Do you have a routine for taking your pills?

[LiveWithIt]

I found a 7 day pill box that has an AM and PM.  it fits all the meds I take, 3 for HIV one multi vitamin and 2 non hiv. 

I fill it on Tuesday every other week because I use the AM for one week and the PM side for the other week. 

This way if I forgot if I took my meds or not I look and see if that days pills were taken. 

Lately I've been waking up earlier like between 5 and 6 and have breakfast, but I take my meds later.

I had to set up a Med reminder app on my smartphone as an alarm because I've been distracted and forgetting every once in a while to take them.

[Ptrk3]

It's not too hard for me to get into a routine.  I take Atripla and just make sure it's the last thing I do before I go to bed!  Haven't missed a dose so far.

[ad2san]

Hi, i take it with breakfast, no Matter what Time I am having it (Dome Times verwegen 6 and 10 am

[CaveyUK]

I use a 7 day pillbox too

I take at 10pm every night. Sometimes a little earlier (from 9pm) or a little later (latest has been around 1am) depending on what I'm doing.

I also have a keychain thing which stores a days meds, just in case I am out and about and need to take them.

My gf texts me to remind me every day, although 80% of the time I remember without her doing this.

Easy Peasy

[alberche]

I use 4 methods to check for this. 1.- I write down on a white board the date each pill blister/can is supposed to be over and, when it is over, I check if the noted date and the real one are matching. 2.- For blistered meds, I count the empty blisters and compare with the days passed since I started with it to find out whether I may skipped one dose. 3.- I use a pill doser and I have always on me, wherever I go everyday, the dose needed for two days, so when I take the current day dose, I just replenish it ( and randomly, when doing this, I check for points 1 and 2). 4.- I take my pills everyday at there same time (with a margin of 1 hour before or after), if possible, at the same place -usually at home-. It's worked well for me all these years on meds.

 

[daveR]

I use a daily pill box, I put the pills in first thing in the morning, my watch and phone alarms are set, the watch 45 minutes before and my phone 15 minutes before my normal time. I then have a very childish names for the pills that I use when I swallow them and visualize them being swallowed and beating up the virus. The reason for that is  was becoming to relaxed with them and forgetting that I had taken them five minutes after doing so. This saves me having to count the pills remaining. After all of that I note in on my smart phone calendar straight away. In the evening I then update my spread sheet.

[Dan88]

It's not too hard for me to get into a routine.  I take Atripla and just make sure it's the last thing I do before I go to bed!  Haven't missed a dose so far.

Me too! I'm also taking Atripla. I just have an alarm. Sometimes I'm watching TV or surfing the internet and my alarm goes off, then I take my pill and a vitamin and go back to what I was doing, always between 10 - 11pm. I wanted to buy a pill box but Atripla is the only medicine I'm taking, so it's not really worth it.  I'm also trying to live as normal as possible, having a notebook or a pill box would remind me I have HIV all the time. That's why I take it with my vitamins and try not to think about the virus afterwards. I even have my atripla pills inside a vitamin bottle. Yep, I'm still in denial.    But my adherence has been 100% so far. 

[vrsan]

My android devices yell at me at 15 minutes before, and my wristband vibrates 2 minutes before, and at the exact time, and it needs to be physically acknowledged (by tapping it), which i do after i took the pills. May sound like overkill, but hey, 100% so far

I take my pills at 11:00/12:00, depending on daylight savings, i chose to stick to "world time".

[Wade]

I take mine in the morning when ever I get around breakfast, Genvoya must be taken to food. I use a 7 day pill box also because sometimes I can't remember if I have taken them

[gcr.mty.mx]

I refill my pillbox on sunday nights.
Alarm is set for every night at 11pm.
If I lie down in bed before that I keep the light on until I take the pills and then can fall asleep or keep reading or whatever.
If I got out, specially if I'm not sure when I'll be home I carry my dose with me.
Been on meds almost a year and have missed only one dose on like the sixth day.

Also, its happened a couple of times (last night) that I fall asleep watching tv on the couch. I woke up at 2am and took the pills at that time. As long as you try to keep on schedule most of the time, you should be fine missing the time now and then.

G