I would have to rate my adherence thus far as a 10 out of 10 because I took my pills each day, although I hold doubts about my continued success in this because my system for taking them is unlikely to tolerate changes in my routine - or even the coming weekend.
I would rate my adherence to the medication as poor. A large reason for this is because I am asymptomatic, and the "medication" does not really do anything in terms of relieving symptoms. If I really had an infection and Metronidazole really helped alleviate the problem, my adherence would be a lot better.
To Vincent Ngai - but what about chronic medications, such as statins, which don't make you feel any different after you take it? Would wanting to be healthier and avoid an MI be an incentive to take the statin daily?
I would rate my adherence as relatively poor. At the beginning, it was difficult for me to get into the habit of remembering to take 3 pills twice daily with meals. However, after a few days, I caught on and remembered to take my pills. Like Vincent, I am also asymptomatic and my medication does not really relieve any of my symptoms, so I felt that it did not really benefit me much. I discovered that if I keep my pills visible to me during meals, I remember to take it more often.
I would rate my adherence as a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. Although I took my warfarin daily and held it on the day I was told to, I did take them at various times of the day. I took the first dose right after it was prescribed and then I took the medication afterwards when I remembered or when I checked my planner because I was afraid of forgetting if I waited until bedtime to take it. It is not something that I am used to doing and I can only imagine the frustrations of a patient when they are starting a new medication regimen and incorporating it into their daily lives. Starting today, I am taking the warfarin as soon as I get up each morning to improve my compliance.
Well, I forgot to take my medication today at the right time today, but at least I remembered it. Joe was right when he said that the weekends would be a problem, as my routine of looking in my bag in throughout the day, isn't the same on the weekends. Well my adherance clearly isn't perfect, but I'm hoping that it won't affect my INR to badly.
To Alisabeth- I was thinking about if I had a little timer that would go off to remind me of when to take my meds, as I can't totally rely on my routine. Do you think that something like a timer, or an email that gets sent to you on your phone or whatever would help you?
I would rate my adherence as poor especially in the first 2-3 days. I kept foretting to take one or more pills every day. I also feel that part of the reason for my poor adherence is being asymptomatic. As Dr. Masters said, this makes me understand more the potential for poor adherence with blood pressure medications, statins, that do not really alleviate any symptoms but on the contrary might make the patient feel worse.
My adherence was probably a 1(1-10) on the first day because of the difficulty I had with the medication. After having it switched my adherence was more like a 8 for the rest of the week. I'm pretty good at reminding myself with triggers so I was able to keep up with it. The fact that it was a new habit helped me stay mindful throughout.
I would rate my compliance as a “0” out of “10”. I could never remember to take my medication and when I did remember it was too late, I had missed my dose so I just decided not to take it at all. Also, if I forgot to take the medicine with food it would upset my stomach which made me even less adherent. I wonder if my doctor can switch me to another medication that I don’t have to take as often.
I think my final grade was a 7/10. I took the meds every day, but not always at the right time. If I would have had a more complicated dosing schedule, like even twice a day, it could have been much worse.
I would rate my adherence to the medication as poor as well :( I wasn't the most compliant patient! I forgot to take the medication a lot and as I said in another post, I think that if I used an alarm on my phone as a reminder, it would have helped greatly. I agree with Vince in that if I actually had a bad infection I think I would have been more motivated to take the medication regularly. Dr. Masters is right however in the case with cholesterol patients who would not have daily symptoms to motivate them. In that case, I think a pharmacist is where the compliance assistance comes in with checking on refills picked up and encouraging the patient to keep on track.
I agree that being healthier would be great motivation for taking medications. It is just hard for me to imagine because I don't take any maintenance medications. I have a friend who got a dvt and had to go to the hospital. After going to the hospital, I am sure he was scared straight into being compliant with his warfarin medication. Fear to me is the strongest motivator in making people take their medications.
I would have to rate my adherence thus far as a 10 out of 10 because I took my pills each day, although I hold doubts about my continued success in this because my system for taking them is unlikely to tolerate changes in my routine - or even the coming weekend.
ReplyDeleteI have been able to take the medication every day around the same time. So far so good. Hopefully I can keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI would rate my adherence to the medication as poor. A large reason for this is because I am asymptomatic, and the "medication" does not really do anything in terms of relieving symptoms. If I really had an infection and Metronidazole really helped alleviate the problem, my adherence would be a lot better.
ReplyDeleteTo Vincent Ngai - but what about chronic medications, such as statins, which don't make you feel any different after you take it? Would wanting to be healthier and avoid an MI be an incentive to take the statin daily?
ReplyDeleteI would rate my adherence as relatively poor. At the beginning, it was difficult for me to get into the habit of remembering to take 3 pills twice daily with meals. However, after a few days, I caught on and remembered to take my pills. Like Vincent, I am also asymptomatic and my medication does not really relieve any of my symptoms, so I felt that it did not really benefit me much. I discovered that if I keep my pills visible to me during meals, I remember to take it more often.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI would rate my adherence as a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. Although I took my warfarin daily and held it on the day I was told to, I did take them at various times of the day. I took the first dose right after it was prescribed and then I took the medication afterwards when I remembered or when I checked my planner because I was afraid of forgetting if I waited until bedtime to take it. It is not something that I am used to doing and I can only imagine the frustrations of a patient when they are starting a new medication regimen and incorporating it into their daily lives. Starting today, I am taking the warfarin as soon as I get up each morning to improve my compliance.
ReplyDeleteWell, I forgot to take my medication today at the right time today, but at least I remembered it. Joe was right when he said that the weekends would be a problem, as my routine of looking in my bag in throughout the day, isn't the same on the weekends. Well my adherance clearly isn't perfect, but I'm hoping that it won't affect my INR to badly.
ReplyDeleteTo Alisabeth- I was thinking about if I had a little timer that would go off to remind me of when to take my meds, as I can't totally rely on my routine. Do you think that something like a timer, or an email that gets sent to you on your phone or whatever would help you?
ReplyDeleteI would rate my adherence as poor especially in the first 2-3 days. I kept foretting to take one or more pills every day. I also feel that part of the reason for my poor adherence is being asymptomatic. As Dr. Masters said, this makes me understand more the potential for poor adherence with blood pressure medications, statins, that do not really alleviate any symptoms but on the contrary might make the patient feel worse.
ReplyDeleteMy adherence was probably a 1(1-10) on the first day because of the difficulty I had with the medication. After having it switched my adherence was more like a 8 for the rest of the week. I'm pretty good at reminding myself with triggers so I was able to keep up with it. The fact that it was a new habit helped me stay mindful throughout.
ReplyDeleteI would rate my compliance as a “0” out of “10”. I could never remember to take my medication and when I did remember it was too late, I had missed my dose so I just decided not to take it at all. Also, if I forgot to take the medicine with food it would upset my stomach which made me even less adherent. I wonder if my doctor can switch me to another medication that I don’t have to take as often.
ReplyDeleteI think my final grade was a 7/10. I took the meds every day, but not always at the right time. If I would have had a more complicated dosing schedule, like even twice a day, it could have been much worse.
ReplyDeleteI would rate my adherence to the medication as poor as well :( I wasn't the most compliant patient! I forgot to take the medication a lot and as I said in another post, I think that if I used an alarm on my phone as a reminder, it would have helped greatly. I agree with Vince in that if I actually had a bad infection I think I would have been more motivated to take the medication regularly. Dr. Masters is right however in the case with cholesterol patients who would not have daily symptoms to motivate them. In that case, I think a pharmacist is where the compliance assistance comes in with checking on refills picked up and encouraging the patient to keep on track.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo Dr. Masters,
ReplyDeleteI agree that being healthier would be great motivation for taking medications. It is just hard for me to imagine because I don't take any maintenance medications. I have a friend who got a dvt and had to go to the hospital. After going to the hospital, I am sure he was scared straight into being compliant with his warfarin medication. Fear to me is the strongest motivator in making people take their medications.