Good evening. My mom is 67 yrs young. She has horrible short term memory. She has suffered from Epilepsy for 50 yrs. Her memory has been bad for as long as I can remember, but the last few years it has gotten much worse. She does not have dementia, but if you didn't know her you might would suspect she was in the beginning stages.
Here is my problem: she double doses her meds sometimes! I ALWAYS prepare her meds in the plastic minder bins. One box AM M-S, PM M-S. I put the pill bin in a plastic storage box that latches. There is a note taped to the box " Mama LOOK at the DAY on the CLOCK before you TAKE MEDICINE. Do this for me. TOO much med is dangerous!"
I purchased her a clock from Amazon that shows the Day, Time, Morning, Afternoon, Evening. It also has an alarm, which I have set for 8am and 5pm.
Today at 7 pm she had already taken Thursday AM meds.
I am at my wits end. I don't know what else to do. She does not belong in a facility. I can't afford an aide every day. She doesn't meet the ADLs for Medicaid to pay for an aide. I do pay an aide 2hrs 2 days a week. I have to work, I can't go over there twice a day and dispense her meds.
When she double takes meds, it makes her "drunk". She literally falls and I worry that it will eventually kill her.
Please, anyone have suggestions.
This whole caregiving is a series of finding solutions to the ever-changing problems. As soon as one was solved, or a routine established I thought I could count on, it all changed again, and again,.......
Good luck with your mom. AL and later even Nursing Home were less expensive than the home care alternatives after awhile. Round-the clock care became essential, and my health needed help also. I'm 72.
Big (((HUGS)))
Phillips has a pill despenser that is really neat. Its been awhile since I have seen it demonstrated but I think the cost maybe worth it. It is locked and only u will have the key.
If I remember correctly, it holds 10 days of pills and dispenses when needed thru out the day. Each set of pills is put in a little container. At the time they are to be taken a voice comes on and says "time for your pilks" the person pushes the button and out pops the pills. If they don't push the button after a couple of tries by the voice, u will be notified.
https://www.lifeline.philips.com/pill-dispenser/health-mdp.html
I would still seek out other options.
Aides cannot dispense medications (legally). The aide can point to the medication mediplanner and ask that the person take the meds at that time. And legally aides should not be filling
mediplanners either.
Would mom be eligible for a 55+ Community that has an attached health center? Or an AL with medication management services provided?
Medication mis-management leads to hospitalization. Can you speak with her providers and get meds that need only one dose per day vs twice a day? This is a hard situation as many other seniors have this as a potential problem as well.
Good luck to you!
Your mother cannot safely manage medications. Take them away from her. Do you or does anyone see her every day? Depending on what the medications are, it may be possible to change the formulations to modified release of some kind so that she doesn't need two visits.
I strongly question the assertion that your mother does not have dementia. Fifty years of epilepsy treatment would make her more, not less, vulnerable. Has this actually been investigated?
Thinking of work around solutions, there are pill dispensers that won't open until the appropriate time, like this one
https://www.alzstore.com/electronic-pill-dispenser-p/0032.htm
Also, people have also been using personal assistants like Alexa to help monitor their loved ones and to set reminders.
Good luck to you, it's a very challenging roll taking care of our parents....who knew we'd have 80 year old children.