What’s the longest amount of time you’ve gone without taking your hormones?
Or, for that matter, any other important medication?
Ok.
So maybe that’s not the most fair question to ask someone who (very likely) struggles with memory. ‘Cause, to be honest, I can’t really remember my own longest stretch of days.
What I do remember though is that, pre-ADHD diagnosis, there were at least a dozen times when the number of consecutive days soared past three!
And can I just say, as a side note, that constantly forgetting to take yr meds is not a super fun way to live!
There is simply no need to ride more of those emotional rollercoasters.
Life gives us enough to ride already!
Anyway, in this post, I’ll explain why consistency (in general) is such an issue for us ADHDers. And how this impacts our ability to reliably take our meds. Most importantly though I’ll offer some suggestions/tips/solutions to help with this eternal struggle.
Consistently Inconsistent. Or How ADHDers Can Do Anything Once
Tell me if this rollercoaster pattern of med-taking sounds familiar?
I would get onto a consistency roll with my meds for a while.
I’d get a month under my belt.
Maybe 6 weeks even.
And my inner monologue would go something like:
“Hooray!
I’m a goddamn champion!
When will the IOC add a pill-swallowing-at-regular-intervals category to the Olympics?”
That is, until something would throw me off:
- I’d work a bunch of OT at my job.
- Or one of my bands would go on tour.
- Or I’d have packed my calendar to the absolute brim (because non-stop busy-ness = pre-Dx self-medication ).
This would inevitability lead to my med taking routine going by the wayside.
Cue Countdown to Emotional Meltdown…5…4…3…
The first day I would barely notice any difference.
The second day, a vague sense that something was wrong with me and/or the world would start creeping up.
And by day three, my inner critic would have cranked all the cynicism, shame, & pessimism knobs up to 11.
Oh yeah and I’d be back to smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day. Because increased anxiety made me want to crawl out of my own skin.
That was the point at which my partner Gem would gently probe “Hey hon, when was the last time you took your meds?”
To which I would respond by bursting into tears. 😭
Because I knew that if Gem was asking that question, then that meant my answer was “a minimum of 3 days.”
It’s a shitty pattern eh?
No need to fret though because:
- It’s not you/me/us, it’s our brains 🧠
- Thankfully, there are solutions!
ADHD meds consistency solution version 1.0 = Slight improvement
At some point, I got to a breaking point with this wildly inconsistent med-taking pattern.
I knew something had to change.
So I went as fast as I could to the nearest pharmacy and purchased a 7 day medication container.
It was rainbow coloured. Each individual day of the week (ie: Monday, Tuesday, etc) was labeled. Each days container had three separate compartments for my AM, Noon, & PM meds.
In other words, I loved it!
And it worked!
At least for a while…
Meaning, the 7 day medication container definitely improved my adherence percentage. But, because [ADHD] (https://marlacummins.com/trouble-starting-tasks-adults-with-adhd/), I would often still find myself procrastinating on refilling the containers.
So instead of the 7 day medication container helping me be consistent 95–100% of the time, it was more like:
- 7 days on, 3 days off
- 7 days on, 1 day off
- 7 days on, 5 days off
- Lather, rinse, repeat.
- Ad nauseam.
ADHD medication consistency solution version 2.0 = Game Changer
It was around the 6 month mark when I remember thinking:
“Okay.
So this 7-day med container situation has definitely improved my medication consistency.
But I’m still zigzagging waaaaaay too much!
How can I make this process even easier?
Hmmm.
Ooooh, what if I bought three more pill containers?
That way I’d only have to refill them monthly instead of weekly!”
Suffice it to say that, very shortly after that A-HA moment, I was back in the pharmacy aisle grabbing another few pill cases.
And OMG yes.
I can definitively report that filling four weeks of meds at a time vs. one week was a game changer.
Although, in addition to the 28 days worth of med containers, there was one other small thing that has helped in this whole process:
I inputted repeating monthly reminders into both my task management system (Todoist) and my calendar (Google Cal).
So now every 20-ish days I have notifications pop up, in multiple locations, reminding me to refill my med containers.
And yes, I deliberately set my reminders to start appearing at 20 days instead of 28. A.K.A. about a week before I actually run out of my pre-filled meds. That’s my way of anticipating that I am not going to actually get to refilling them the first day the notification appears. 😉
3 more ADHD-friendly med consistency suggestions
So, in addition to my game-changing suggestion of buying a month’s worth of pill cases, here are three other suggestions for making yr med-taking more consistent.
FYI, I haven’t tried any of these ADHD hacks personally.
They simply make intuitive sense to my neurodiverse brain (insert brain emoji).
But, as always, your mileage may very.
1. Using more than one month’s worth at a time
Since refilling a month’s worth of meds has had such a profound impact on me, I’ve often considered scaling it up.
In an ideal world I’d love to only have to refill them once or twice a year!
Which would be feasible with my hormones, anti-depressants, and vitamins/supplements. But sadly not with my ADHD meds.
I’m not sure what the laws are like where you are. But here in Canada, stimulant medication (ie: Adderall, Ritalin, etc) is a controlled substance.
Unfortunately, this means that yr only ever able to get a maximum of 3 months-worth at a time.
Even so, if yr meds (both ADHD & others) are the kind that are relatively stable, then only having to refill the containers once every 84 days vs. once every 28 could be an amazing relief.
*Shrug*
Why not give it a try?
2. Alarms & Reminders & Notifications Oh My!
If you were to follow the above suggestion (only refill pill containers once a quarter), I’m almost certain your med consistency average would increase.
That said, because of the increased memory & procrastination challenges us ADHDers have, you could forget to book follow-up appts with yr prescriber.
Which could very easily lead to the development of the following type of med-taking pattern:
- 84 days on, 7 days off (while you wait for an appt with yr doctor or nurse practitioner)
- 84 days on, 4 days off (because the pharmacy is closed so you can’t even get an emergency refill)
- 84 days on, 14 days off (because you went travelling and didn’t realize that you didn’t have enough meds to last the whole trip)
You already know that alarms, reminders, & notifications are integral ADHD coping strategies.
So, to avoid this type of unnecessary rollercoaster ride, it might be helpful to have medication refill reminders in multiple places.
And I don’t just mean digital reminders.
Don’t get me wrong.
Digital tools are supremely helpful.But imagine how grateful your future self may also be if, on day 70 and/or 77 of the 84 day cycle, she found a folded up sticky note in her A.M. med compartment that read:
“Warning. Meds are going to run out in 7–14 days. Call Dr. So-and-so to book a refill appt.”
3. Putting a note in one of the cases every 14–21 days to remind me to do my HRT injection
Speaking of reminder notes, there is another use for them other than refills:
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Now unlike me (Canadian trans woman), you might be the flavour of trans/non-binary/genderqueer ADHDer whose HRT has to be injected rather than swallowed.
If that’s the case, then why not try putting a “Remember To Do Your Shot!” note in the AM compartment of every 14th pill container?
Or every 21st day, depending on what yr injection schedule is like?
To Recap
If left unchecked, the default mode of most folks with ADHD is of being “consistently inconsistent.” This is especially true when it comes to developing the habit/routine of regularly taking our medication (ADHD and otherwise).
Thankfully all hope is not lost.
There are solutions to this problem
Hooray!
I listed five of the potential solutions to this perennial ADHD challenge.
But there’s gotta be way more than just five.
Let me know in the comments below your favourite ADHD medication consistency tips/tricks/hacks.