The combinations of COPD medicines and therapy can be confusing — especially if you have to remember meds at certain times of the day or intervals throughout the day. Keeping your COPD medicine routine under control is vital for your health (and your wallet), so try these tips to maintain your meds:
Work your meds into your regular routine. Place your morning pills next to the coffee maker, for example, and put your evening meds next to your toothbrush.
Get a wristwatch with an alarm. Or use a kitchen timer or an alarm clock in the living room to remind you to take your timed meds. When you take your dose, reset the alarm for your next scheduled dose.
Use a weekly or monthly pillbox. Some of them have multiple compartments for morning, midday, and evening, so you can be sure you’ve taken your meds — or keep track of which doses you’ve missed.
Mark refill dates on your calendar. To make sure you don’t run out of any of your meds, make a note to get your refills (or renewed prescriptions, if necessary) a week before you’ll actually need them.
Keep track of side effects. Sometimes a different dose, or a different version of a particular type of medication, can minimize or even eliminate side effects, so be sure to talk to your doctor about your side effects and options for dealing with them.
