Did I Or Didn’t I?

Posted on by akiwifreund

Please note: I have been given this product as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

The Saint Paul remarked upon the sheer volume of medicine that he could see displayed in my bedside drawers, something that started with “Wow.” I told him that the one drawer that was open as well as the bottles on the surface were only the half of it and that the other two drawers were filled as well. Of course, I don’t take them all every day; some I keep because I know they might come in handy later. Truly, though, I go through about 45 pills per day thanks to my prescriptions and supplements.

The makers of PillSuite (http://pillsuite.com) were kind enough to send me their product to give it a whirl. I received a sorter, two rolls of sealable baggies and a sealer. 2016-03-27 11.40.02I chose to load up my midday pills, which are only about seven in number but are the largest in volume. When I looked at the sorter, it seemed like the compartments could only handle these seven, and I was right.

The baggies are biodegradable and can be written on with any sort of note you choose to write; I recommend a fine-tip permanent marker.
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After you snap the lid onto the sorter, you flip it over so the funnel lines up into the open end of the next plastic baggie to load up the dosage.
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There was just enough room to get these horse pills into this baggie, just like there was just enough room in the compartment.

Next, the open edge of the baggie is pushed to the back of the sealer and the big button is depressed for 3-5 seconds, which seals the baggie shut with a fine line. The red indicator light shows that the sealer is working its magic and closing off the baggie.
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After that is done, both ends are completely sealed, and your meds and supplements are ready for transportation.

When you are ready to consume them, there is a perforated end that can be easily torn open.
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Here are some advantages to using this product:
1. You bet I like the fact that the baggies are biodegradable! I’m always worried about how much I consume and add to the demise of our resources because it’s not easy for me to do things that able-bodied people take for granted. Check out this episode of In Sickness + In Health podcast (http://www.insicknesspod.com/blog/2016/3/8/23-when-sus).
2. I can write anything I want to on the baggies. I can indicate the medication names and dosages, or I can indicate the time of day the pills should be taken, or I can remind myself to take the contents on an empty stomach an hour before eating, etc.
3. This is a great product for traveling. Sometimes I have appointments that require a lot of time for me to be away from home, and it would be a lot easier to slip one of these baggies in my purse than it would be to take a pill sorter or an actual bottle (or seven) with me. This would be pretty handy for a short trip as well. The only time it wouldn’t work is traveling outside the country; TSA requires medications to be in their original prescription bottles when traveling outside the U.S.
4. This takes the mystery out of whether you have missed dosages or not, especially if you have scripts or supplements that are taken 3-4 times a day or you have to stagger everything according to a full versus an empty stomach. I have yet to see a pill sorter that has enough compartments for all of my dosages.

One disadvantage for me? My evening dose of meds and supplements actually adds up to about 25-30 pills and capsules – the seven that you see here, plus a bunch more, depending on how I am feeling. I would actually have to fill two compartments in the sorter and therefore two baggies for the nighttime dosages.

Ordering additional “suites” as the baggies are called is impressively inexpensive from http://store.pillsuite.com/.

14 thoughts on “Did I Or Didn’t I?”

  1. I hate getting ,y pill organizers ready every week. This one feels like an extra step somehow.

    Although it is also a pain that I have three separate sorters so I can keep track of whether I took my pills. So I suppose it might ultimately be less work. Especially since you could possibly do a month’s worth rather than week. (assuming you get all your scrips filled at the same date. )

    I’m also lucky – I don’t normally have to take anything mid-day – so all my sorters can live on my bedside table. If I had to take them to work, I might lean heavily for the baggie. Its much more discrete.

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    • I know it seems like more work but I do two to three weeks worth in a sitting and then I’m done and I don’t have bottles taking up space or rifling through what I took when. I get for a lot of pills it still seems imperfect but it’s still a lot better than most. And these packets take up way less space than the bottles would for transport – overall I get frustrated with many organizers and solutions they appear to be lacking. This one definitely gets it more right than most

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  2. OMG! I can’t even *pretend* to believe I could organize, track and manage the number of pills that you must track daily (45!!! yiikes!) I’m not even sure I could make myself SWALLOW 45 pills every single day — much less organize and track whether I did or not.

    If you can keep up with it all, you are already doing better than I. (Jumped here from Wendy’s “Picnic,” btw)
    xx,
    mgh
    (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
    – ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
    “It takes a village to educate a world!”

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      • In the middle of reading your “About Me” as I get a notice that you responded to this comment.

        I’m in Cincy currently, btw – but not thrilled with the city — lived in Albuquerque as a toddler, but no memory other than photos that trick me into believing I have a few.

        Your “arts but no sports” educational experience sounds like heaven to me – glad you have that in your background (wish I did), since life seems to have dealt you a lot to deal with since.

        We share the dating struggles with almost all women, I think, unfortunately.

        If you have to be bald, I guess this is a relatively good time for it, given the rocker chick subculture [i-net & otherwise] – even though I’m sure it has to be tough to deal with regardless.

        Anyway – pleased to meetcha’ on Wendy’s site, and I’ll be back. Onward and upward.
        xx,
        mgh

        Liked by 2 people

      • Wow, we have a lot of parallels! I didn’t miss much from Cincy with the exception of Graeter’s (until they created their plant and started shipping their pints everywhere) and Burbank’s (when it was still good and actually open). I still have some people there – wouldn’t it be crazy if you knew them too??

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      • It’s tough to make friends in Cincy. Not many people move into or away from that city. I lived in many apartments during my six years there including two just one block off of Oakley Square and two in Norwood (the nicer area). Teak Thai in Mt. Adams was really good, and I also used to stuff myself silly at Grand Finale.

        Let me know if I can help you in any way, I am wishing you all good things. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • How sweet of you to offer – and thanks especially for validating my experience that Cincy is a tough city, friendship-wise. I’m unusually friendly, so I was thinking perhaps the reason few people returned my smile or spoke to me on the street or in restaurants was that I was older and worked virtually in my home office (no office chums to have dinner with, so usually solo in public) – until I read your comment. THEN the light went on.

        Except for 20 years in NYC, I’ve moved like a gypsy throughout my life — and I’ve [almost] never had a problem finding a circle of friends relatively quickly. The ONLY other place I had a tough time breaking in was New Orleans, decades ago now.

        My then husband was in a 3 yr. grad program. Outside of my job, I was practically shunned — until the following year, when I began my own 2-yr. program. I came in with a key position as a member of the Resident Acting Company (on teaching assistantship). Almost overnight, I became popular. It was bizarre.

        NOLA & Cincy seem to have in common the fact that most people grow up there, and don’t move away – closed clubs unless you have “official” entry, I suppose. It changes little, but it makes me feel better about things to de-personalize. 🙂

        FYI: I’m in my 2nd Clifton apt. – first was right IN the Gaslight District itself – I’m now in a much bigger space closer to the Univ. area. (but no gaslights).
        xx,
        mgh

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      • Oh yeah, Cincy by far was the toughest city for me to make friends. It’s too bad two friends in particular moved to NJ who were in your area, I would have made it a point to get you out with them – they were outsiders and understood the challenges of the city. BTW, my favorite Indian restaurant is still Ambar India – yum! Just don’t park in the lot next door because the brothers are still feuding and the nasty brother will have your car towed – he stands outside and watches patrons park in his lot and walk into his brother’s restaurant Ambar, then calls the tow truck! I’m not sure if you are still active in theater, but my friend Ken Early is an actor in a lot of productions; we used to work at Cincinnati Arts Association together. Also, there is a slight possibility that I will end up in your area later this year after I communicate with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, as Harvard has designated them as my go-to place for studying my unnamed rare disease. I will hit you up if I will be nearby, because I can always rent a car and then fly out from Lexington, Columbus or Indianapolis!

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      • LOL re: Ambar, feuds and towing. I don’t have to worry much about getting towed, however. I live close enough to walk and, since parking is beyond tough in my ‘nabe, when I don’t have to move my car, I don’t.

        I loved Nashville, and Vandy med school is cutting-edge in a number of arenas. I pray that they will be able to figure out what’s going on with YOUR health, and get you on the road to vibrant well-being.

        I have a couple of trips coming up myself (West Coast for a wedding & Fla. for family) – so let’s stay in touch. It would be GREAT to get together in person. I don’t like that chili spaghetti everyone else goes nuts for, so I’m not a Skyline groupie, but I’ll treat you to Ambar in a heartbeat!
        xx,
        mgh

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