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Reasons for not taking medicine

StrawberryFizzy
0 Recommendations

I'm working on a design project about why people who have suffered a heart attack might not take their medicine. 55% of people who had a heart attack stop taking their medicine after 12 months. I'm guessing that those people might not be on a forum like this, but I understand there are issues with taking medicine for everyone.

For the people who've suffered a heart attack I'd like to ask:
Are there any reasons why you might not take your medicine? Things like not understanding when and how many pills to take, not wanting people around you to see you are ill or simply forgetting. I know I forget to take my pill all the time.

Hopefully your feedback will help me come up with a design solution to make taking medicine easier. Thanks everyone :)

Explore topics in this discussion:

Exercise Heart disease Heart failure Tylenol Aspirin Diabetes Blisters Plavix Lasix Pain Memory Heart attack Stress

16 replies

martzj

Hello from USA,

WHat a great project Fizzy!

I'm assuming you are working with a design instructor on this design challenge. I, for one, would love to see some un-creepy multicompartment pill containers that DO NOT make heart patients feel like we are 1000 years old! : ) Really, some of those pill boxes are the size of a man's tool box. I can offer you what I have chosen to do to manage the daily pill organization:

1. Heart patients usually take medications more than once a day. I put my NIGHT meds in a cute little 3-part plastic round tower...each compartment unscrews for pill access and I can see what is what because the plastic is clear. It is tucked out of sight behind other decorative things on my bedside table.

2. MORNING meds I stash in a pretty tiny jewelry box that looks nothing remotely 'medicinal'. I keep them in another location than bedside to help me remember to take them separately from the night meds. Plus, after taking the morning dose, I move the box to yet another location to avoid accidentally repeating doses.

I'm an artist and I was a young woman when the heart problems started and I go to great lengths to keep my bedroom from getting a 'sickroom' look. I think it would be fun to see a line of designer pill containers ......from simple cheery sun shapes for morning/daytime meds....to moon or star shaped for night meds. I've been on the lookout for attractive modular interlocking designs but haven't seen any.

The issues of why heart patients may drop off from taking medications are quite complicated. The biggest being multiple side effects that are just too much to tolerate....or tolerate and remain employable, manage a houseful of children. Another critical factor is that in the US, millions of people cannot afford or are barred from health insurance so life-saving cardiac medication must be bought at full price making even a basic monthly regimen of statins, betablockers, nitro and a few other medications quickly add up to $500/month or more.

Have a great time with this exercise. As heart challenged women, we have discussed this issue before. Might be nice to have an attractive bracelet or locket that holds a day's worth of medication when we're on the go or on travel.

cheers and good luck!

Jaynie from USA

kardia

Hi,

Such great cretive suggestions. The battle with memory and pill organizers takes a lot of work for me, especially if there is a mid day pill that goes in a purse container...with my aspirin that I carry around for emergencies...I don't know about you but I am always changing purses ... Maybe some sort of compartment made to be inside a purse would be an interesting idea easy to slip in and out of.

I too am like Jaynie in that I avoid having our home resemble a
hospital environment with pills and water glasses next to sitting areas...no tissue boxes around everywhere. The tissue box is a good example of designers trying to disguise the utilitarian purpose of the tissue, and really it always just looks like a tissue box...with flowers...ha.

It is the looking good and the order of lovely arrangements that heals my soul as well. I need to make room for the spirit without clutter. I don't need to be remindi that I have a health condition at every curve...

Good luck, sounds like a terrific project.

kardia
www.kardianotes.blogspot.com

Rose

Hi,

I am on so many medications and all of them have side effects. The biggest problem for me is lasix. I ran out a few week ago and I have not called my doctor for a refill. My feet and ankles are no more swollen without the lasix than when I take it. Plus it is really a pain to take it and want to go anywhere. I was on 40 mg and if I took it at 7:30 AM I would be running every half hour or so until nearly noon. It is inconvient while working and if I want to run my earrands early on Sat. morning I can't unless I know where the bathroom is located. I will tell my doctor when I see her but I will strongly resist going back on it.

It takes me half and hour to set up my pills for a two week period. I have am and pm meds plus asprin, vitiam D and calcuim. I agree that we need pretty pill containers. Mine are ugly.

Warm Regards,

Rose

martzj

I was just thinking it might be helpful to have containers that offer a little 2 or 3 pulse chime at dose time. Morning chime would be different from noon and night time sounds. Soft, friendly, even funny quirky sounds......like ring tones only NOT obnoxious to them and those around them : )

Our medicine containers are our friends if they helpfully chime to us? : )

cheers, Jaynie

Kennarina

Just curious - what kind of a 'design project' is this that you're working on?

A man in my Heart To Heart Support Group told me that, at his one-year heart attack anniversary, he had started smoking again and had stopped taking all cardiac meds. I suspect that he had a pretty severe case of denial - "If I just pretend I don't have heart disease, maybe I won't!"

XOXOXO


http://www.myheartsisters.org

scon223

You said a design project - is it an information giving project - like a media project? I stopped taking my meds because I lost my job after my heart attack - then the insurance went away(couldn't afford the increased premiums after my heart attack-without a job). I recently went back on the meds after more blockages and more stents - the message I got is NO MATTER what, take my heart meds - the results are disasterous. Education about programs locally and with the drug companies is needed so folks like me can afford and keep taking their meds

StrawberryFizzy

It's for my graphic design course, so it's mostly based on information. I can have quite a varied approach though, as long as it helps people to take their medicine, be it through helping them understand the consequences of not taking it, to giving them medicine boxes that seem less 'sick' and more personal.

I've realised the health care system in the states is different from here in the UK; for people with a serious long term illness like heart failure and diabetes, the NHS usually gives the medication for free. I suppose they understand the financial toll on hospitals of a person who suddenly suffers a heart attack.

One of the ideas I've had so far are personalised calendars or agendas that come with the times of medication and refills already written inside. Nice looking ones too.

The other was to perhaps make a 'mind map' which lays out the options patients have, showing the consequences of their decisions. It could be an internet based thing so people can interact with it.

Rose, you where saying you have a problem with lasix. I wouldn't blame you for not taking it, if it was me, I probably wouldn't take it myself if it disrupted my day. I'm wondering though, is there an alternative the doctor can give you? What do doctors say about the side effects?

sternum

Good Morning Ladies:

I, for one, really hate going through the bottles every day to get what I need. Besides, the press and turn caps are a bit difficult for me to open.

My pharmasist has a bubble pack system in the shape of a book. On the left is a list of all meds, their shape, color, name, dosage and number taken daily.
On the right are the blisters that hold the pills. At the top of the right side, the Rx slips showing how many are left on my prescription are stapled. The right side has seven rows of blisters, one for each day of the week starting with Monday. The vertical rows are breakfast, lunch, supper and bedtime. Blisters hold the pills for those times of day. Each booklet equals one week. If I am gone from home over a designated time, I put those in a small divided pill box that fits into my pocket if necessary. It is just a small plastic lined metal container that looks nothing like a pill box. One side has my meds and the other my asprin. It is a quick, convenient and simple solution.
The cover is a cheery bright orange, quickly seen, with a stylized mortar and pestal near the top and the name of the pharmacy and its address and phone number at the bottom.
I always check the list on the left to make sure they are in the right place on the right.
My Dr. and I have the best meds for me with the least number of side effects worked out. So the only other block I can see would be the price, over $500.00 a month. But even that goes down to nothing during the year.
Our medicare requires a deductable amount each year. Once that is reached, the cost goes down each month until they pay the entire amount. My personal extended medical then reembursses me 80% of what I had to pay before that point is reached and the other 20% is claimed as medical expenses on my income taxes.
That is only one of the wonderful things about our Canadian Health system. I also don't have the stress of wondering if I have the money for drs and specialists and my surgeries and hospital time is always marked "PAID"

Rose

Hi Fizzy,

I won't see my doctor until the end of the month. I don't know what she will say but I don't think she is going to like it. I don't know if there is an alternative drug but I don't think so.

Warm Regards,

Rose

beniimo

hi strawberry,
i didn't have a heart attack, but had a cath with two stents last may . i was put on zocar, plavix and asprin, along with two blood pressure meds that they've since let me off of.
while my cholesterol lowered significantly it was not enough according to AMA (or kaiser)recommendations, so i was told to double the dose to 80mg a day. right away i started feeling poorly fatigue, digestion problems, chest pain (yes, one of the side affects!!!), muscle ache.
though my cholesterol went down more it still wasn't enough for my "heart coach," but i took myself off the double dose and started taking red rice yeast instead. i still do 40mg of zocar and one baby asprin along with plavix, but hoping to wean off of all of those in lieu of supplements. currently i take multi vitamins, flax, red rice yeast, and cinnamon (to curtail a pre-diabetic condition, probably brought on by the statin!) i'm also vegetarian and exercise regularly.
i'd say the reason i quit taking the double dose of zocar is simply because intuitively it felt bad. i like to think i know my body, which is how i avoided a heart attack in the first place.
it's important to pay attention to what our body, mind, and spirit tell us.

ruby1955

Hi Strawberry,

I had a heart attack and now have 5 stents.
I'm in the UK like you, so I dont have any cost issues with medications, but I do occasionally forget a dose or take it much later than I should.

I use a pill box with lots of compartments and dispense a weeks worth into it at a time. That saves me a lot of time and trouble - I take most of my meds in the morning so I like to be able to grab and go, even if I'm half asleep! I keep this dispenser by my computer because I know I will be there at points through the day, so will remember my pills.

This does not work so well if I'm out of the house at pill time (morning, after evening meal and bedtime) - the box is a bit big to carry, but I worry about getting muddled up if I put some doses in one box and some in another smaller one for carrying around.

Penjudy

I believe the expense of some of the drugs is the problem from the people I have talked to, Drug companies offer free drugs, but patients must get financial hardship forms completed, many of my peers don't want their doctors to know they are having financial issues. Have one peer who takes her meds every other day instead of daily as prescribed.

scholastic

I also have a problem with the lasix . I take 60mg a day and it confines you to the bathroom. I have tried to stay off it but my lungs fill up with fluid and the chest pain kicks in, so I have to take it daily. my problem with medicines is the amounts you have to take each day , some of mine are 4 times a day, needless to say in between running to the bathroom all day I forget to take some of my meds. I used a timer (my daughter gave me) But some days I forget to set the timer. lol,, I have over 20 pills a day to take , most days I get in maybe 10 to 12. Some make me more tired, so I forget them quite often. I need a pill that is multi fuction, (and when they invent that (Ha! Ha! ) I will take it every day.

IngridK

Side effects is #1, and cost is close 2nd. I will take what makes me feel better, and if something hurts me or I can't breathe, I'm not going to take it, no matter how super swell it is supposed to be for me. I have to be able to function at least half way normally in daily life, or I might as well not even try.

I don't qualify for any services and since I'm out of work, the cost of my co-pays to even see the doc is too high. We've been selling our belongings to pay for my care, but at some point I'll run out of stuff to sell.

StrawberryFizzy

I like the idea of replacing some of the meds with supplements - whenever possible, of course. I'm not a pharmacist but I'm guessing a lot of the meds are irreplaceable and indispensable. I do also like the idea of a multi-pill which combines the different pills.

I can't begin to imagine what it must feel like to go through the agony of having an MI and be left with impossible situations of having to take the meds but not tolerating the side effects, having to take the meds but not being able to afford them and yet... the meds are life saving!

At the risk of sounding patronising (sorry ladies), my message for this design project is ultimately about taking the medication correctly, independently of side effects. I'm going to have a look at alternatives because if there are some goods ones it would be great to let patients know they have a choice. I could make that a part of my project. But if there aren't any, well...

I would like to ask (and I think IngridK has kinda already answered this) is better quality of life, on a daily basis, more important than preventing a likely heart attack in the future?

P.S. Thanks everyone for all the input so far, I really appreciate it. xx

Asurvivor

Ladies, there is free medication if you care to take advantage of it. All you have to do is Google free medication and you will get a list of companies that provide you with free meds every month. You can't have ins. that covers Rx's though. My husband and I took advantage of this when I couldn't work anymore. It's absolutely life saving and you never have to skip a medication again. The doctor arranges it for you. It's shipped to your home or his office. Check it out.

I take 10+ meds a day and used to use those fancy cases, all kinds of them. I used to use a pill cutter.
Now I use the bottles they come in and place them in a kitchen drawer, in two dividers I bought. One is for night, one for morning. The spares I put in the back of the drawer. I use a knife for a pill cutter or a single edge razor blade. I'm much steadier than I was almost 10 yrs ago when I started on all these.

I ask the pharmacist to give me non-childproof caps, so I can open them.

One word of caution, please do not stop taking any cardiac, thyroid or blood pressure meds without your doctor's knowledge. I stopped my lasix also, and my doc didn't get angry. I never had swollen ankles.

Another word, if you travel - in the US or out of it, please take your pill bottles with you, clearly labeled with prescription #, etc on the bottle. Don't use the a pill case. Customs will not let you take any meds back into our country without these labels and if you are ever stopped in the US, you can be jailed. It's happened to others.

When I was younger and traveling, I returning to Puerto Rico from the Virgin Islands. My friend was stopped for having vitamins and Tylenol in a plastic bag. Customs in the VI did not want to let her pass through with them. She finally got across to them they were vitamins and aspirin and they let her go, after 30 minutes of questioning. This was back in the late 70's so you can imagine how Homeland Security is now.

Good luck on your project Fizzy. I don't know if I helped you, but I hope you get an A.

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