<p>My son has ADD and has been on medication for many years. He will be going off to college next year, and we are trying to come up with a system to help him remember to take his meds every morning. He is used to taking them with his breakfast. He often, but not always, remembers on his own. My husband and I remind him if he doesn't remember on his own.</p>
<p>My first inclination is for him to carry the bottle in his pocket. Hopefully he will remember to take them while eating breakfast. But carrying the meds around like that raises security issues (other students stealing some pills, or the whole bottle).</p>
<p>I realize that taking them while brushing his teeth might be a solution, but he often doesn't brush his teeth when he is in a hurry (which he usually is). Yeah, I know: yuck!, but we can only fight so many battles at a time.</p>
<p>So, does anyone have any advice/wisdom to offer on a) remembering to take meds and b) protecting meds from being stolen?</p>
<p>I use to forget my pills all the time in high school. It was a constant battle. Now that I’m in college it’s a rarity that I forget them (likely because now I have later classes and not the 8am rush.)
If in doubt I would store the pills in his room in a vitamin bottle (be sure to keep the prescription bottle as well.) Then keep a week or two in a smaller vitamin bottle he can take with him- depending on if the length of supply. Keeping smaller amounts in the pocket means even if worse comes to worse and they are lost/stolen he didn’t lose an entire bottle.</p>
<p>My daughter takes several meds. She’ll start college next year and plans to use the alarm function on her phone to remind her to take them. She also plans to use one of those holders that is labeled Monday, Tuesday, etc. so she’ll keep track of what she has taken in case she forgets.</p>
<p>S uses a weekly pill dispenser that he keeps with his toiletries (brush teeth, take meds), and then keeps the remaining meds in a lock box which stays in his locked footlocker. This was suggested to us by the health center as a way to make it easier for S to remember to take meds daily without keeping large quantities exposed. It’s also very easy for him to just throw the dispenser in his backpack if he is going away overnight.</p>
<p>Hi, my-3-sons, I’m from NH too! Thanks for that link, I’ve tried searching for relevant threads on the various forums, but had not come across that one.</p>
<p>It had not occurred to me to give him a locked footlocker. I did ask the college if there is a locked desk drawer, and was told “no”.</p>
<p>Both of mine used the pillbox method. They filled them once a week and then could tell by looking at the day whether they had taken their meds. They remember when they have to! Theft probably isn’t a huge issue if no one really knows they take anything and they do not leave bottles out, but I still advise my kids to be discrete about their prescriptions and to put them away when guests are around.</p>