Do you take all your once a day meds at once in the morning or in stages? Adding meds as I age and deal with pains reduces my enjoyments of basic homeowners work, chores and sex. I seem to be loosing the air in my tires at 69 and I could compete with the best at 67. Is it common to just go flat with desires to keep up a good schedule of work and fun after 10 + years of retirement?
I am questioning my Meds and Doctors if mainly Cholesterol statins (since the 80s) are affecting my physical strength and pains. Plus, if others meds are affecting my energy and mental drive (due to aging). I must say 75-80 I felt I would slow. This is comparing me with my father and mother’s energy as they aged.
You seem to be asking a few different questions here. The title asks if we take all our medicines at once. The answer for me is yes. I can take any number of pills smaller than a mouthful with just a small shot of water without any difficulty. The nurses have been impressed when I have been in the hospital.
However, I don’t take anything that has any acute effects and I am reasonably young. If you are experiencing negative side-effects and are having some difficulty taking your medicine as prescribed, you should talk to your doctor about it. That doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong because you are on the far end of young yourself and it is normal for some routine activities to get progressively harder as you age but you should talk to your doctor about it if there has been a recent change.
Some of my meds say to take only in the evening. Others don’t say at all.
69 is starting to get old, pard. Just one of those nasty facts of life. I’m 58, and starting to fade. You got ten years of good performance that I don’t look like I’m gonna get.
I know a lady who’s 99. God bless her! She’s going strong. You might make it that far, and I wish you the best, but I’m not going to put any money on it. The actuarial tables are a harsh reality.
Anti-cholesterol drugs are a long term investment. You suffer a little now, but they’ll help keep your arteries open so you’ve got the best chance of living to 89 and 99.
On the other hand, if the side-effects are too awful, talk to your doctor. (This forum needs a one-button text macro: “Talk to your effing doctor. What do I look like? Ben Casey?”)
The statins I take have a warning about muscle aches. Well, bub, I got muscle aches in plenty…but they started long before I started taking the statins! Far as I can tell the meds have not made any difference. If they’re making your life worse, talk to someone who can see the big picture (which total strangers on a general-topics discussion board cannot!)
Seriously, and not to be dismissive: find out the truth from someone who is legally and professionally competent!
And take your meds whenever you want. I don’t believe it makes a great deal of difference if you take 'em in the morning or at night.
Spread out throughout the day, mostly at 4-to-6 hour intervals. Some of my pills say specifically what time of day to take them. (Not down to the hour, but like “at bedtime”, or “30 minutes before meals”)
Some, it is pretty obvious how to take them. I take 400 mg ibuprofen three times (sometimes four) a day, to deal with miscellaneous aches and pains. (It works rather well once it takes effect, but it’s rather slow acting.) I don’t think it would make sense to take the whole handful all at once.
Two different blood pressure meds. So, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon.
Anyway, pills are all just toxic potions, at their root. I’d be skittish about dumping the whole day’s load of toxic potions into my body all at once.
ETA: Oh, and asking your doctor? It is to laugh. You can try it. Just try to get that kind of detailed meaningful advice from a doctor. Just try it.
It works fine for me! My doc is willing to answer questions like that.
Sure, the appointment is time-limited. I can’t grill him in depth for thirty minutes. But during the appointment, I can ask all sorts of things, and he’ll answer.
If your doctor won’t answer basic questions, dump the chump and get someone competent!
There are specialists who look at your medications and conditions and make sure everything is adjusted properly for YOU as you age. As you get older many medications may need to be dose adjusted. In many cases, but not all, doses can be too high.
My family had to take my grandfather to see someone with this specialty. Some of his medications were starting to cause issues. The specialist really helped. I’ll see if I can find out what it’s called - geriatric medicine practitioner to start.
In any case, I’d see your doc for now and lay it out there. There may be different meds you can try, vitamins you can add, drink more water, etc.
I split my five into “three morning and two evening” worked out in cooperation with my pharmacist. I had much better luck and results that way than asking the doctor.
I respect my GP and the Specialist he refers me to with all scheduled exams needed. BUT! There is always that doubt, plus I know I have to do my part. I feel all or most of us do not feel 100% Healthy. Even though my bad cholesterol has the only “High” on my complete blood work.
I feel a lot of my pains are old injuries from accidents, sports and overworking my body. I like this Idea of getting opinions to think about and mention to my Doctors if they seem worthwhile to mention.
To be honest I feel my Doctors get tired of my list of questions. Plus I do not feel I am seeing possibly the best when they refuse Medicare as my primary.
Building and Mechanical related Volunteering and related projects were my retirement plans. I had to cut back all in 2009 after my 03 retirement (including fishing completely but still walking for energy 5 mornings, 2 miles ea week days). Without the Energy Walk I doubt I would work chores/projects 2-3 days, 2-3 hrs.
My thyroid medicine has to be taken on an empty stomach, so I do that in the morning before anything else. The rest I take at dinner. No side effects for any of them.
I take most of my once-a-day meds before bed. However I do take an ace-inhibitor for high blood pressure in the morning as it sometimes gives a a dry cough which disturbs sleep.
Until recently I was on a beta-blocker for a heart condition. I definitely took it in the evening. The BB artificially lowers your heart rate and taking one just before going out on a bicycle ride or jog would slow me way down.
I’ve got some that need to be taken in the morning, others that need to be taken at night, and some that “don’t care” but have interactions (e.g. I take the acid reducer in the AM as directed, but that impedes the cholesterol medication so I take that at night).
Half the time, I forget the morning meds until early afternoon despite a phone reminder. Heaven help me if I ever need to take things 3+ times a day.
76 years old with some chronic conditions. I take two meds in the evening because they make me drowsy and the others in the mornings out of habit.
Were it me I too would question cholesterol meds. My young wife mention them to her new young doctor and he told her long term side affects were worse than the problem they were supposed to solve.
My primary is an old doctor and I have to remind him that my ratio does not indicate cholesterol medication even though the total does.
A tangent note: [Among the problems for older people is interactions. For example prednisone is reported to cause low bone calcium problems. There are meds for low bone calcium but they are contraindicated in the case of periodontal problems. So what does one do if one has BOOP *and *fragile bones *and *periodontal problems? ]
Let’s see. I take my thyroid meds when I get up because they’re supposed to be taken on an empty stomach. But I have also something which actually can inhibit the absorption of the thyroid stuff, so I take it at night when it can be digested for 8 hours before I take the thyroid meds…
I’ve taken the same three meds daily for several years now. By trial and error, I’ve found what works best when. I take one on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, and the other two right before dinner in the evening. The evening two don’t work well in the morning because they need to be taken with food and I generally don’t get around to breakfast until about 10 am or so. The morning one seems to give me heartburn if I take it with food, so morning is the best time for that one.
Not sure there is any medical logic to this regimen. It just happens to work best for me.
I lump all the once a day ones together with the second dose of the twice a day ones because it makes it easier to keep track of them. Also, in winter (and anytime that’s not hot, actually) it’s usually the only time I’d be drinking a cold drink that day, so it’s easier to do it once.
I can’t take them in the morning because I have another twice a day drug that has to be taken without food and at least an hour before food, which sometimes makes it difficult to schedule when to take the other twice a day meds that have to be taken with food.
1 is once a day. 1 is twice a day. 3 are three a day as needed. So I take all 5 in the morning, 2 or 3 at lunch depending on need, and 2 or 3 before bed depending on need.
Twice a day. A couple of the meds have to be taken at bedtime, and one makes me sleepy, so they’re nighttime. The rest are AM.
You need to talk to your doctor about that. It’s a known side effect and can be quite serious. Not to be alarmist, but really, talk to your doctor about this side effect. If you are noticing that you’re feeling weaker, that can be a side effect or a symptom.
Whomever suggested a geriatrician is on to a good idea as well. A geriatrician can help you differentiate between and balance normal aging and medication side effects; they are also trained to treat people with multiple chronic conditions,which a lot of GPs don’t handle so well.
I take five pills every morning soon as I wake up and 3 in the evening (usually right before dinner). Two of the pills are twice a day and the third evening pill is a statin that is directed to take in the evening.
My doctor says that since he has started giving statins to all his geriatric patients, he has practically stopped seeing heart attacks. He is convinced that something besides cholesterol lowering is going on. On a similar note, this month’s Scientific American had an article on aging that mentioned, almost in passing, that people with type 2 diabetes who take metformin are living 15% longer, on average, than people matched to them, save for the diabetes (who would not be taking metformin). No explanation for that, but clearly it is something besides the blood glucose level.