Memory Tricks?

[Army Vet]

Hi everyone,

I got to thinking (ouch, that hurt!) about sharing tips/tricks on how to remember stuff. As everyone knows here, your memory is gone when you have a seizure and also due to any and all meds.

The only thing I know is to use my phone for appointments and write notes everywhere (which I usually don't because then I can't find the one I need lol). The other thing I do is set my medicine up for a week on Friday nights. Therefore if I can't remember if I took it, it's either there or not. If it's Monday morning and I see my pills are still there at 10:30 AM, then I take them. Then say on Tuesday if I already took my pills, say at 9 AM, but panic because I can't remember if I took them and possibly overdoes If they are there, I take them (of course assuming it's not time to take the PM pills). But if they're gone already (nothing to take) then okay, I took them already.

Anyone have anything (ie a specific app; routine) they'd recommend?

 

[CQ:)]

I use an app on my phone my Chicago friend told me about called medisafe, I have it set to go off at certain time in morning and night.

I think I told you my pharmacist makes my medication up for me in Webster packs where all the doseages are in blister packs for each dose (am and pm).
I’ve noticed since doing that I’m not messing my meds up or forgetting them.
Only med I might have issue with is the topamax is because it’s so tiny and gets stuck so when I get the pills out of the blister pack I count them to make sure they’re all there

With appointments I go a bit overkill and put it in about a couple of spots . I put it on a calendar in my kitchen and also on the one on my phone. I note all my seizure in a seperate calendar on my phone on a notebook app.

 

[Clovis]

I write appointments on a big calendar in our hall and in a smaller one in my purse. I don't take any meds regularly now besides vitamins so that isn't a problem. When I did take them and even now when I do take any PRN I keep a small notebook beside them to write down when I've taken them and how many are left in the bottle.

As for things like shopping lists, the refrigerator, my table beside my chair, my purse. Most of the time I get most of the things I needed that way. LOL

 

[Porkette]

Hi Army Vet,

I always put my meds out in the same place for the morning and evening so if I see they are still sitting there I know I forgot to take them.
I make a list for groceries and if I have any Dr. appt. or anything important to remember I write it on the calendar along with writing it down
on a notepad next to the phone then I don't forget.
To better my member I do brain teasers on line which are so simple they are hard especially if you do them in math. My Epileptologist
and neurosurgeon told me to do this to better my short term memory especially since my surgeon removed my right hippocampus
a few yrs. ago. Give it a try and see if it helps you. I wish you the best and May God Bless You!

Sue

 

[valeriedl]

As far as meds go I take my meds 3 times a day, 7am -1pm- 7pm, so I have 3 different weekly pill cases marked with the time the are taken. I keep the pill case in the same room that I'm usually in at the time when I take the meds. I've got an alarm set on my phone to go off when it's pill time.

I have one large calendar that has all appts written down on it. Dr appts, tests, when I get my hair done and so on... I also mark down the day I had a seizure on it. I have a small calendar in my purse that I use just like I do the big one. I have a weekly one too I that I keep as sort of a 'diary'. I write just general things on it - went to the grocery store, went to someone's house, movies, out to eat etc.... I also put on when a seizure was and as much info I know about the seizure - what type, what I did during it, how I felt after and anything that I think is important.

I've got post it notes everywhere too.

I do crossword puzzles. A good bit of times the question and answer are the same on different ones and it helps remembering it.

Someone told me that if you can relate the word, name to something you can remember it better. I knew my friend's kids names, Ava and Giana, but I could never remember which because I don't see them that often and could never remember which one was which. Then I realized how I could remember it - Ava was the oldest because her name started with an A and that letter was higher in the alphabet than Giana that started with a G. We have birds that are coming to the feeder and a good but of them are Starlings but I couldn't remember which ones they were. Then I saw that Starlings started with an S and they had spots on them. S and S. I might do this with people's names too or if they have the same name as someone else I know then I might be able to remember them because of that. I use those tricks a lot.

 

[Sabbo]

I take my meds twice daily. I keep filling a weekly pillbox, so its easy to keep track of the doses.
I enjoy doing fill-in & word search puzzles. I also like large (1000+ piece) jigsaw puzzles, but I don't have the space to do them too often. My memory issues are mostly short-term memory.

 

[Clovis]

Sabbo, I like 1000 piece puzzles too and don't have a table or anything to put them out on. So I solved that problem by using one of those large white erase boards to do them on. You can get one at WM for around $15 an thy will hold very large puzzles. They also have the boarded that helps keep the puzzle pieces from slipping off.

When I want to work on the puzzle I just get the board and sit with it across my lap. When I am done working for the time being I just place it out of the way on the bed or washing machine, etc.