results of poll about why some people don't take their vitamins

Here are the results of the poll about why some people don't take their vitamins.  Some people gave more than one reason for not taking vitamins regularly, so I counted all the reasons they gave.

I forget to take them - 47%

I don't think I need them - 7%

They taste nasty - 13%

They hurt my stomach or make me nauseous - 13%

I was told by a health care professional I didn't need to take them or I don't know what I need to take - 20%

I have trouble fitting them all in during the day - 20%

So the biggest issue is forgetting to take them.

After that, people don't take vitamins because a health care professional said they didn't need to (for instance, maybe their doc said all they needed was a multi so they don't take any calcium, which I find really scary) or they aren't sure what they need (and for some reason haven't asked or done the research to find out, which doesn't really make sense to me).

 Interesting.  So would people like to list their techniques for helping remember.

I bought a pill organizer with a months worth of individual day pill organizers in it. Each day of the month has four slots.  Every morning when I brush my teeth I take out that days organizer.  As I take my first pills I set the timer on my iPhone for 3 hours.  Each time the timer goes I take my next set of vitamins and reset my timer. Repeat till day's allotment done.  Using this technique it is unusual for me to forget to take them

What other ideas do people find works for them?  Let's share ideas to help each other.

Andrea. 

I match my doses up with meals.  I have one dose I take with breakfast, one with dinner and then one at bedtime.  Plus another dose of calcium somewhere in there.  But taking them with meals serves as a reminder for me.

I keep them where I see them often, which reminds me to take them.

I used to write "take vitamins" on my daily to do list, but now I don't need to do that because I usually remember them.

I don't set alarms to remind me but I know some people do.  You can also sign up on some website, I think it's called My Med Schedule or something like that, which will send you texts or emails to remind you to take your meds.

I think the fact that I've had to take different med's for years now has helped me remember to take mine & the fact that I spend a lot of money on those vitamins. I can't afford to let them sit around & go to waste, plus I definitely don't want to get into a deficit with my vitamin levels. What helped me is I sat down & made out a vitamin schedule & bought a large pill organizer that has breakfast, lunch, dinner & bedtime on it for the week & organized my pills for the week & actually even wrote with a permanent marker on each one what time I should take those set of vitamins. I even have 2 additional weekly pill organizers for the vitamins that I have to take while at work. It helps me to be organized that way. I not only have to do this for myself but for my son as well as he is on medication for kidney stones & an anti-depressant & I can't fuss at him about the seriousness of taking his med's if I don't hold myself to the same standard.

Found this link last Night
http://voices.yahoo.com/does-taking-daily-vitamin-help-weigh t-loss-5549853.html?cat=51

 That was an interesting study about those taking their vitamins lose more weight. Thanks for the link!

 Nothing new for me: I use a pill organizer, set everything up on Sunday, then pop out that day's worth to take with me.
I tie my schedule to meal times, plus Iron and B12 at bedtime (keeps the iron separate from calcium or dairy).

No need for reminders, as I usually manage to eat three times a day ! (grin)

I have a reminder on my phone. But really what I do is take my first set of pills as soon as I wake up and then every two hours after that I take my next set of pills until I finish them all.

I make it a game. I try to see if I can remember before my phone reminds me. Works for me!