Take your vites

I'm happy this morning. Finished setting up my vitamins and meds for the next two months. It makes it so much easier for me to handle this way.

Everyone does something different but I like the MedCentre organizers. Easier to use once I had a stable vitamin list.

So plan your vits, for the next day, week, or month. WHatever works for you.

Happy Holidays,

Pete

I ordered the tiny 2"x3" Ziploc bags (5 bags for each day) and I put the five tiny bags into a regular sized Ziploc bag. I do an all day bag filling marathon, but then I'm set up for 3 months. Every morning I wake up and grab my baggie for the day.  It's a big pain in the butt for one day, 4 times a year, but well worth it!!

I tried long term systems, but found they didn't work for me.  Before my surgery I had a Med Centre organizer going, but now it's in storage. 

For my first six months, I did my pills every day.  They had to change to reflect if I was constipated or not and so doing them in mass just made for a mess and lots of pills that I threw away after they got stale from sitting out waiting for me to re-bottle them.  I really liked the zen of this back them.  It was part of how I embraced my new DS life.  I also split my pills into SEVEN slots.  I used a weekly organizer for just a day's pills.   Taking less pills more often was perhaps the biggest helpful thing I found to improve my compliance.

For six months through about a year, I did about four days at a time, still in 7 slot organizers.  I generally had a handle on my colon so my pill choices stabilized, but if I went out too far things got wonky again.

Now, at 1.5 years, I do a week at a time and in a four slot daily organizer.  I like to switch around how I load up my pills.  For example, I haven't been able to find any research that says when to take your A's, so sometimes I take them with my iron and sometimes I take them late at night, or what ever.  Or I take two brands of multi-vitamins and I take 4 of them total.  Sometimes I take them individually, sometimes I group them by twos, mixed u*****t.  I figure that this way my ignorance isn't going to cost me as much. 

I do find that if I have too many mixed up early, I get complacent actually taking them and will skip the occasional day.  There is something about filling them up that reaffirms my commitment to the DS lifestyle.  I don't get it, taking the pills isn't a struggle any longer, but it is something I will let slip unless I'm super vigilant about it. 

Right now I take a lot of extra pills to try to do anything I can do to help my skin be healthy, but I fully intend to remove around 10 of them when I hit the ~2 or 2.5 year mark.  I guess then I can see the day coming when I have a feel for what works best and can stabilize it down to a three month process, but with ~35 pills a day now, forget about it!!  3 Months x 30 days x 35 pills = 3,150 pills!!!

Interesting topic!!  Thanks Pete!

It is interesting how we combine certain things. I too try different things at different times. I now fluctuate between 20 and 25 tablets/pills a day now that I stopped mag oxide. It was a pain early on as I added and stopped certain vitamins and meds but things have been pretty stable for the last year. I'm a little over 2.5 years out.

I've done really well about not missing whol;e days but I occasionally miss some doses. I either live with it or take more before bed. It depends on what is left to take.

If you take zinc you might want to take your Vitamin A with that. I've seen some Doctor's say they can be helpful together. Not quite sure why.

I follow some simple rules and then change around those.

Calcium in 500-600mg increments. Zinc and magnesium away from calcium. Iron, when I'm taking it, away from all 3. Other than that anything I take two or more of I tend to separate between doses on the thought that a little ata time has a better chance for absorption than a lot at one time. Strictly a non-fact basewd thought.. 

Lately I've been taking a lot in the morning - calcium, multi, D, K, K2, B12,probiotic and meds. Instead of trying to even out the number of pills through the day.

I just started thyroid meds and that change my routine some because they say no vits 4 hours either side. I tend to get up in the middle of the night and take that.

Pete

I just get a kick out of watching my Med Center switch from green to red through the month.

Zinc releases vitamin A from storage in the liver, and is used for immune booster, when under stress from illness...also used for reproductive health, esp in men. Zinc will help maintain healthy testosterone levels, when Zinc evels drop  the male body will converts testosterone  to estrogen, with the result of reduced muscle mass and man boobs...My Hubby just went thru this and Zinc reversed it for him, but not before he had to go for mammograms to rule out breast cancer!

I have tried the med planner, the little bags in 4 doses and zip lock "dime" bags... I suppose the best way would be to continue to divide the doses out to maximize the absorption. I got lazy and just put them all in one bag and then leave my night ones for night... which is the minerals....all of which you listed to take separately :) My labs other than Vitamin D and Zinc have been good.

I may purchase some of my own more specific labs through Life Extension (lef.org) I also have the benefit of having a spouse from India, when we go there to visit, I can get my labs done for about $25 ! We are going there in a few weeks, so I plan to revisit my labs after taking the increased Vit D dose, I am also now taking 100mg of Zinc. I also take copper along with it.

I have had issues in the past of zinc being fine and copper low etc because they block each other. I am still going to continue to take them together, just in higher doses, and see.

I also have the benefit of pharmacies in India..... I have access to many different supplements and meds etc... Last time, I did purchase B complex and did my own injections. I am on testosterone and Armour thyroid dha etc and have been on b-12 here(injections) I notice a huge difference in them. I could not find plane b-12 in India at the one pharmacy I went to. Will be in a bigger city this time, so i plan to do some shopping around. The B-complex is acid and hurts like Heck ! B-12 is totally painless.

I may be an odd ball, but I'd rather do injections and less pills....easier to manage. (I'm a nurse and have no trouble with doing them).

I set mine out each night after my last dose - I take them 4 times a day. I have a small pill container I bought at GNC and it works well. I guess I am lucky when it comes to my pills. I take 10 calcium pills a day, 4 multi vitamins, Vitamin D 3 times a week, Magnesium twice daily (this is new to help with digestive issues), 5 laxatives (this is also new), 1 vitamin C, 2 iron, and then a total of 4 prescription pills. That's only a total of 29 pills a day - okay that's more than I thought! Overall I would say that I get all my vitamins each day. I carry an extra vitamin+calcium dose with me in case I forget my case.