Lyme Brings Memory Loss and a Need to Remember

When you do something repeatedly, it in a sense becomes second nature over time but those with Lyme Disease have to endure this feat under different circumstances. Many of us are taking large quantities of pills or herbs and some are only to be taking at specific times of the day.

Also consider that because we have Lyme Disease, brain fog seems to be a very common symptom and can make it nearly impossible to remember to take your medicine or if you already have taken it.  There is no doubt that our lives revolve around taking our medicine and can make us feel like we're tied to a ball and chain but here are some tips to make the process a little easier and less worrisome.

​1. Dry Erase Board Calendar

You can draw a calendar on your existing dry erase board or even better buy a dry erase board with a calendar template.  The dry erase board is excellent for those who are taking medicine in a tincture or dropper form because it allows you to monitor your dropper increases.  Considering that you can preserve each month's data, you can visually seek how long you stayed at a certain dosage. Some tips include:

• Use a unique color for each medicine you take to make it easier to distinguish
• If you don't plan to increase a medicine at all, use different identity marks such as a line or a dot to indicate if and when it was taken
• Break each day up into columns such as morning, noon and evening

2. Phone Alarm or Pill Reminder App

A lot of smart phones these days come with the ability to set an unlimited amount of alarms or reminders.  Utilize this by setting an alarm for every time you need to take you medicine.  If your smart phone doesn't have an unlimited alarm feature you can download Alarm Clock Plus for Android, Alarm Clock 4 Free for iPhone or Multi Alarms for BlackBerry

If a simple alarm isn't sufficient for taking medications, there are pill reminder applications that provide more features than just an alarm such as dosage amount or a medication log.  You can download Med Helper for Android, Rxmind Me Prescription for iPhone or TimelyMed for BlackBerry

3. Flip the Bottle

Flipping the bottle that contains the medicine you took is simple, free, and instead of using technology, it relies entirely on human commitment and awareness.  It's most appropriate for medication that only has to be taken once a day.  This method works even better if you enlist the support of another person. Utilize the mutual effort between yourself and a friend or family member.

Once you take your medication, flip the bottle.  This way every time you encounter the bottle through out the day, you'll be reminded that you took the medicine it contains.  Have your enlisted support remind you the medicine was taken and flip the bottle back over some time before your next dosage as an added confirmation. ​

4. Web Browser Add-ons and E-mail Programs

Phones and tablets aren't the only technology available with apps, as web browsers now allow you to make your life easier by personalizing your browser with add-ons. ​Mozilla Firefox's Reminder Fox and Google Chrome's Task Reminder allow you to set an unlimited amount of unique reminders that can be repeated daily or customized.

Many e-mail programs such as Gmail include a calendar feature where reminders can be created and will also automatically sync with the Gmail application on your phone. 

​5. Take Medicine In Sequential Order

Chances are good that you're taking a plethora of medicine back to back and in doing so can sometimes leave you wondering if you already took a certain one.  The best solution for this problem is to take you medicine in sequence.  

Let there be a sequential pattern that dictates the order each medicine is taken in. The same principle applies to the alphabet.  It's how we know that D comes after B but we won't forget C because the sequence of the alphabet has been embedded into our minds.

6. Pill or Capsule Organizer

The most convenient method for remembering if you took your medicine at all would be a pill or capsule organizer.  It's also great because you don't have to fuss around by opening every bottle as all the medicine you need to take for the moment is contained in a box with the added bonus of daily time labels.

There are many different kinds of pill or capsule organizers.  If you prefer a short term organization then a 7 day pill or capsule organizer would be most appropriate because it can also include the feature of morning, noon, evening and bed labels on separate boxes.

If you prefer long term organization then a 28 day pill or capsule organizer would be more appropriate.  The only down side is you lose the daily time labels so it would cater to the medicine that only needs to be taken once a day.