My father takes quite a few medications, one of them being a prescription sleeping pill. This is considered a controlled substance and on more than one occasion, he has run out before the 30 day supply is up. I don't know how this continues to happen. he is only supposed to take one at night. I need to talk with him about this but he can be very defensive. My concern is that he might not be taking it right. I have always acquiesced to what my father wants and now, as an adult I find it difficult to confidently speak with him about anything. My parents live with us and I am their Primary caregiver. Any suggestions would be helpful.
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I like the idea of the alarm pill box. There are several on the market so a Web search will bring up some choices. It's likely that he's not doing this on purpose, but that he's defensive because he doesn't want to admit he got confused or forgot. Parents often get defensive with their adult children - after all, they are the parent and it's uncomfortable to have your "kids" telling you what to do.
If a scheduled box of some type doesn't work, then you may have to have the doctor tell your dad that for this particular pill, since it's so easy to forget and take a second, he'll have to let you control it or he can't have it.
Your dad needs compassion but he also needs to have this situation figured out. Try to preserve his dignity if you can. If it's true addiction, then I think you'll have noticed him increasingly running more and more short. If that's the case, the doctor must be in on the decision of what to do.
Good luck with this.
Carol
If your dad is running out of this med before the 30 days and you are aware of this then you can probably figure out that he's taking too many. Otherwise he wouldn't be running out too soon.
What does he do when he runs out? Not knowing what med you're talking about, is there withdrawl? Does his mood change? Does he get his refill the very second he is able to? Also, does this medication have refills or does the Dr. need to be contacted every 30 days for a new refill? Since you said it was a controlled substance I'm assuming the scrip doesn't have refills.
If you try to discuss this with him he will most likely deny it. Anyone who is abusing a prescription, when confronted, is not likely to say, "You're right, I'm taking too many."
Have you discussed this with your mom? What does she say?
Do you have POA? If so, you can call his Dr. and speak to him about this, figure out how to deal with this. If you don't have POA you can still alert the Dr. to this problem, the office just won't be able to discuss anything with you. But report it to the Dr. just the same.
Just know that it's not within your power to get your dad to stop abusing this med. And the more he takes the more he'll need to take, that's the cycle of addiction. I think the prescribing Dr. needs to be in on this and stop prescribing this medication and put your dad on a taper down dose. Don't take matters into your own hands by taking the medication away from him.
Your parents moved in with you so you can be their caregiver and part of being a caregiver is being an advocate for your loved one. If you can't confront your dad your only other choice is to do nothing. Your dad can't advocate for himself because he's becoming an addict, you'll have to do it for him. And if you can get your mom on board all the better.
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PS. We "blame" the doctor for everything from taking a shower to drinking more water" when my dad questions it I tell him to call the office!!!!
But she has NO access to the big blue pillbox - only the tins. And i have a masking tape label on each with AM, PM, NITE on the backside - just in case she doesn't remember if she took the pill. And yes, it took 2 weeks of 'training' and daily monitoring, but she feels more secure and independent by having a "say so" and a sense of control over her meds -- and giggles when she wants an extra calcium gummy bear. [2 a day is perfect, anyway, to get the right recommended dose.] For Mom, i have her physically put the eye meds in a different place [5" on the other side of her vanity] so she knows at a glance, that she took that one eye drop. At night - i set things up for the next day.
May i suggest that he be provided access to only 1 sleeping pill a day - give it to him after supper - so that he can take it when he is supposed to. For Dad, i put a small bowl for his nighttime pill on his bedside table. If the pill was in there - he knew it was time to take it. Until time came for placing drops of morphine under the tonue, every x hours.
But for anyone on lots of meds - or from a generation that didn't have nor use meds - this RX stuff is a really weird concept. i DO have to hide the Excedrin - it's forbidden with the other meds - is it okay to say - Dad - let's find a way to make this easier! It'd drive me bonkers to try to remember when to take it: So how about we, ["get a timer ... use a tin ... ", e.g. whatever your imagination and your knowledge of your Dad's preferences/schedule would work. Maye your Dad gets daunted looking at a bottle of X number of pills, and thinks - 'Dr says i have to take these' ... and those words echo into his thoughts, the more he may lay awake, not immediately falling asleep. But if only the one pill is "out and available" in a bowl on the bedside - he will know that he took it - in about 10 day's worth of a new regime. Does your Dad get exercise? Perhaps if he's sedentary, even marching around the room / calisthetics / etc may help him tire more readily. Even a hobby ~ jigsaw puzzles, etc - fabulous for concentration!!
Don't be afraid to talk it over with him -- just ask how to "help make it easier for him." Most men do not ask for help - they think they need to figure things out for themselves. imho ;-p
na na na na
looky here ya old clown, ya gotta eat these meds.
we got shrooms and ludes , and a handfull of " reds " .
they chill you out and put ya in aslow mode.
doc gives em to you so MY head dont explode ..
BTW: I liked the idea of the locked dispenser that Tracy mentioned, but in the case of my MIL she absolutely refused to use it and threw it back at me. She wanted control and that was not acceptable.
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