A Nighttime Awakening

While I still have my major faculties in tact (I hope!), as the years go by, and for those of you currently in less than ideal states of mind, how can we get a handle on this vary scary and serious business?
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Last night, an ongoing dilemma played out in my head, keeping me awake for several hours. This morning, I decided (with help!) to share it with you, my SPs....

One thing I don't like about become more "mature" -- (no, not aging!) is learning to cope with The Battle of the Meds. Hard as it is for me to believe, I'm now taking 16 pills a day (between meds and supplements)!

This from one who took almost no meds her whole life, 'till about a year ago!

As most of you know, when my kidneys decided to "take a vacation" just over a year ago, I had no choice but to follow doctors' orders and start on that terror-inducing journey -- taking a combination of medications and supplements to help correct my problems. The little devils got sorted into special pill boxes, and put in various places so I'd remember what to take when, at different times of the day/evening.

I even created an Eve's Meds Chart to help me keep it all straight.

As it's gotten more complicated, it's grown into quite a challenging task.

The inevitable occasional slip ups I've had came to haunt me last night. In the morning, I realized that if I'm so freaked out about this, so must many of my "mature" friends and loved ones be! My dear honey encouraged me to share my thoughts with you in a blog.

SO... here's my question:

Can we of advancing years really be trusted to dole out these life saving little helpers to ourselves each day? But they're so easy to drop into the wrong slots, or onto the carpet, where they magically disappear.

Not to mention if we get distracted, forgetful, sloppy, shaky or just plain screw up this delicate process somehow!

Are any of our trusted physicians concerned about how -- and IF, these serious additives they've prescribed to us are ending up in the proper ways and places they'd intended? Do they check on our progress?

For example -- I noticed the instructions on one pill bottle said: "Drink a full glass of water with this medicine." I've been told by my doctor to drink water very sparingly (kidney issue). The bottle also said to take the med at least 4 hours before some of the very meds I take in the morning! That means I'd have to take this one at 3 AM! Neither of these instructions had been discussed with my doctor. I'm going to ask him about them at our next visit!

And one more question occurred to me during the night...

We're warned that any of our powerful meds could have side effects. With so many different ones working to "fix our problems" at the same time, how would we know which ones were the villains if problems arose?

In summary -- while I still have my major faculties in tact (I hope!), as the years go by, and for those of you currently in less than ideal states of mind, how can we get a handle on this vary scary and serious business?

Perhaps some of you have already dealt with such challenges -- or know of someone who has. Would you please share what you've learned with me, and I promise to pass it on to my SPL (Special People List), who read this blog.

As always, I love to hear how you reacted to my thoughts... that's why I share with you.

Here's to many years of trouble-free, happy, healthy living to us ALL!!

Best always,
Eve

April 21, 2016.

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