Living with it: Coping with medication
Coping with medication
Living with heart failure usually requires some readjustment. Some people found that they needed to establish new routines in order to remember to take their pills every day. Some also needed to watch their weight and diet more carefully than before. Those who had partners to support these changes often realised how lucky they were.
Most people kept a list of the drugs they were taking and referred to it when they talked about their medication. Some people were taking between 15 and 20 tablets a day. Many did not know how to pronounce the names of the drugs they were taking, but two of the people we interviewed had their own copies of the British National Formulary and looked up all their drugs.
People had developed different ways of remembering to take their drugs. Some of those who said their memories were not very good said they managed with the help of their partners. Some sorted their pills first thing each day and put them into special bowls, bottles or spoons, and took them with each meal. Others sorted their pills out once a week into pill boxes with separate daily compartments. Pill boxes were generally recommended by those who used them, and a man who said he had memory problems said they were a good idea. A man who took 15 pills a day, set alarm clocks to go off at different times to remind him to take his pills.
Most people kept their pills in a special place - often by their beds - and some carried extra tablets around with them in the day. One man said that the biggest problem was keeping his prescriptions up to date so that he didn't run out of anything. In Scotland some people described pill (or dosette) boxes which were prepared and maintained by local chemists, who also kept the prescriptions up to date.
Although many disliked having to take lots of pills everyday most said they always took their medication no matter what and had never considered not taking it. However, one man said he had once or twice felt so angry at being dependent on drugs that he had thrown his pills across the room, and another said that he preferred not to take pills at lunchtime because he didn't want his life to become 'a pill-taking exercise'. A man who did not eat meat wondered if he really needed to take the cholesterol lowering drugs he had been prescribed. Several people said that their doctors had told them to take pills that made them feel dizzy last thing at night. Other had been advised not to take their diuretics in the evening or before a journey. (See 'Beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and diuretics'.)
- Do doctors recommend that people should use pill/dosette boxes?
Last reviewed March 2010.
Last updated March 2010.
