Ask Your Pharmacist: What to do when you forget to take medication

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Q: I forget to take my daily medication at least once a week. What should I do about my missed dose when this happens?

Forgetting to take a dose of medication is a common occurrence. We all do occasionally, even pharmacists. Life is busy and it’s easy for a distraction to take us away from what we had planned to do. The chance of us forgetting a dose increases with the number of medications we take and the number of times a day we need to take those medications.

Some people find new medications are easier to remember because they are eager to start their treatment and get their symptoms under control. However, as time goes on and symptoms improve, they can find the medication becomes more difficult to remember because they no longer have symptoms to remind them to take it. For others, new medications are the ones that are more difficult to remember because they haven’t yet developed a daily routine for taking them.

When a medication stays in your system for a long time there may be no noticeable effects when you miss a single dose. However, for medications that only act in our system for a short time, missing a single dose may cause the treatment to become less effective. Missing a dose of medication for Parkinson’s disease can lead to increased symptoms including tremors, stiff body movements and difficulty speaking. Forgetting to use your maintenance inhalers for asthma or COPD can cause irritation and tightness in your airways, making it more difficult for you to breathe. The more doses of a medication that you miss, the higher the chances are that the treatment may fail, your disease may progress, and you could be hospitalized.

So, what is the proper thing to do when you miss a dose of medication? Do you take it as soon as you remember? Do you wait until your next scheduled dose? Do you double up on your next dose? The answer changes depending on the type of medication, how long it has been since you missed the dose and how long until the next dose is due. The best thing for you to do is to speak to a pharmacist. They will collect the necessary information and give you guidance on how to proceed.

If you find yourself missing frequent doses, try developing a daily routine for taking your medication by pairing the dose with something you already do each day. I had difficulty remembering to give my child their vitamin D drops, but something I always do each morning is prepare them a bowl of cereal. I now store the vitamin D drops inside the box of cereal and add a drop each morning.

Setting a reminder alarm on your phone can help you to remember to take your medication at the same time each day. Just ensure that you will have access to your medication at the time you choose for the alarm to go off. There are plenty of medication management apps for smart phones that can help you to manage alarms for when you have multiple medications with multiple daily dosing times. Alarms are also great to use on days where your regular routine is being disrupted such as holidays or vacations. Last week my family took a 10-hour road trip to Quebec. I took my morning dose of medication before we left the house and packed the bottle in my purse so I could easily access my next two doses while we were driving. The following morning, I realized I forgot to take both doses and that could have been prevented had I set a reminder alarm.

Using a daily or weekly pill organizer is a great tool to serve as a visual reminder that you took your medication. If you can’t recall if you took your medication or not, just check the organizer to see if the pills are still there. This also helps to prevent you from accidentally taking your dose twice. If you have trouble remembering to pre-fill your organizer or refill your prescriptions, your pharmacy can help by preparing your medications in organizers for you.

Keeping a small supply of medication in your purse or in your locker at work also helps to prevent you from missing doses in case you forget to take your medication before leaving home. It is important to never store your medication in a car as extreme temperatures may affect the stability of the product.

Erin Thompson (BSc, BScPharm) is a graduate of Dalhousie University and a community pharmacist practicing at Shoppers Drug Mart in Quispamsis, N.B. Her opinions expressed in this newspaper are published for educational and informational purposes only, and are not intended as a diagnosis, treatment or as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Send your questions to AskYourNBPharmacist@gmail.com.