Medication containers - how do others manage them?

LameWolf

Why is it that medication, be it tablets or liquid, invariably comes in containers that are nigh-on impossible to open if you have weak hands?

I understand the need to keep children safe (whatever happened to lockable cupboards?) but having just spent 10 minutes trying to open my bottle of Oramorph whilst I'm in agony, I'm feeling more than a little frustrated.:mad:

I have a gadget that you attach to the top to make it easier, but it is still a major operation. Obviously I'd get my husband to do it if he was here, but he's at work right now.

Regular tablets get set out the night before, so he helps with that, but the Oramorph syrup I take as and when needed.

Do any others struggle like this? How do you manage?:o

somebody_else

LameWolf wrote: »

Do any others struggle like this? How do you manage?:o

Speak to your pharmacist and ask them not to dispense in child-proof (hah! I used to have to ask my child to get the damned things open for me) containers.

Get them to dispense tablets in blister packs and use ordinary lids on bottles.

You might have to keep reminding them of this for a while, but my pharmacy hasn't dispensed in c/p bottles (for me, at least - and I definitely got the impression that I wasn't the only person who'd asked) for a good 2 years. Actually, thinking about it, it was about the time I finally got thoroughly hissed orf with them forgetting and put in a complaint about it to head office.

LameWolf

Almost all our tablets do come do come in blister packs - but the foil is thicker than ever it used to be, and difficult to tear through.

I queried this one time with a tablet manufacturer, and was told that the health and safety mafia had ordered the change.

somebody_else

Erm... I use my nails to split the foil first. Some tablets have a thicker foil than others. I can't push a paracetamol through the foil unless I've broken it first, but I can with the amitriptyline.

somebody_else

Not sure what happened to my last post - double clicked or something and it's disappeared. Anyhoo - could you get a medi-wallet and ask O/H (or someone) to put your week's meds in one of those for you?

LameWolf

I will try it; as I said, normally my husband helps with setting out the next day's tablets, but I ought to find a method of getting them myself.

The Oramorph comes in a big bottle as supplied by the manufacturers, and that's a real bind, particularly as, by definition, if I need to take the stuff, I'm in some serious pain and distress, and nine times out of ten, here on my own.

somebody_else

LameWolf wrote: »

The Oramorph comes in a big bottle as supplied by the manufacturers, and that's a real bind, particularly as, by definition, if I need to take the stuff, I'm in some serious pain and distress, and nine times out of ten, here on my own.

Again, I suggest speaking to your pharmacist to see if they can dispense in smaller bottles so that you can manage them on your own. I'm fairly sure that if you explain your problems they'll work with you to find a way round them. I doubt it matters if they hand out 10 x 50 ml bottles or 1 500 ml bottle - as long as it's the correct amount in total.

LameWolf

I'll have a word when I see the lady pharmacist on duty.

I'm always nervous about speaking to folks "in authority" but she's always pleasant, and chats for a few minutes if she hasn't got a queue. (Better still, I'll get my husband to ask).

I'd just thought that as it comes in the manufacturers bottle, that would be that, but I suppose the worst that can happen is they say No.:o

JJ7

I use the edge of a teaspoon handle to pop tablets out of blister packs (no strength in my nails at all). Also thought it worth mentioning for anyone needing to halve tabs you can buy a till splitter from pharmacies -I'd struggled for ages until someone told me this so hope it helps someone.

somebody_else

LameWolf wrote: »

I'd just thought that as it comes in the manufacturers bottle, that would be that, but I suppose the worst that can happen is they say No.:o

But they'll have other customers/patients who don't have a large bottle. I was on Oramorph for a while and I got it in a wee 100 ml bottle.

I also, quite frequently, get my codeine tablets made up of odds and ends of strips - which means perhaps someone has been prescribed 25 or 30 tablets, while I get 200.

I really don't think they'd have a problem with it - and if it makes you feel any easier about it, a lot of the pharmacists I've spoken to in the past 3 or 4 years have gone out of their way to make things easier for me. [The problem I had with them forgetting to dispense in blister packs was more about the fact that it's a 'training pharmacy' for a large company, and no-one had thought to put my specific requirement on the computer.]

LameWolf

Thank you somebody_else for the encouragement.

I'm a total wuss when it comes to dealing with people, as I have quite severe social phobia. But my husband will be with me, and he's good at speaking up for me.:p

I've just looked, and my Oramorph bottle is 500ml, so if Erica (the pharmacist) can put it in little bottles, they'll be lighter to pick up as well, which will be a bonus.

I must admit, it never would have occurred to me to ask.:o