02-25-2017, 09:56 AM
Wow, this is a really good thread, and such insightful answers.
Let me be totally honest. I have not always managed this issue well, and that's been a problem. Everything I've taken has had a legit medical purpose, but it is so easy to creep up. It is so easy to make excuses... "I need to take more today because I'm doing x" It's amazing the way you can rationalise these things.
Here's what (mostly) works for me... I get those pill boxes that are sometimes given to people with dementia. They have four compartments for different times of day. I put my pills into the boxes, in my pack there are 7 boxes to cover the full week. So on Sunday night I sit down and count out the pills for the week. Then the pill bottles and blister strips are put away safely and out of sight. On any one day I am carrying one day's worth of meds. So yeah, I could double up and take the afternoon dose early, but the consequences of that are pretty immediate (i.e. hours, rather than delayed to the end of the month). What I'm drawing upon here is what psychologists call delayed gratification. If the negative of taking extra hits me that day it feels more real than if it is at the end of the month - that's just too far off to care about the same way.
The only down side is I am carrying controlled medication around without the pharmacy label. Whether you think that is a problem may depend on which country or state you live in. For me, I am prepared to take that risk. I have been searched by police before (just happened to be near a crime scene), and they didn't seem to care. I suspect that at a psychological level, the pill box is seen by others as clearly medical and not a "drug". It doesn't raise any eyebrows at work.
Let me be totally honest. I have not always managed this issue well, and that's been a problem. Everything I've taken has had a legit medical purpose, but it is so easy to creep up. It is so easy to make excuses... "I need to take more today because I'm doing x" It's amazing the way you can rationalise these things.
Here's what (mostly) works for me... I get those pill boxes that are sometimes given to people with dementia. They have four compartments for different times of day. I put my pills into the boxes, in my pack there are 7 boxes to cover the full week. So on Sunday night I sit down and count out the pills for the week. Then the pill bottles and blister strips are put away safely and out of sight. On any one day I am carrying one day's worth of meds. So yeah, I could double up and take the afternoon dose early, but the consequences of that are pretty immediate (i.e. hours, rather than delayed to the end of the month). What I'm drawing upon here is what psychologists call delayed gratification. If the negative of taking extra hits me that day it feels more real than if it is at the end of the month - that's just too far off to care about the same way.
The only down side is I am carrying controlled medication around without the pharmacy label. Whether you think that is a problem may depend on which country or state you live in. For me, I am prepared to take that risk. I have been searched by police before (just happened to be near a crime scene), and they didn't seem to care. I suspect that at a psychological level, the pill box is seen by others as clearly medical and not a "drug". It doesn't raise any eyebrows at work.