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The other week Ariel took me to an exercise class in Seattle that kicked my ass and blew my mind. Exercise instructor SarahRose is not just a good teacher, but she’s also a smarty (and a smart-ass) when it comes to pill labeling.
We decided to share her pill labeling hacks with you…
My partner David and I have a SH*T ton of vitamins to take all day, and they can be hard to keep track of! I find it easiest if I write on the top of the bottle how many to take and how many times during the day (3 pills X twice a day = 3 X 2 on the top).
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And if a vitamin serves a specific purpose then writing that on top for when the moment calls for it. Hence the “sleep,” “vagina,” and “boner” pills (they’re not really, I just think it helps get his attention in the morning).
I also set aside, in little tiny Ziploc bags, the vitamins for the day, so we can just grab and GO! We of course re-use the bags because we are true Seattleites. -SarahRose
Having trouble remembering to take your pills? Label them with almost-NSFW words and watch your habits change! Thanks, SarahRose.
What are your pill-taking hacks?
Or get a pill dispenser, like I tell my patients to! Added bonus that if you can’t remember later during a busy day if you took your pills or not, you can check if they are still in their case.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N24KS4V/ref=s9_acsd_zwish_hd_bw_bFqQB_c_x_w/139-4942142-6809002?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=PW0735EV1K5WS6Z27WEV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=dbe007b4-1572-55de-8f57-33c07c0e72b6&pf_rd_i=3776431&th=1
Although I gotta say I love the boner pill idea! Maybe don’t label the travel case that way though, lol.
Nurse Sonya
There are little plastic boxes for every day of the week with compartments for morning/noon/evening/night that you can refill every week. My parents have those, as they have to take a lot of different medications.
(Edit: as Sonya mentions above – Pill dispenser was the word I was looking for!)
For myself, as it’s only vitamins and nothing that could cause serious harm if I forget it, I have a little box on my counter top with everything I take on a daily basis. This way it still doesn’t look like a mess.
Pill dispensers are fab, and you can get so many varieties these days. Labelling stuff in a way that makes it more interesting to take also helps get kids on board – this isn’t vitamin D, this is sunshine in a pill! This isn’t vitamin C, it’s a cold and flu defence force!
However, a couple of things to note on vitamin regimes, especially if you take multiple difference pills every day:
– be aware there are some vitamins/minerals that are detrimental to your health if you take too much of them. Consider your daily diet; if it’s reasonably varied, you may already be getting enough vitamins, so double check what you’re taking on top. Also double check the contents of each vitamin – often they contain more than the ‘headline’ vitamin, so you could be doubling up that way by accident too.
– in the UK at least, vitamins do not need to be labelled with the source of the vitamin/mineral. If you’re taking them due to dietary restrictions and allergies, you might be taking the very thing you’re allergic to. Example one, me, the girl who threw up every morning for two weeks before realising her innocuous store brand multivit got some of its contents from fish oil.
Also, be aware of drug interactions for any other medications you take. For instance, I can’t take magnesium within 2 hours of one of my prescription medications (which I take in the morning and at bedtime) because it causes the medication to not be absorbed properly. Talk to your pharmacist before adding anything to the mix!