move it somewhere & work on it in secret.

For my personal meds, the really interesting ones with street value (which I rarely take anyway) are in my safe with my non-carry pistols & important papers.

I have a similar problem for the guy I'm grandpa-sitting...
Sometimes he forgets he's been given his pill, so goes looking for them to take another. I try to keep them out of sight, but he knows where they usually are & will go to great lengths to find them. There's nowhere to lock them up.
I thought about finding candy that looks alike, so he can take as many as he wants.

The family & other caregiver don't even try to hide meds from him.
For example, I always put the laxative on the highest shelf in the kitchen, behind a cabinet door, because he's short & I'm tall & he can't get to it...
because if he can he'll take several doses in a day (he forgets that he's poo'd recently), then spend the next couple days messing his pants repeatedly, which is a pain for the caregivers too (showers, changing clothes, gross laundry).

But again, the family & other caregiver keep putting it on the counter where he can get to it! Very frustrating.

Lock them up. Pure and simple. A box, a cupboard, whatever. The caregiver is responsible. Take charge. Don't argue.

My sister and I faced the same problem. We purchased a heavy duty tool box with two tiers (morning meds / evening meds), and lock both tiers with Briggs or Master Locks. We take out meds for each day, never more, and place them in the daily pill dispenser. That way, daddy felt he was somewhat in control, but we knew we had him totally protected. We hid the box ... minor inconvenience for us, but nothing compared to the worry we had when he was waking up at midnight and took his morning pills, then waking up at 4 and again at 7ish and thinking he hadn't taken his morning pills yet! You have to protect them from themselves.

Of course I had heard but had not thought of one in relation to hiding my husbands meds, or any meds for that matter, but it is certainly going on my list to get one.

My problem is the opposite....My husband, who has Alzheimers, absolutely hates, hates, and double hates to take medicine of any kind. He takes a lot, due to prostate as well as Alzheimers. I feel like the big bad wolf whenever I dole them out, which is at every meal. It is discouraging. marymember

Here it is!! PHILIPS (one L) Medication Despensing Service.
It's an answer to prayer. Only way it wouldn't work is if they refuse to take the meds when despensed. I called, they met me at moms retirement home, set it up, showed me how to load it, ( plenty of manuals and the phone number has help line nearly 24/7) cost $99 to get machine, which kinda looks like a dehydrater for food. I pay $49.99 a month auto deduct on my Visa. Takes me about an hour to load a months pills, for twice a day. (you can load as many as you have on hand. Just stop filling the cups when run out of a medicine.). You fill cups, put lids on, install, it speaks " your meds are ready, press the button". When mom takes the cup from the machine it says " thank you, please drink extra fluids". An led box gives date, when next dose will be despensed. It is opened by a key which is needed for more details like how many doses are left, and other info. I hid a key under her sink and have one on my key chain. We live near St. Louis, Mo. But I believe it could be done through the mail. WHAT A BLESSING THIS HAS BEEN TO ME, Donna

FlemingD, The lock on a cupboard sounds best. That way you are up front with him and it reinforces your agreement to make sure he has only what is safe for him. Another thing is the locking, automatic pill dispenser that can be programmed to dispense pills on a schedule. This device helped me train my Mom to trust that I am making sure she gets the proper doses. If he forgets he had his pills, or thinks he should have more for whatever reason, he can see that he already took what the doctor has ordered to be safe for him. I do this for my mom with all her daily meds and also her tylenol for pain. She never remembers taking her meds, but that machine reassures everyone that she has or hasn't. She is still living alone, so I take all meds home with me. But the locked cabinet is a great idea. A box could simply get lost (or taken).

My mom had a pain pill addiction when she came to live with me. First, I put all the meds where we all knew where they were, including her because I felt it was more respectful. However, that changed when I caught her several times, dosing herself up. I ended up putting locks on my closets and my office door, and I also have a safe in the office. I put all meds in the safe that were pain pills or muscle relaxants. I realized that I had no choice. I also offered her tylenol when she needed something, and as they looked just like the pain pills, she thought that is what she was getting. I just did what I had to do for safety reasons, and I did not give my mother any choice in the matter. I managed her medications and she had to get used to the idea, like it or not. Over time, it has gotten better. She knows that I am serious about being responsible, and there is not more sneaking of anything. I have removed all of those options.

My wife was hiding both our meds and I believe taking or throwing them out. I have a filing cabinet and I put a hasp and lock on it, just one drawer. If you don't get a small fire proof safe, they have different sizes.

How about replacing them with candy? Maybe there is something that looks somewhat similar. Just trying to think outside the box.

One day I thought my husband had taken something he shouldn't have so I put all his blister packs and all the other pain relievers in our safe only keeping out a week at a time, then hiding them in my night table where he would not look. I would always bring him his meds so only if he had a headache would he go looking for something. That gave me peace of mind. The lock box sounds good if a safe is not available but I would suggest nailing or screwing it down to a shelf because with Alzheimer's he might move it somewhere else and of course forget where.

A med box with a timer that only goes off when each dose is due is great. the rest of the meds in the bottles you can purchase a locked box or put a lock on a small cabinet. You don't say if he's physically able to be up and about or is confused; the only draw back to locked box or cabinet is he can saw or use bolt cutters to break in-if he's able. It can be a serious issue, esp. if he has dementia and doesn't understand the possible ramifications of a overdose.

we had this problem with a family friend and soon as you left the house on the hunt they would go. Dad finally locked in the trunk of the car..then purchased a heavy duty locking toolbox-tamper resistant. I agree a safe or locking TAMPER PROOF box.Many are cheap and can be opened with a knife or pass key or a throw to the ground. Also there are easy to install door alarms to keep on the room where you keep the meds even if locked up if you open the door to room, closet etc... and the alarm will sound until you turn it off.Often that in itself will help deter the problem as everytime they try they get "caught". I would just have out the meds needed in the am and again in the pm daily-no weekly or monthly blister packs around the house keep them locked up and control the dosage that way! good luck-god bless!

1. Bubble/blister packaging: You could contact the pharmacy to see if they can bubble pack his medications--this means they have a sheet of medications organized by day & time, according to his medication schedule. There'd be a bubble for Monday morning, then another bubble for Monday evening, etc. All you have to do is pick the correct day/time and push the medications through the foil backing. This is often helpful for people who need help remembering if they took their medications. However, not exactly tamper-proof, but it could be kept somewhere locked.
2. Get rid of all old medications that he should not be taking. But do not flush them down the toilet/sink or throw them away--a lot of medications can be toxic to the environment and water supply if disposed of this way. Your local police department might have a program that takes old medications and disposes of them properly. Or you could contact your local Senior Information & Assistance office to see if there is a place locally to take old medications.
3. Find a place in your home where you could keep all medications locked away. A lock box, a closet, a cupboard, a safe... anywhere you'd have pretty easy access and he wouldn't.
4. Medication dispenser machine: There are many different companies that offer locked, tamper-proof medication dispenser machines. You would need to organize the pills and program the machine to dispense/unlock for access when it is time to take his dose. These machines usually have an alarm to remind someone, and some even have a service where you can receive an automated phone call or a call from a person at a call center to remind you to take your medications.
5. Mediset: This is a lower-tech way to organize the medications into a pill box. There are so many different kinds--some with just one dose per day Monday-Friday, some that have two or three doses per day, even some that have a box for each day of the month. Again, you would have to organize the pills in the box and figure out a place to keep it locked away, but it would be a cheaper alternative and help you keep his medications safely organized, and it would make your life much easier.
I hope these suggestions help!

Anything that might be a danger to him, or that he could use to hurt you should be locked up, including scissors, knives, OTC meds cleaning chemicals or whatever he might get into to demonstrate his independence.

You don't mention if dementia is involved here. If so, of course it's pointless to argue.

I find it works best with my oppositional mother to take a deep breath, get to a calm place in my mind and respond with affection. After all, I'm controlling things out of love and devotion to her and my tone of voice and facial expression (smiling) need to reflect that.

Blessings to you both for harmony in your relationship, despite the trying circumstances.

LOCKBOX, LOCKBOX, LOCKBOX. There is no other safe or reasonable way to keep medications, especially narcotics, out of reach. You need to think of this exactly the same way you would a small child: keep it out of reach, out of sight. And then keep count, every day. If you cannot do this one thing, you should not be a caregiver, as a "mistake" here can be fatal.

I bought 7 daily pill containers and marked each one with day of the week. Once a week filled up the containers and set the daily containers out where he could get them, I got the containers with 4 sections, am - noon -etc.
then hid the prescription bottles (I used extra bedroom closet). Worked well for me,
he felt he had control over his medication because he was opening the container and taking, also helped him to remember what day it was, Tues container empty - it must be Wed.

And I did not have the hassle of dragging around the pills, finding the darn key for a lock and him being angry at me cause I locked something away from him, of course to make things easier I told him that I was doing it that way to make it easier for me rather than to dole out pills on a daily basis and it actually was. I did make sure to let one of the kids know of the hiding place should something have happened to me.

Have professionals control your husband's medications, why put you through this stress

Get a safe just like one that you'd put valuables in, that has a numerical code lock. There is no way he can open it or smash it open.

You have never heard of a lock and key to a box?

What is A L F ? I live in Florida and my local Publix never heard of the blister packs the only mail order pharmacy that I found is $28 dollars plus copays for 2 weeks with 28 pills . My husband is good about putting the out in 3 groups but than one will drop and he gets paranoid that this was a vital one.