Thomas,
I don't know whether to attribute it to old age, or to the effects of the flec and metoprolol, but I CONSTANTLY find myself asking "Did I just take my pill or not?" Not during the workweek so much, since I take ONE flec at 1000, which I put in a container that I bring with me..but on weekends? So I have either double dosed or skipped at least a dozen times, I would imagine. I of course am PRAYING my ablation takes, and I can come off all the meds, but I know that I will have a lot of fear that day that they say "Go cold turkey...you are off the drugs." You are 100% correct, this IS maddening!

Bill

Me too!

The 2x day Pradaxa is my plight! I know now that it takes several days to get it out of my system, so I don't stress as much. I have missed many a dose...If I was not sure, i would always just skip it...Because, I figured too much Pradaxa was worse than not enough.

I do PIP, so I don't have to keep track of those meds.

Good question, I like it when we conduct our own poles!!!

Namaste ( The Light and Love in me, honors the Light and Love in You) ~ Carol

I use my phone and set an alarm for 7 am and pm everyday.

Huh. I'm not exactly how long some of this stuff stays active in your system. I have heard of something called "half life." I think that's what it's called. I would assume this is the residual active drug in you system. not sure how effective it is though.

I take Pradaxa at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (with my Bystolic). That helps me remember. Too much Pradaxa would definitely be worse. If I remember at say 6, I put the medicine by the phone, so I know I didn't take it yet. When I get more forgetful as I get older, I will probably use a calendar to mark my doses. Remind me to do that in a couple of years.
petey

Hi Thomas,

I intentionally missed my daily dosage of diltiazem to see what would happen. I have paroxysmal,asymptomatic afib and so I randomly monitored my hr.

My hr is usually in the low 50's and occasionally in the 40's and 60's; I noticed that after about 35 hrs from the last diltiazem dose it tended to be predominantly in the high 50's, low 60's.

Before attempting this experiment I reviewed the results of my original 24 hr holter test when I was not on any medication. The test showed t a max hr of 140 with a min hr of 48 and 25% of the time over 120. I never felt anything unusual during the holter test so that is why I periodically monitored my hr.

If I noticed that my hr exceeded 100 during my missed dose for an extended time then my plan was to take a pill.

The only risk I felt was my hr during sleep but based on the holter test my hr is at its lowest during sleep cycle so I thought the risk was minimal. In addition, my cardiologist asks that you stop rate control meds 24 hrs prior to echo stress test so this gave me more encouragement that it was okay to miss a dose.

Although it was a little stressful I also liked the idea that I could be free from medication for a day or at least have control over when to take the medication.

opsyn

Get a pillbox labeled with the days, and every Sunday put all your morning and evening meds in it. It's pretty hard to get confused that way.

I just did this very thing this weekend, skipped two days, and even after a horrendously stressful weekend (unexpected extra guests to feed, 2 of them busy little boys, and awful, icy, snowy, blustery weather for trying to host a baby shower after it got postponed once and should have been postponed again) I still managed to NOT go into Afib. This was surprising since lately I've been going into Afib every two weeks, for longer periods of time, a maddening departure from the every other month up until this year...

Just so perplexing, this crazy heart o'mine...

The main reason i brought this up was that I had a refill ready at a local Publix Grocery Store late Sunday and while we were there, the Pharmacy closed.

I didn't have any for the night dosage and was worried as I have been diligent with taking my med.s since May of 2010.

It's not the not remembering that worried me it was not having any. I call it the "fear factor."

In any case I didn't sleep very well and picked the stuff up the next day. Fortunately, I had no issues other than no sleep over night.

I often wonder about the efficacy of some of these med.s and their long term benefits. I think it's often a trial and error grab bag of who takes this and who takes that.

Seemingly, some may appear to be helping and others may not be helping at all - who knows?

It's all subject to the individual and this crazy gig.

My EP has suggested taking me off my med.s permanently, but because of the "fear factor" I have stayed the course with them.

;)

Hi Thomas: As far as rate med goes, I take Atenolol and if I miss one dose, my HR goes over 120. I usually take it at bedtime and my rate will go up in the night hours/early morning if I miss the dose. My heart will wake me in the night to remind me :)

Hi Thomas.
Sorry, but can't help you with this one. I am fanatical about my meds, and if I happen to go a couple of minutes past my time to take them my hubby reminds me. If I ever do happen to forget I'm sure I will be a basket case. I get them refilled when there are still 10 pills left. lol

And Bill...I've asked myself that same question. "Did I take it or not?" Maybe if they were bigger we would remember more easily. They're so small I sometimes roll it around in my mouth to make sure it's really there.

Oh the perils of afib. :)

Mary Ann

I have missed my Pradaxa, metoprolol, and matzim a few times, with no effects that I could feel.

I take about 8 pills a day (heart meds and supplements) and the labeled pillbox has been a life saver. I can get so busy that I forget if I took my pill so I just check the pill compartment and voila, I am reassured. It is probably compulsive but I carry an extra dosage in my purse--just in case. I have been glad a couple of times when I stayed out later than I thought. I also keep a week or two worth of extra meds on hand--just in case a pharmacy snafu happens (putting off picking up the meds) or bad weather. I have taught disaster planning and we always recommend keeping extra prescription meds on hand.

PS: Every once in a while I used to put a pill by the phone to take but one day discovered my dog was just about to help herself--and that would have meant a vet visit. Always something.....

I missed my morning metoporlol one time for two mornings when I had the flu. I mabahedto get down the evening dose . Nothing happened. THos two moring I just cousd not get anything down and I must eat with it.

I try to get my prescriptions filled a few days before out in case. Sometimes they have to call in and get a new prescription. Here the pharmacy is not open of couse Sat and Sun. Took few days to get my prescriptions changed to here when I moved. My Dr says they have to call for it. They must callin for a renewal. I had a little fuss about warfarin on day. I told them I told some days more that one and they said too early to get it. I tolds them to call the local Dr who monitors me and says how many and he would tell them. I got the pills and they said it was okay the label was not right worded. My Dr is 80 miles from here. My Dr does not set the amount, the local Dr does. I have never met him I go to lab and give e the test results and he has someone call me. Pharmacy has short hours here. No other place in town to get it but at hospital Pharmacy and they have raised their prices. Got to more to get filled and see how much.

I did not go Afib missing two mornings so was on half dose. Sometimes evening dose is late due to getting home late from big city. NotoftenI go. I have to eat to take. So I take after breakfast and after supper.

Glad to hear i'm not the only one who can't remember if they take their meds. I recently started my pill box (I feel like every month it gets bigger and bigger). That has helped. I like the alarm on your phone.