Grandmother not taking all her meds

briskbeats

My grandmother is 94, has macula in both eyes, high blood pressure and severe arthritis. She gets her various medications in nomads done by her local pharmacy. The other day, my parents visited her (we live 65-70 miles away) and mum put something in her kitchen bin. She noticed the nomad in the bin with a couple of doses not taken - ie unopened. Mum took out the whole thing and noticed about another 8 doses had a tablet left in there. My parents have no idea which tablets were there as my grandmother doesn’t disclose this. Plus she’s secretive, denies a lot of things and lies.

My mum said my grandmother isn’t looking right. My parents and I said that she’s not looking right as not taking all her medication! She’s not seeing the tablets due to her macula. We can’t approach her in that she’s not taking all her meds due to her lying. How long is this going on is another question. My aunt (dad’s sister) lives a couple of miles away and doesn’t communicate with my parents and does the bare minimum to look after my grandmother, which angers my dad. 

Has anyone got an idea of how to deal with this? My parents can’t go round all the time to check her. My grandmother would be in a better position if my aunt actually did more.

There must be people on these boards who have/had elderly relatives that didn’t take their medication either like my grandmother not seeing them or other reasons.

Think my grandmother is developing Alzheimer’s or dementia. That’s another hurdle we don’t want to mention to her. 

pollypenny

Oh, dear. I have deja vu here. My aunt was exactly the same and I'm sorry to say that things got worse. 

Although we're 300 miles away, she'd ring at 2am and woe betide if I didn't answer the phone.   Because of almost blindness she had no conception of time and would be wandering around in the night, lights on and playing loud music. 

A care home is the only answer. 

elsien

She’s probably fiercely independent and concerned about admitting to any problems in case people start muttering about care homes.
Having a sensible conversation really would be the best way forwards to start with. There’s absolutely nothing you can do to support her with this otherwise.
Is she taking some out but missing some because of her eyesight, or are there times when she’s forgetting to take them? The solution might be different depending on the answer (bigger/clearer dosette  boxes, some sort of alarm reminder)  - at the moment you’re all guessing. 
It’s unhelpful to say you can’t try to talk to her about it because of her lying. Not wanting to admit there are problems could be a defense mechanism and aren’t automatically a sign of dementia. It is normal for people to forget more as they get older.
Sometime’s it’s about how you approach the conversation - less “why are you not taking these” and more “what will help you to do this more easily?”
The other option is to express the medication concerns to her GP. They cannot discuss it with you without her consent, but it will still be in her radar. I’d still try to talk to her first though. 

seven-day-weekend

My late aunt, was mentally alert, just stopped taking  her tablets in her mid-90s  as she didn't see the point.

There was nothing we could do to make her take them again.  And anyway, she was capable of making that decision so it had to be her choice.

In your case, you might just try asking your grandmother if there is something you can do to help her to take them properly.  See what she says.

Jude57

Would it be possible that grandmother isn't taking all her meds due to confusion? I'm not suggesting dementia but a possible urinary tract infection. They are common in older, more sedentary people and an infection run rampant can often cause confusion and disorientation.

My late mother in law was prone to UTI's and it was such a relief (no pun intended) when the GP spotted the UTI and antibiotics cleared it up in days. It did recur periodically but we and the GP thought of UTI's first from then on, always correctly as she had all her marbles right to the end.

Pollycat

pollypenny said:

Oh, dear. I have deja vu here. My aunt was exactly the same and I'm sorry to say that things got worse. 

Although we're 300 miles away, she'd ring at 2am and woe betide if I didn't answer the phone.   Because of almost blindness she had no conception of time and would be wandering around in the night, lights on and playing loud music. 

A care home is the only answer. 

I think that's somewhat premature.

Flugelhorn

I know this doesn't help but they all do it. I used to visit a lot of elderly and we would find stacks of dossette cartons with strips remaining etc  - plus unopened ones from months before stuck down the back of the sofa etc . 

the dossette is great at ensuring there is no overdose take but not great at making sure it has been taken.

my mother had one of these https://www.pivotell.co.uk/ makes a noise when they have to take the meds - TBH she still didn't always take them but it might be worth looking at 

theoretica

Talk with a pharmacist. They should be able to tell which the untaken tablets are from the list she takes for a start and how serious not taking them is - is it usually the same one? Might be a good idea to trigger a medication review - does she have the right pills in the right format for her?  Does grandmother have any carers going in?  Giving pills is a common task.

kirtondm

Surely its up to her whether she takes the pills or not ?. Would you be questioning a 45 year old who decides they don't want to take their statins due to muscle cramps?

 I certainly would not take kindly from my GP ringing me to tell my mother had been querying the fact I was not taking my statins regularly and was concerned.

elsien

kirtondm said:

Surely its up to her whether she takes the pills or not ?. Would you be questioning a 45 year old who decides they don't want to take their statins due to muscle cramps?

 I certainly would not take kindly from my GP ringing me to tell my mother had been querying the fact I was not taking my statins regularly and was concerned.

Depends if there are any concerns about the 45 year old's understanding of their medication and reason it's being prescribed. 
And I'd hope GPs have a bit more about them that your suggestion. Letter explaining concern about mum's blood pressure meds to GP. GP makes sure to check blood pressure on next review. If it's fine, no problem. If it's verging on stroke territory then further conversations to be had. 

warby68

My mum has poor sight too. She misses the odd tablet but much better since a nurse suggested she sweep round with a wet finger for stragglers. It doesn't cover forgettting but helps with the odd ones left behind.

Trying to get her to do a few more basic things by 'feel' rather than sight as her vision is deteriorating fast. You can get a social services assessment for this aspect and I'm finding my mum will listen to anyone with a vaguely medical related job rather than me. She tends to resist and deny to me. They even provide some items themselves. Mum has just been given a talking clock. So simple. She gives it a tap it says the time and you can set it to say the time every hour which helps with orientation and being a natural reminder function.

I know these are just a couple of tips and there is a whole bigger picture to consider of course