I skip doses of my medication occasionally without any harm. I have my morning meds and my nighttime meds. When I skip doses it is by mistake of course. It’s because I forget or I am out somewhere at the time that I usually take them. Or I might have forgotten if I took them or not. But I always pick NOT taking another dose rather than possibly doubling up if I have my doubts.
I guess one factor in my choice is that every-bodies physiology is different, our medications and doses are mostly different. I guess possibly doubling up may be OK. I do remember in the late 80’s while I was addicted to crack and my medication was ten mgs of prolixen. I was living on my own by myself in a small studio. I had several friends but they were often busy so I spent some days alone. My disease was stronger back then then it is now. But I used to get extremely bored. I also got tired and “wired” at the same time. So I was sleepy but I couldn’t fall asleep. So I figured 'Hey, I’m taking a major tranquilizer. Why don’t I just take another ten mgs as a sleeping pill"? So I did. But it was horrible. It really trashed my mind, agonizing and harsh. But occasionally it worked. I would NEVER recommend it to anybody. But I guess now, I don’t ever want to take too much of my medication because of that, accidentally or on purpose. I think the smartest thing to do is ask your doctor what his policy is on skipping doses or doubling up. Everybody is different, I don’t have the definitive answer. I personally don’t know the EXACT time frame on medication if you don’t take your medication dose at your usual time and it is near your next regularly scheduled time, whether to take it or forget about it. Most things I read say if it’s NEAR your next regularly scheduled dose to skip it and not double up. Another question for your doctor.
My boyfriend tells me when to take my meds, so I don’t have to worry about missing a dose, because one of us will most likely remember if I took them.
I think it’s better to double up than to not take them at all… I don’t know, it could be bad for some people. Like you said, everybody’s physiology is different. I just know that if I miss a dose I start to feel agitated. I’d rather sleep for 20 hours than feel that way.
I rarely miss a dose because my alarm system on my smartphone reminds me in a nagging way to take my meds on time - when the alarm reminds me I take my meds and type it into my cell phone that I just took that particular med.
If on rare occasion, I forget if I took a med or not, I choose to skip a dose when I am not sure. Skipping a med once is better for me than doubling up on a dose. I am sensitive to meds so skipping is a better option
Taking meds is one area where I am not so high functioning. I always forget. The system that I have, that was created by my wife, is I have a pill dispenser that is divided up into the days of the week, and further divided into am and pm. Once a week my wife fills the dispenser and that way she can check up on me to make sure I took my meds. Once it’s an hour past time, she reminds me. But we always try to go by my memory first. This also helps when I don’t know if I have taken my meds. I just check the respective day of the week and I know.
Yes, I use those pill organizers too. Usually I automatically take my dose at the right time. The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is take my medication. I guess after 34 years on medication it is ingrained in me. When it comes to my nighttime meds I have an hour window on when I take them. It’s also almost automatic to take then at 5:30 pm. but if I am busy cooking dinner or involved with cleaning or something I take them at 6:00 or 7:00 pm. Doesn’t seem to effect me in a negative way.
My wife always says, “When in doubt - leave it out.”
I’ll do whatever the hell I want, I don’t need criticism from you.
[quote=“77nick77, post:1, topic:11332, full:true”]
I think the smartest thing to do is ask your doctor what his policy is on skipping doses or doubling up.[/quote]
I agree.
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Mutual. I was tired of walking on eggshells around you anyways. One person sees my true rational point and that is good enough for me.