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How do I remember to take my medications?

Medically reviewed by Leigh Ann Anderson, PharmD. Last updated on Aug 6, 2024.

It’s a fact - keeping up with your prescription, over-the-counter, and vitamin treatments can be a daunting task. But never fear – there are tried and true methods to help you to remember to take your daily meds on time without fail.

Try these tips to help you to remember to take your medicines each day:

  1. Learn about your medicines 
  2. Organize your meds 
  3. Use a phone app for reminders
  4. Or use a calendar or paper reminder
  5. Tie your drug doses with a daily activity
  6. Ask family and friends to help you out
  7. Keep a list of your updated medications
  8. Ask your healthcare provider to simplify your dosing

Here are some tips to help you remember how to take your medicine.

1. Practice makes perfect. Learn about your medicines

Learning more about what your medications are used for will reinforce your ability to take your medicines correctly and on time. Learning about your medical conditions can be a strong motivator, too. This is especially important for conditions that have few, if any, symptoms to remind you it’s time to take your medicine – like high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

Learning about side effects are important so you can recognize them if they occur. Many side effects with drug treatment are temporary, so be sure to ask your doctor about short-lived and more long-term side effects with any medication.

Si necesita información sobre medicamentos en español, puede encontrarla aquí.

2. Pill boxes and other organization tools

Pill boxes are an organization tool for your pills that can easily be found at most pharmacies or online. Pill boxes have been around for a long time, and are especially useful if you easily forget if you have taken your meds each day. While this tool seems old school, they can be very useful for people who take multiple medications each day and at different times.

Older patients may especially find pill boxes convenient to use. The boxes are split into individual sections that make-up a week’s worth of medicine (or more) and may even be separated by times of day. They can easily fit into travel bags or purses; however, don’t leave them in a hot or freezing cold car. Bathrooms can get hot and steamy too, so this may not be the best place.

Just be sure you don't have meds that look the same that can cause a mix up (for example, 2 white, round tablets). Check with any relatives or older loved ones to be sure it's not confusing, too. Ask your pharmacist if you can leave the medicine out of it's original container, too.

Always keep your medicines in a safe area, high up and away from all children and pets.

3. Electronic applications and pill reminders

Apps to help patients remember and track their medication use are convenient tools for anyone who carries a mobile phone. See the Drugs.com commonly used apps here.

4. Calendar alerts

Maybe you prefer not to use a mobile device or just prefer the simpler method of a calendar. Those are great tools, too. Mark your daily doses on a paper calendar at home, on your computer, or even in your little black book. Just be sure to update it frequently and mark through each dose as you take it, in case you forget from dose to dose.

Getting into a regular routine to help you remember to take your meds is really what’s most important. Find what works best for you. Try to take your meds at the same time each day.

5. Link your medication doses with a daily activity

You might tie your drug doses with a daily routine like breakfast time, after a shower, or when you get ready for bed.

Keep your medications in easy-to-see (but secure) spot as a visual clue. Be sure you keep your medications in a safe area, high away from curious toddlers and pets.

Pretty soon taking your meds will be as routine as brushing your teeth (and that might be a good time to take your meds, too).

Protect your meds from extreme heat or cold, and don’t leave them in a steamy bathroom (where medicine cabinets are usually found, ironically). Most medications are stable at room temperature, but under extreme conditions, they can lose their potency, crumble, or even melt.

If your medicine needs to be stored in the refrigerator, consider posting a sticky note reminder on the fridge as a reminder to grab it when it’s time.

If you have especially dangerous medications such as opioid painkillers, be sure to keep them safe and secure, even locked up if needed, to prevent theft or accidental ingestion by a child, teen or pet.

When they are no longer needed, dispose of opioids, and other medicines in a Drug Take-Back Day Event, or your pharmacy or law enforcement may have a dedicated method for this purpose. Don't hang on to old, unused or outdated medicines.

6. Get help from family members or friends

Many friends and family take meds, and creating a team to help remind each other to take their doses can be helpful.

If you live alone, maybe a friend can text you each morning or night, when they also take their meds. If a family member you live with also takes medicines, you have a built in pill reminder right there at your house. Take advantage of it.

Seniors often need help to remember their medications. If you have a loved one that takes several meds, consider helping them create a weekly pill box, printing out pictures of their pills from the Pill ID tool, and then writing in large print what each medicine is used for, and its name and dose. Place the pictures in a conspicuous, but safe, place so that they can refer to the printouts when needed.

You can access regularly updated Consumer Level Drug Information here.

Large print on prescription bottles and for drug information printouts can be very helpful as older patients lose their eyesight. Your pharmacist can usually print out dosing and drug information in large type – so be sure to ask.

7. Keep an up-to-date list of your medication names, strengths and directions 

Having an easily accessible list of your medication specifics will enable you to provide this information quickly and correctly at a time when you might need it the most – in an emergency situation. Include drug name, strength, dose, number of refills and the pharmacy that you use, with their phone number.

Be sure to update your medicine list information when needed - when medications or doses are started, stopped, changed or if you switch pharmacies or doctors.

8. Ask your doctor and pharmacist to help simplify your medication regimen

There may be ways to simplify your medication regimen to make life easier. If you take a drug two or three times per day, your doctor may be able to find a similar drug that only needs to be taken once a day. In some cases, an extended-release or long-acting medicine can be prescribed.

If you need to separate doses because you have to be careful about combining antacids or other supplements with prescription drugs due to drug interactions, your doctor may be able to find medications that do not cause an interaction.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist which medications you can safely take together at the same time to limit multiple daily doses.

Be sure to check to see if you can take your medicines with food (at breakfast, lunch or dinner), or at bedtime - the most common (and often easy) times to take medications. Set up your routine around these times, if possible.

Is it OK to miss a dose of medicine?

Adherence to your medications (that is, taking them exactly as prescribed by your doctor) is very important. Here's why.

When you take your medication on a regular basis, your body reaches what is known as “steady state” – the amount of drug going into your body (absorption) is the same as the amount of drug going out (metabolism and excretion).

All medications have a “half-life” - that is, the time it takes for your body to eliminate half (50%) of the drug levels in your body. It usually takes about 5 half-lives for a drug to reach its steady state or to be almost completely eliminated from your body.

Many of us think it’s no problem when we miss a dose or two of medication, but this isn't always true. Some drugs have longer half-lives, and some drugs have shorter half-lives.

Side effects come into play, too. Often, drug side effects may occur temporarily when a drug is reaching the steady state, that is, as drug levels are rising in the body. If you miss a few doses, and then have to get back to your steady state when you resume your medication, you risk a greater chance that you may experience those temporary side effects again. This is another good reason not to miss your dose.

Bottom Line

The best way to remember to take your medicines is to do what works for you. Use an app, a pill box, or keep a written list and engage with help from family. You know your lifestyle and how to best stick to a routine.

Keep an easily accessible list of your medication names, strengths and doses will help you - or a caregiver - to provide this information quickly and correctly when needed.

Ask your healthcare provider to always consider ways to simplify your medication routine, especially if you take several medicines per day. Ask them to prescribe once-a-day medicines, when possible. 

Tie your medicine doses with a daily routine like breakfast time, after a shower, or when you get ready for bed. If you decide to take with a meal, be sure that is OK first. Always follow the dosing directions on your prescription.

Finally, learn about your medicines to help you recall their names, uses and doses. If you need consumer medication information written in plain language, you can access that information here or ask your doctor or pharmacist for a print out.

See also

Sources

Further information

Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

Medical Disclaimer