Taking control of meds. What can I do?

Make it all about the health of the dog rather than her dropping pills, etc.

My dad did an ingenious thing for my mom's meds. He got those little pleated paper cups you put ketchup at a fast food place, and put Mom's pills in those. The smallest ones fit perfectly into her pill box, so he just took out the whole cup and handed it to her to pour into her mouth. Half the time she insisted in pouring them into her hand, then putting them in her mouth -- resulting in dropped pills, but the pill dropping decreased a great deal.

I've been through this exact thing and have some things to say regarding well-meant answers I've read here. My mom is insistent she do everything herself. Like your mother, she does not want to be dependent on having someone else give her the meds she needs each day. She began to double dose herself because she couldn't recall whether she had taken her pills or not. The next day, she wouldn't take any pills because we told her she'd double dosed and that was dangerous, and we (my siblings and I) offered once again to help with her meds. She balked, as usual, and refused our help. How many times she said, "I can do it myself," I can't count. After much discussion, reading, and speaking with her caregiver (who also tried to help with her meds) and a doctor, we purchased a $375 pill dispenser. It did everything ... told her when to take her next dose by beeping until she took them ... when her next dose was due, etc. We explained the whole thing and she appeared to be fine with the idea. Fast forward to the next day - she took a hammer, screwdriver and kitchen knife and broke the dispenser apart, took out all the pills (a month's worth), and attempted to write down when to take each pill (in spite of a giant Alzheimer's clock on the wall that tells the date and time that she refuses to use). The pills were all over the kitchen table, and her "method" of when to take each pill was so confusing she couldn't tell the when, what, or why of what she had done.
We finally stepped up, took away all of her pills, and as calmly as possible explained why we were taking them. She was so embarrassed and confused by what she had done that she finally agreed. Her caregiver is responsible for most of the pills now. On weekends we give them to her ourselves. Ours was an expensive mistake, minus the $375 pill dispenser. If your mom isn't as stubborn as mine and her dementia isn't as advanced as my mom's is, a pill dispenser may work for you. But if you are there to give her meds to her each day you may not need a dispenser. Just do what one commenter did - take them away from her ASAP, and do not take no for an answer. She may be upset, and/or mad, but too bad. After a while, she'll likely forget the whole thing. If she doesn't, just keep giving her her pills. You don't need to explain why every time. Think of it this way: You are now the parent and she is now the child, the End. Good luck!

I think just a gentle appoach again. "Mom, I love you very much. I want to be here for you, and I know that losing control of things is a fear; you like to take care of stuff on your own. But I have found (say here what you have found) and this is a danger for you, even for our pup if he were to get your medications. I know you don't believe me, but I want to tell you I would not lie to you, and I do not want to hurt you. It is time now that I manage with you your medications. If we can't work together through this then I can't continue to be a support to you, as it would endanger you and I can't allow that. It is awful, but it is now me, or the med nurse at a live-in long term care facility. I understand how hard this is for you; it would be for me, as well. And no one wishes more than I do that we didn't have to have this conversation. But we do".
You are looking now at dementia coming, and the fight against losing control will be dramatic indeed if there is denial. This is the beginning of loss upon loss of all control and dignity and our elders KNOW this. Nevertheless, some things cannot be changed, cannot be made happy, cannot be fixed; they have to be lived with. Hard times. I am so sorry.
I am not saying the above will work. With a mind that is slipping often NOTHING but the medication nurse DOES work. My bro fought like anything to stay in control; it was the worst of it all for him.

I wouldn't worry too much about the dog. Remember how immensely superior dogs' sense of smell is to our own - his nose should tell him This Is Not Food.

Your mother got annoyed because (as she sees it, remember) she is taking her medication perfectly competently and already doing as you advised. She's not a child! She's not an idiot! Why are you treating her like one! (this is all mother's possible view of the matter, I stress).

It seems that the problem is arising between her opening her pillbox and transferring the pills to her mouth. Little/deep compartments, elderly (arthritic, numb) fingers, and teeny-tiny tablets/slippery capsules can all conspire to make accidents happen.

What I would *like* to do when supporting people with their medication is place the tablets one type at a time on a plain, dark-coloured coaster or saucer so that the person can see it, and can easily get hold of it. That gives them at least a chance to start with. I'm not allowed to do that. I have to open their blister pack and decant the whole px into an eggcup or similar, then allow the client (if the client chooses) to attempt to down them in one and chuck half of them down his shirt front. Or drop a couple in his tea. Or swat them up his nostril. Whatever. Oh the fun we have figuring out which has gone where...

I hate blister packs with a vengeance, I have to say. They are the devil to open for people with arthritic fingers, selecting the right compartment from the grid is not nearly as simple as you'd think once you turn the tray over, and the compartments are often quite deep, the plastic creases, and then that Apixaban is going to stay wedged at the bottom forever. They may save fiddling about with half a dozen assorted boxes and remembering which is for what time of day, but those are the ONLY problems they solve.

There is quite a range of pill minders and electronic dosette boxes out there, though, including some which automatically decant the tablets into an appropriately sized plastic cup (like the ones they hand out in hospitals). Might that help?

Do it anyway. My mother gave me a hard time too. She insisted she’s been doing it herself for years and didn’t need my help but there were days she forgot and another day she tried to take them twice. When I found 3 different pills mixed up in the same bottle, that was it. I took them and hid them. I put out a little ceramic dish on the table and every morning before she gets up I put her pills in it. She fought me for about 3 weeks insisting she didn’t need me to do it. I just ignored abs kept doing it. The arguments have stopped when she realized she wasn’t getting anywhere with it. Do what you have to do.

You need to do what needs to be done regardless of her reaction. When my MIL, who was living with us at the time, started having similar med issues, this was one (of several) concerns that surfaced about the same time that convinced us it was time for her to move to AL.

Tell her that you're afraid the dog will get a fallen pill and if it happens again, you'll be handing her the pill.

As far as skipping a pill once in a while, well that's not going to kill her as most all Seniors are taking too many med's in the first place.

Found it! It's called a pill-tipper, and it's an accessory stand for Pivotell medication dispensers.

The dispenser sits firmly on the stand, the compartment pops open with an alarm at whatever time, and the person then simply pivots the dispenser so that the tablets drop into the cup beneath.

It honestly does look foolproof (and shaky-fingersproof too).🤔

It is by no means cheap!!! 😠

What helped my mom was a pillbox set that had a box for each day of the week with a compartment for dose times. She could then open the morning section and pour the pills directly into her mouth. This did decrease the dropped pills. I hope my description makes sense.

Do it anyway. Mom did not have dementia but days all seem the same and would get them confused. It will take a few weeks of complaining, but better than missed or worse yet mixed up doses.