Giving medications wears on caregivers

One of the tasks that every caregiver will have to perform is the daily dispensing of medications. Dealing with all the new drugs in today's world, this job can become extremely confusing. In a 24-hour period, one may have to administer medications as much as four or five times, possibly more.

This becomes a major battle when caring for Alzheimer's patients. They may argue that they already took their pills that morning. I know with my father he would sit here and tell me this, while his pills were still on the table staring right at him.

Be sure to store medication in a safe location; out of sight, out of mind. Leaving pill bottles in open view may have patients thinking they haven't taken them and possibly digesting an extra dose. This could be most dangerous.

The caregiver also needs to be cautious when dispensing over-the-counter medication. Consult with a pharmacist to make sure there will be no interactions with the prescribed drugs the patient is currently taking.

I found it very helpful to set up all prescriptions in a weekly container that has at least three compartments for each day. Not only is this less time-consuming, but you will be able to notice when you accidently missed dispensing their medication at certain periods of the day.

I believe this job should be left to one person who knows the pill routine by heart and will notice right away if something is out of order. Then, if needed, another person can dispense directly from the prearranged container.

It is estimated that 60 percent of our elders have trouble swallowing their medications. When caring for Alzheimer's patients, you will learn that as the disease progresses, they will most likely have a chronic problem with swallowing, for this is one of the symptoms of the disease.

This leads to most nurses and caregivers resorting to crushing their pills and mixing them into foods such as yogurt or puddings.

But be advised: Crushing pills can lead to serious complications, including death!

Some pills often have a special coating that affects how the medicine is released into the body. Crushing them can disturb this complex system, discharging the medicine too fast, possibly causing an overdose.

If this type of pill is prescribed to take once a day, what now could be happening is that all the medicine is released at once and the patient is not receiving the proper dosage throughout the rest of the day. Always talk to your pharmacist. In this circumstance he or she may advise you to break the pill in half and administer the crushed dosage twice a day.

When it was available, the liquid form became a blessing toward the end of my father's life. I never even told him what I was about to do; I just asked him to open his mouth and then I would insert the medication gently along his gums; this made things nice and easy.

There are also precautions that should be taken for the person who is doing the crushing. It always wise to use an actual pill crusher or at least place the pill inside of a zip-lock bag before turning it into granules. This way you're not inhaling any of the dust. (Be especially cautious if you're pregnant.)

Once again, speak with your doctor and pharmacist about your options. Figure out what works best for your loved one and yourself. I know from my past experience that the dispensing of my father's medications was a task that constantly weighed heavily on my mind while caring for him.

It may come to a point where you have to ask yourself if you are only treating the disease and no longer the patient. Have a discussion with the patient's physician. See if he or she still needs to be on everything currently prescribed. It may be possible the person has passed the point where these medications are doing any good.