4 ms·

I find that day-based medication organizers don't work when I have a non-24-hour sleep schedule. I ended up writing down dates and times of doses on a paper not

I find that day-based medication organizers don't work when I have a non-24-hour sleep schedule. I ended up writing down dates and times of doses on a paper notebook, because pill planner apps aren't built for non-24 schedules either, the one I found on F-Droid didn't record times which are useful for optimally spacing medication, and I kept forgetting to either take or record medications in my locked phone.

refurb 3y ago
Why wouldn’t day based work? Just because your sleep schedule changes doesn’t mean when you’re supposed to take the medicine changes.
- fastball 3y ago
  I assume they mean because a service like this is tied to specific time of day rather than an activity. e.g. you might take some pills right after you wake up and some pills right before you go to bed. If you wake up every day at 7am and go to sleep at 11pm then that's easy, but if your schedule is constantly fluctuating (go to bed at 8am and waking up at 3pm) I can imagine how it might become confusing.
  - HWR_14 3y ago
    Medicine isn't usually tied to activity. It's tied to "this leaves your bloodstream at X/hr. You need to replace it every Y hours". It's possible that it leaves your bloodstream at different rates depending on your activities, but I don't think doctors take that into account when prescribing medications. With a more erratic schedule, "take this pill at 10am on Tuesday" is a more valuable reminder than with a regular schedule where you might take it triggered by a regular event.
    - nyanpasu64 3y ago
      Another factor is that "take X when you wake up Monday and Y when you go to bed Monday" falls apart if you stay up past midnight (then you're taking the second Monday pills on Tuesday), then if you wake up later at 10 PM Monday and go to bed Tuesday afternoon (pretty soon you're taking both of Monday's pills on Tuesday and need to skip taking a day in your pill tracker), whereas recording the last time you took a pill allows you to space them approximately 8 hours apart regardless of the date/time you last took one.
    - mikecsh 3y ago
      Some medications are prescribed with this taken into account actually. For example if a medication has sedating effects (such as some antidepressants) it may be advised to be taken before bed so this side effect is turned into something generally beneficial (more sleep) and less prevalent during waking hours). Statins (cholesterol lowering medications) are usually prescribed at night time as this is when your cholesterol catabolism is most active. Pain relief is often varied around sleep schedules Insulin is scheduled around meals and sleep Etc etc.
      - HWR_14 3y ago
        Things like insulin may be driven by life events and as needed. But I'm talking about regularly scheduled medication. Antidepressants may be advisable to take before bed as a rule, but it's an excellent example of drugs that are supposed to be taken at the same time every day. Irregularly moving around the hour you take the antidepressant makes them less likely to work. That's why irregular sleep schedules aren't a good reason to move medication.

refurb 3y ago

Why wouldn’t day based work? Just because your sleep schedule changes doesn’t mean when you’re supposed to take the medicine changes.

fastball 3y ago
I assume they mean because a service like this is tied to specific time of day rather than an activity. e.g. you might take some pills right after you wake up and some pills right before you go to bed. If you wake up every day at 7am and go to sleep at 11pm then that's easy, but if your schedule is constantly fluctuating (go to bed at 8am and waking up at 3pm) I can imagine how it might become confusing.
- HWR_14 3y ago
  Medicine isn't usually tied to activity. It's tied to "this leaves your bloodstream at X/hr. You need to replace it every Y hours". It's possible that it leaves your bloodstream at different rates depending on your activities, but I don't think doctors take that into account when prescribing medications. With a more erratic schedule, "take this pill at 10am on Tuesday" is a more valuable reminder than with a regular schedule where you might take it triggered by a regular event.
  - nyanpasu64 3y ago
    Another factor is that "take X when you wake up Monday and Y when you go to bed Monday" falls apart if you stay up past midnight (then you're taking the second Monday pills on Tuesday), then if you wake up later at 10 PM Monday and go to bed Tuesday afternoon (pretty soon you're taking both of Monday's pills on Tuesday and need to skip taking a day in your pill tracker), whereas recording the last time you took a pill allows you to space them approximately 8 hours apart regardless of the date/time you last took one.
  - mikecsh 3y ago
    Some medications are prescribed with this taken into account actually. For example if a medication has sedating effects (such as some antidepressants) it may be advised to be taken before bed so this side effect is turned into something generally beneficial (more sleep) and less prevalent during waking hours). Statins (cholesterol lowering medications) are usually prescribed at night time as this is when your cholesterol catabolism is most active. Pain relief is often varied around sleep schedules Insulin is scheduled around meals and sleep Etc etc.
    - HWR_14 3y ago
      Things like insulin may be driven by life events and as needed. But I'm talking about regularly scheduled medication. Antidepressants may be advisable to take before bed as a rule, but it's an excellent example of drugs that are supposed to be taken at the same time every day. Irregularly moving around the hour you take the antidepressant makes them less likely to work. That's why irregular sleep schedules aren't a good reason to move medication.