Okay, this might sound VERY silly and if so, I hope you LOL b/c Lord knows, we need all the laughter we can get. But I am serious about it and wonder if anyone has the same problem or maybe a solution easier than what I have dreamed up!

So tonight I went to take my nighttime pain pills. I counted them out and put them in the pillbox, as always. I picked up my Blackberry & started to put in the time and the pills I was taking, and then I was distracted by the dog, who had snuck under my bed. I put the BB down and got the dog out. I picked it up again and noted a text waiting. I read the text. I sat down and took my pills. Then I went to put the time in. Oops! I already HAD put the time in! So I start thinking, did I maybe take a pill in the bathroom when I was counting them out for the pill box? It would be extremely unlikely, very odd and not like me at all, but as I had already typed in the time, did I accidentally take a 2nd pill?

Now, in my case I can take 2 if need be, so it wouldn't affect me. But what if it had been my other medication, the long-acting one. Certainly taking 2 of those wouldn't be good. It was then and there that I recalled an idea I had years ago. I wished I had a little computer on my pillbox, telling me when I opened the door and if I removed the pill, and at what time. It would be small, like a digital watch display, but record everything done to it.

After almost 15 years I haven't ever made a mistake. But WHAT IF? When my Mom was dying 8 years ago and I had to give her meds, I wondered the same thing. it was a bit easier with her as it was at the end and she took the maximum dose every day. If I had a doubt I just counted the pills. But I don't always take the maximum dose, especially when it's not cold out yet.

I travel for work and fly approximately 100,000 miles a year, crossing datelines and time zones, etc. Isn't there something that could be thrown together for us so mistakes cannot be made? You put a day's worth of pills in, set the time and date, and then it takes over. You could take your 1st dose, it would automatically record what time you opened the 1st slot. And there could be a safety lock on it that you'd have to override if you needed to open the next slot earlier than necessary.

Maybe I'm dreaming, but there ARE a lot of us. This could also help Alzheimer's patients like my Grandmother. She takes Aricept and some type of opiod, low dose, for her legs. She is in her nineties and doesn't remember the meds. She is in constant pain b/c she forgets to take the pills. When I last visited, she was sick to her stomach, shaky and had the runs. I checked her pill bottle (she takes 2 a day at bedtime) and she hadn't taken it in 2-3 days! She was in slight withdrawal and didn't know it. Even worse, I had run her errands as she doesn't drive and she was due for a refill on her OTHER medicine. I have no way of knowing how long she went w/o taking it.

If we had our own mini-pill dispensers with times and slots and a computer remembering when we refill it and possibly an alarm for those forgetful, it sure would help. I do know I'm probably giving someone a great idea, especially the part about Alzheimer's Patients, but I can't be the 1st person this occurred to.

I've even started keeping my pillbox in one place in the house and if it's time I go to that room and take my pills and write it down, NEVER moving the pillbox. But travel and distractions happen. After almost 15 years, you'd think I'd have figured this out by now! I'm always on the go and forget to take one of my meds too often. I'll be on a plane and the pain will hit and I can't find the piece of paper/notebook, etc., that allows me to see when I last took the pill. I err on the side of caution so I stay in pain until I'm 100% sure it's okay to take something.

I have a notebook (I'm out of paper) where I keep my record of meds and what time, what I took, and my pain level at that time (I like to look over my pain levels to see what the weather was like on days I had higher levels, etc.) But when the notebook was as full as possible, I started noting in my Blackberry. But for obvious reasons, THAT isn't working. If I wasn't so distracted it wouldn't matter, but kids will do that to you. So will any type of hectic work, or an incoming text or email.

Anyway, I've never heard of anything like this. Has anyone seen or heard of something like this or similar? It sure would be nice- I wish I was an inventor! Am I the only one this happens to? Any ideas to improve MY system of notebook and pill box will be graciously appreciated.