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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have brought this on myself?

105 replies

ExhaustedTiredzzzzz · 09/11/2019 03:16

I'll be honest in that I'm posting in AIBU for traffic....

So, I have an under active thyroid and suffer from depression. I am prescribed 125mcg levothyroxine and came off Sertraline 2 months ago.

I have always struggled to take medication because I struggle with my memory.
If I'm watching TV and the adverts come on, I cannot remember what I was watching. I cannot name famous people or singers, yet would recognise a picture of them. I cannot remember history that most people know, such as when wars took place, political stuff, I don't know where in the world places are.

I struggle to take my medication because I forget. And I think by not taking medication this makes me more forgetful.

Anyway, a few days ago I realised I'd gone 10 days without remembering to take a single pill. I only realised because of how ill I'm currently feeling.

I've tried alarms, reminders, leaving tablets at work, even the chemist put them in blister packs with days of the week.

I've now got them on bedside table with a bottle of water to try and help me remember them. Day will hopefully be my third day in a row of remembering to take them.

I guess my questions are:
What else can I try to ensure I don't forget to take them each day?
How long am I now likely to feel so ill before feeling normal again?
Is forgetfulness and memory issues caused by underactive thyroid? Depression? Both?

Not even sure why i posted. Guess I'm feeling sorry for myself as I'm exhausted, but can't sleep because I feel sicky and gross.

OP posts:
ScotsinOz · 09/11/2019 03:40

Thyroxine needs to be kept in the fridge or it does not maintain its full potency. If you have breakfast/hot drink with milk in the morning, then by keeping it stored correctly you should remember to take it as you grab the milk/butter etc from the fridge, as you’ll see it sitting on the shelf. Having it sit next to the milk in the fridge was the only way I could remember to take it too.

You need to sort this now - if I go more than three days without thyroxine I get really, really sick (and you can end up in a coma). You can take it weekly (theoretically) but this means you’ll have a high amount in your body at the start of the week, then much less at the end and might make you feel slightly manic.

Thyroid issues are often misdiagnosed as depression so if you start taking your medication properly and get your levels regularly checked (every 4 - 6 weeks in the first 12 months) you will start to feel better.

blubelle7 · 09/11/2019 04:56

Have you tried the cat timed feeder. We use them for my grandad with dementia and put his pills in there. When your 8am pills are due for instance it rings and opens up to reveal your pills so acts as a visual cue. Will only work if you remember to add the pills and set the timer though. Maybe you can get a trusted friend or family member to give you a call when your medication is due

Purpleartichoke · 09/11/2019 05:13

I would consider a watch with an alarm so it is with you wherever you are.

My DH takes a picture of his pills in his hand every dose. That way he can look back at the times the photos were taken if needed and even confirm that he took the correct pills.

Pollywaffed · 09/11/2019 05:29

@Scotsinoz, the fridge storage is an Australian thing (not sure about anywhere else), Levothyroxine in the UK does not need to be refrigerated.

ferrier · 09/11/2019 05:37

Won't one of those labelled pill boxes work? Has compartments for up to 4 times a day usually. Fill it up once a week. Keep it somewhere visible.

BusterGonad · 09/11/2019 05:40

Where, for example, your phone alarms go off for your medication, what do you do? Do you not know why it's gone off, or do you turn it off and think 'I'll take my pills in a minute' having no experience of this I'm just wondering where the problem lays.

Ironess · 09/11/2019 05:42

I lean mine on my deodorant. So when I put that on in a morning I take my pills too.

BlythesEyes · 09/11/2019 05:44

Leave next to your toothbrush...so at least morning and night you see them

Mummyoflittledragon · 09/11/2019 05:49

I don’t understand. If you send yourself a text reminder and ensure it’s a time when you’re home, why are you not taking it there and then? This sounds like an attitude issue or self sabotage even. Try doing things like putting a sticky note on your tv screen and not allowing yourself to remove it while you watch tv. Ie Something to get you annoyed enough to actually take the damn thing.

BusterGonad · 09/11/2019 05:50

My pills are always in the kitchen, I never leave the house without a cup of tea. I will also have spares in my purse.

BusterGonad · 09/11/2019 05:52

Mummyoflittledragon this is where I'm baffled too, you hear the alarm so you take the pills? My concern is that there is something else causing the issue.

Mummyoflittledragon · 09/11/2019 05:57

Buster
Exactly. It’s so much easier these days to remember to take a tablet due to technology. I took the pill way back when and couldn’t take the mini pill due to forgetfulness as I’d go to work and then remember I’d forgotten and would have to wait for the evening etc.

RhiWrites · 09/11/2019 06:17

Get an app. ‘Productive’ will do this. Set daily tasks to take the medication and reminders. You then tick the task off when it’s done.

Why your memory is so bad I don’t know, but your GP should be the first person to ask.

DowntownAbby · 09/11/2019 06:18

I'm also not understanding why setting an alarm doesn't work for you, OP. Can you elaborate on that?

I have hypothyroidism myself and also take 125mcg of Levo'. I don't have problems remembering to take it so I can't really help with regard to how ill I'd expect to feel after 10 days without it.

I really don't think low thyroxine would have caused me to be so forgetful that I could go 10 days without remembering important medication, though, if I'm honest. I was successfully holding down a high profile senior job before diagnosis and, although I felt crap, I was functioning ok.

I would have a talk with your GP because personally I don't think that hypothyroidism would cause your memory to be as bad as you're saying it is.

Sunnysidegold · 09/11/2019 06:35

I've been on thyroxine for over twenty years and have never been told to store it in the fridge.

At the moment I'm struggling to take it too. I used to be on a cocktail of anti anxiety and depression medicine and I was very particular about taking those so never missed the thyroxine. I suppose to me it's not been as "important" to take the thyroxine.

I have used the app "dosecast" in the past to remind me about taking tablets. I like the idea of putting them in the bathroom as I clean my teeth every morning and should I forget to take them then there's always bedtime.

I've not had the struggles with memory you report though. Could it be connected to the coming off of sertraline? I would maybe speak to your GP about it.

Another poster mentioned self sabotage too...could that be a possibility? I've been a bit crap in the past about going for thyroid tests and sometimes get a bit fub y about representing medicine as I know I'll be asked to go for a test and the result won't be right. I can't really explain this as in all other aspects of my life I'm quite a sensible and rational person.

I'll make a deal with you! I'll start taking it properly if you do!!

Beautiful3 · 09/11/2019 06:46

Get a medicine dispenser that has individual compartments for Monday to sunday. Put it next to your bed with a bottle of water. Every morning you wake up, you'll see it and take it before you go on your phone.

AwkwardSquad · 09/11/2019 06:48

I got my father a timed pill dispenser with alarm. The problem is that he doesn’t respond immediately to the alarm, he thinks ‘I’ll just finish ...’ and then he forgets. It’s really important to respond to the alarm straight away.

ScotsinOz · 09/11/2019 06:49

@Pollywaffed it’s not just an Australian thing, it’s to do with the temperature getting above 25 degrees Celsius. I was still living in the UK when I was diagnosed and I was told by my specialist to keep it in the fridge. I feel cold all the time and so with the central heating on, my house was always warm in the UK, so fridge was best. Also means I can’t misplace it.

Bigpaintinglittlepainting · 09/11/2019 06:53

Set an alarm on your phone so you know then as the previous op says take a photo of the pills in your hand.

Sometimes I take my medication and forgot I took it already, so I don’t know whether I should take it or not Grin argh

Notnowokay · 09/11/2019 07:01

Discuss it with your gp, just in case it is something else that is causing your forgetfulness alongside hypothyroidism.

Ohnoherewego62 · 09/11/2019 07:11

Do up a piece of paper for days of the week!

Then if you take it twice a day, makes two boxes for each day, AM and PM. Tick when taken.

Then make a box type grid so you can visibly see if you haven't put a tick there that you have missed a tablet.

How long has the brain fog being going on?

APerkyPumpkin · 09/11/2019 07:16

You really need to log this, visually, on paper or card, ticking the box each time you have taken each medication. Keep it up in the kitchen so you see it many times a day, on a clip board with a pen so you don't forget.

Beveren · 09/11/2019 07:18

People are right about storage temperatures - see 6.4 on this link

Diy2019 · 09/11/2019 07:23

I found out this week that memory loss can come with depression which explains so much for me. I'm going through PND and have been so so forgetful.
I take my meds first thing in the morning and it's become a routine now, I just take if when I'm making my morning coffee.

Palaver1 · 09/11/2019 07:25

Laminated picture stuck on the room door