On 01/10/2023 13:00, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> In message <ufbh6d$1gsm8$1@dont-email.me> at Sun, 1 Oct 2023 11:21:01,
> John Ashby <johnashby20@yahoo.com> writes
>> On 01/10/2023 11:15, Clive Arthur wrote:
>>> On 01/10/2023 10:23, John Ashby wrote:
>>>> On 30/09/2023 20:02, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>>  <snip>
>>>
>>>>> Buy whatever dosage works out to be the cheapest and then:
>>>>> Grind up a few tablets into a fine powder, and divide up into 75mg
>>>>> lots.
>>>>> It would need a set of scales which can resolve to, say, 1mg.
>>>>> Amazon has a few examples, at least one was under 20 quid.
>>>>> Recommending ways to ingest the powder is left as an exercise
>>>>> for...  clever people.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Won't buying such a set of scales attract the attention of your
>>>> local  drug squad?
>
> Especially as you'd be using them to weigh out powders when they raided!
>
> I bought some - not sure if they went to anything like as small as 1 mg,
> for my blind friend, but they did cause observations from friends about
> it looking like they were a drug dealer. (I'd bought them as they were a
> speaking model.)
>>>>
>>>> john
>>>  Good point.  Best way is to chop the 300mg pill up on a toilet
>>> cistern  lid in a nightclub using a razor blade, then divide the
>>> powder into four  by eye.
>
> Hmm, I wonder if aspirin can be taken nasally!
>
>>>  Or dissolve the larger pill and soak it into blotting paper which
>>> you  can then dry and cut up.
>>>
>>
>> You have way more expertise in these things than I do.
>>
>> You're nicked, sunshine.
>>
>> john
>
> (-:
Most tablets contain fillers and binders as well as the active
ingredient so 75mg of weighed powder will not mean 75mg of active
ingredient.

In message <ufegof$2vajt$1@dont-email.me> at Mon, 2 Oct 2023 14:31:56,
John Finlay <chemistman@hotmail.com> writes
[]
>Most tablets contain fillers and binders as well as the active
>ingredient so 75mg of weighed powder will not mean 75mg of active
>ingredient.

No. You'd have to weigh the pills (before or after grinding) first; to
get say 75 mg of active, you'd have to take half of the powder that
nominally represents 150 mg of active. (So you wouldn't need a scales as
accurate.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

%
Veni Vidi Vacuum [I came, I saw, It sucked] - mik@saslimited.demon.co.uk, 199

J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
> In message <ufegof$2vajt$1@dont-email.me> at Mon, 2 Oct 2023 14:31:56,
> John Finlay <chemistman@hotmail.com> writes
> []
>> Most tablets contain fillers and binders as well as the active
>> ingredient so 75mg of weighed powder will not mean 75mg of active
>> ingredient.
>
> No. You'd have to weigh the pills (before or after grinding) first; to
> get say 75 mg of active, you'd have to take half of the powder that
> nominally represents 150 mg of active. (So you wouldn't need a scales as
> accurate.)

Perhaps it is just me (OK, I know it is just me!) when I see that subject
line, I think of TA and finger & toenails; Farmer Cuticles.

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
> In message <845jhipoon5kt1i9nn7tmvk3fieh5lhpsq@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
> 2023 16:57:07, Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca> writes
> []
>> I suspect that aspirin tablets actually weigh more than their dosage
>> weight. Many tablets use binders and fillers to make them tablety so I
>> imagine that might make the quantities easier to measure.
>>
>> Nick
>
> I think the vast majority of tablets are mostly chalk; even the common
> things, like aspirin, paracetamol, ibuprofen, and even my metformin, are
> usually only half or a quarter of a gram - I don't think I've ever seen
> anything with more than a gram of the active ingredient (and that's some
> cold powders with a gram of paracetamol, though they usually call it
> 1000 mg). It makes the quantities easier to measure at manufacture, as
> you say - plus if in pure form the pills would be very fiddly to handle,
> as they'd be so tiny.
>
> The one exception I can think of is when calcium itself is what's
> needed: my mum had "calcichew" tablets, which she referred to as her
> horse pills. (They make it somewhat chewy by adding something - plain
> chalk is somewhat unpalateable!)

She wouldn’t have been your mum if she hadn’t made a joke of it, JPG

Mrs McT

On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> In message <511jhit8sq1l02iissr0g2dhca4u9fsjat@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
> 2023 15:38:47, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>> Chris wrote:
>>
>>> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:
>>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Anyone else irritated by the blister-packaging now universal?
>>>>
>>>> My question is why are they not all made from transparent plastic
>>>> so that you can easily check you haven't missed one?
>>
>>> Some of mine are.
>>
>> Yes, but why not all? Perhaps it is for keeping out light, though
>> white plastic isn't that opaque.
>
> (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly things.
> Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind me, but can
> still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep them in the box
> anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than just the foil
> thing, anyway.

Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
remember to actually take the things.
She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
unconscious process going on.
There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
like the same degree.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 02-Oct-23 12:21, Jane Vernon wrote:
> On 02/10/2023 12:13, Clive Arthur wrote:
>> On 02/10/2023 11:54, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> Paracetemol can be prescribed in some areas but not mine.  I had a
>>> phone consultation with a locum the other day and when I asked about
>>> paracetemol on prescription he said they didn't do it but I could
>>> easily buy a tub of 500 from a pharmacy.  When I asked which
>>> pharmacies he hesitated and told me that you can in some countries
>>> but probably not the UK.
>>
>> I think you can get up to a hundred from a pharmacy, at their discretion.
>>
>
> I haven't tried lately, but yes, you certainly used to be able to.
>
Please go into a Boots, and try to buy more than the default 16 tablets.

The average drug dealer would get a less hostile response.

--
Sam Plusnet

In message <W5ESM.59501$t4G1.8500@fx10.ams1> at Mon, 2 Oct 2023
19:37:41, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes
>On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
[]
>> (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly
>>things. Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind
>>me, but can still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep
>>them in the box anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than
>>just the foil thing, anyway.
>
>Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
>remember to actually take the things.

They wouldn't me either, but at least their remaining in the dosage box
would _show_ me that I hadn't.

>She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
>unconscious process going on.

Do you have an always-on computer? That is what reminds me. I use System
Scheduler from https://www.splinterware.com/products/scheduler.html
(there are many others - including those built-in to Windows, 7 at least
and later; I just find it easier to use than the built-in one). I have a
morning reminder for metformin and tamsulosin, and a lunch-ish one for
metformin, atorvastatin and dapagliflozin. (Never thought I'd remember
the name of that one, but I seem to have - though I did just look at the
box to check.) It has a snooze function, like an alarm clock.

>There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
>like the same degree.
>
To be fair, _is_ there anything else with a similar frequency?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Time is an illusion - lunchtime doubly so. (First series, fit the first.)

On 02/10/2023 17:39, Mike McMillan wrote:
> J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
>> In message <ufegof$2vajt$1@dont-email.me> at Mon, 2 Oct 2023 14:31:56,
>> John Finlay <chemistman@hotmail.com> writes
>> []
>>> Most tablets contain fillers and binders as well as the active
>>> ingredient so 75mg of weighed powder will not mean 75mg of active
>>> ingredient.
>>
>> No. You'd have to weigh the pills (before or after grinding) first; to
>> get say 75 mg of active, you'd have to take half of the powder that
>> nominally represents 150 mg of active. (So you wouldn't need a scales as
>> accurate.)
>
> Perhaps it is just me (OK, I know it is just me!) when I see that subject
> line, I think of TA and finger & toenails; Farmer Cuticles.
>
Whether or not it is just you I'm sure that I am alone in reading it as
Farmer's suiticles - some kind of agricultural Sunday Best that I can't
quite picture.

--
Ric

On 02/10/2023 19:37, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>> In message <511jhit8sq1l02iissr0g2dhca4u9fsjat@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
>> 2023 15:38:47, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>>> Chris wrote:
>>>
>>>> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:
>>>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyone else irritated by the blister-packaging now universal?
>>>>>
>>>>> My question is why are they not all made from transparent plastic
>>>>> so that you can easily check you haven't missed one?
>>>
>>>> Some of mine are.
>>>
>>> Yes, but why not all? Perhaps it is for keeping out light, though
>>> white plastic isn't that opaque.
>>
>> (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly things.
>> Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind me, but
>> can still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep them in the
>> box anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than just the foil
>> thing, anyway.
>
> Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
> remember to actually take the things.
> She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
> unconscious process going on.
> There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
> like the same degree.
>
You can get those boxes with alarms on them to remind of the need to
take something, but that will only work if you have the box nearby. They
are also available with time locks to prevent the taking of extra doses
between scheduled times.

--
Ric

On 02/10/2023 19:39, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 02-Oct-23 12:21, Jane Vernon wrote:
>> On 02/10/2023 12:13, Clive Arthur wrote:
>>> On 02/10/2023 11:54, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>> Paracetemol can be prescribed in some areas but not mine.  I had a
>>>> phone consultation with a locum the other day and when I asked about
>>>> paracetemol on prescription he said they didn't do it but I could
>>>> easily buy a tub of 500 from a pharmacy.  When I asked which
>>>> pharmacies he hesitated and told me that you can in some countries
>>>> but probably not the UK.
>>>
>>> I think you can get up to a hundred from a pharmacy, at their
>>> discretion.
>>>
>>
>> I haven't tried lately, but yes, you certainly used to be able to.
>>
> Please go into a Boots, and try to buy more than the default 16 tablets.
>
> The average drug dealer would get a less hostile response.
>
I think you mean 32. I have bought over the limit in the past at Boots
and elsewhere, but I had to talk to a pharmacist.

I have 18 pharmacies, 5 supermarkets and an unknown number of
convenience stores (some of which will sell painkillers) within a mile
of home. More a little further away. If I want extra I don't think I'll
have a problem getting them.

--
Ric

On Mon, 2 Oct 2023 19:37:41 +0100, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:

>On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>> In message <511jhit8sq1l02iissr0g2dhca4u9fsjat@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
>> 2023 15:38:47, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>>> Chris wrote:
>>>
>>>> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:
>>>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyone else irritated by the blister-packaging now universal?
>>>>>
>>>>> My question is why are they not all made from transparent plastic
>>>>> so that you can easily check you haven't missed one?
>>>
>>>> Some of mine are.
>>>
>>> Yes, but why not all? Perhaps it is for keeping out light, though
>>> white plastic isn't that opaque.
>>
>> (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly things.
>> Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind me, but can
>> still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep them in the box
>> anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than just the foil
>> thing, anyway.
>
>Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
>remember to actually take the things.
>She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
>unconscious process going on.
>There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
>like the same degree.

I don't know how many tablets your wofe is taking nor what they are
for but my mother had a fairly conscious process going on with regard
to her medication. She was taking a battery of tablets to deal with
various conditions and another battery of tablets to counter the side
effects of the former and another range of tablets because she was
taking so many tablets. All prescribed from the same doctor I ought to
add.

I believe she was beginning to think that the sole purpose of her life
was to follow her tablet schedule when, all of a sudden, she stopped
taking the lot of them.

That's probably not a recommended course of action for most people
because it holds the possibility of the most dreadful outcomes but in
her case nothing untoward happened. Her blood pressure did not soar,
her oedema didn't swell and life carried on much more happily for many
years until she was almost ninety and suddenly, painlessly and
unexpectedly fell off her perch, went to join the choir invisible and
became an ex-mother.

Nick

On Mon, 2 Oct 2023 21:21:28 +0100, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
wrote:

>On 02/10/2023 19:39, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> On 02-Oct-23 12:21, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>> On 02/10/2023 12:13, Clive Arthur wrote:
>>>> On 02/10/2023 11:54, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>>>
>>>> <snip>
>>>>
>>>>> Paracetemol can be prescribed in some areas but not mine.  I had a
>>>>> phone consultation with a locum the other day and when I asked about
>>>>> paracetemol on prescription he said they didn't do it but I could
>>>>> easily buy a tub of 500 from a pharmacy.  When I asked which
>>>>> pharmacies he hesitated and told me that you can in some countries
>>>>> but probably not the UK.
>>>>
>>>> I think you can get up to a hundred from a pharmacy, at their
>>>> discretion.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I haven't tried lately, but yes, you certainly used to be able to.
>>>
>> Please go into a Boots, and try to buy more than the default 16 tablets.
>>
>> The average drug dealer would get a less hostile response.
>>
>I think you mean 32. I have bought over the limit in the past at Boots
>and elsewhere, but I had to talk to a pharmacist.
>
>I have 18 pharmacies, 5 supermarkets and an unknown number of
>convenience stores (some of which will sell painkillers) within a mile
>of home. More a little further away. If I want extra I don't think I'll
>have a problem getting them.

Anybody who wants to buy 48 paracetamol or ibuprofen at a time rather
than the usual 32 ought to pop into a pound shop where, at least as
recently as a couple of weeks ago, they were selling three packs of
generic painkillers for a pound. I have no idea now they avoid the
limits that every other shop seems to have to abide by.

Nick

On Mon, 02 Oct 2023 23:01:35 +0100, Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca>
wrote:

>On Mon, 2 Oct 2023 19:37:41 +0100, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:
>
>>On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>> In message <511jhit8sq1l02iissr0g2dhca4u9fsjat@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
>>> 2023 15:38:47, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>>>> Chris wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:
>>>>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Anyone else irritated by the blister-packaging now universal?
>>>>
>
>I don't know how many tablets your wofe is taking nor what they are
>for but my mother had a fairly conscious process going on with regard
>to her medication. She was taking a battery of tablets to deal with
>various conditions and another battery of tablets to counter the side
>effects of the former and another range of tablets because she was
>taking so many tablets. All prescribed from the same doctor I ought to
>add.
>
>I believe she was beginning to think that the sole purpose of her life
>was to follow her tablet schedule when, all of a sudden, she stopped
>taking the lot of them.
>
>That's probably not a recommended course of action for most people
>because it holds the possibility of the most dreadful outcomes but in
>her case nothing untoward happened. Her blood pressure did not soar,
>her oedema didn't swell and life carried on much more happily for many
>years until she was almost ninety and suddenly, painlessly and
>unexpectedly fell off her perch, went to join the choir invisible and
>became an ex-mother.
>
>Nick

Son! Tempting but I think stopping thyroid pills leads to bad side
effects and some of the others cause problems too if stopped.

On Mon, 02 Oct 2023 23:08:02 +0100, Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca>
wrote:

>On Mon, 2 Oct 2023 21:21:28 +0100, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On 02/10/2023 19:39, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>> On 02-Oct-23 12:21, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>>> On 02/10/2023 12:13, Clive Arthur wrote:
>>>>> On 02/10/2023 11:54, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> <snip>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Paracetemol can be prescribed in some areas but not mine.  I had a
>>>>>> phone consultation with a locum the other day and when I asked about
>>>>>> paracetemol on prescription he said they didn't do it but I could
>>>>>> easily buy a tub of 500 from a pharmacy.  When I asked which
>>>>>> pharmacies he hesitated and told me that you can in some countries
>>>>>> but probably not the UK.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think you can get up to a hundred from a pharmacy, at their
>>>>> discretion.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I haven't tried lately, but yes, you certainly used to be able to.
>>>>
>>> Please go into a Boots, and try to buy more than the default 16 tablets.
>>>
>>> The average drug dealer would get a less hostile response.
>>>
>>I think you mean 32. I have bought over the limit in the past at Boots
>>and elsewhere, but I had to talk to a pharmacist.
>>
>>I have 18 pharmacies, 5 supermarkets and an unknown number of
>>convenience stores (some of which will sell painkillers) within a mile
>>of home. More a little further away. If I want extra I don't think I'll
>>have a problem getting them.
>
>Anybody who wants to buy 48 paracetamol or ibuprofen at a time rather
>than the usual 32 ought to pop into a pound shop where, at least as
>recently as a couple of weeks ago, they were selling three packs of
>generic painkillers for a pound. I have no idea now they avoid the
>limits that every other shop seems to have to abide by.
>
>Nick

I get Paracetamol and Ibuprofen on prescription for arthritis. A
month's supply at 3 Ibuprofen and as many as 8 paracetamol a day. I'm
not good with codeine based pain control.

Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:
> On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>> In message <511jhit8sq1l02iissr0g2dhca4u9fsjat@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
>> 2023 15:38:47, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>>> Chris wrote:
>>>
>>>> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:
>>>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Anyone else irritated by the blister-packaging now universal?
>>>>>
>>>>> My question is why are they not all made from transparent plastic
>>>>> so that you can easily check you haven't missed one?
>>>
>>>> Some of mine are.
>>>
>>> Yes, but why not all? Perhaps it is for keeping out light, though
>>> white plastic isn't that opaque.
>>
>> (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly things.
>> Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind me, but can
>> still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep them in the box
>> anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than just the foil
>> thing, anyway.
>
> Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
> remember to actually take the things.
> She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
> unconscious process going on.
> There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
> like the same degree.
>

I had a colleague who signed up for a memory improvement course - he forgot
to attend the sessions (True).

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com> wrote:
> On 02/10/2023 19:37, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>> In message <511jhit8sq1l02iissr0g2dhca4u9fsjat@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
>>> 2023 15:38:47, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>>>> Chris wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:
>>>>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Anyone else irritated by the blister-packaging now universal?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My question is why are they not all made from transparent plastic
>>>>>> so that you can easily check you haven't missed one?
>>>>
>>>>> Some of mine are.
>>>>
>>>> Yes, but why not all? Perhaps it is for keeping out light, though
>>>> white plastic isn't that opaque.
>>>
>>> (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly things.
>>> Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind me, but
>>> can still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep them in the
>>> box anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than just the foil
>>> thing, anyway.
>>
>> Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
>> remember to actually take the things.
>> She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
>> unconscious process going on.
>> There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
>> like the same degree.
>>
> You can get those boxes with alarms on them to remind of the need to
> take something, but that will only work if you have the box nearby. They
> are also available with time locks to prevent the taking of extra doses
> between scheduled times.
>

If one carries a phobile, there is always the alarm function…

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 02/10/2023 23:01, Nick Odell wrote:
> I believe she was beginning to think that the sole purpose of her life
> was to follow her tablet schedule when, all of a sudden, she stopped
> taking the lot of them.
>
> That's probably not a recommended course of action for most people
> because it holds the possibility of the most dreadful outcomes but in
> her case nothing untoward happened. Her blood pressure did not soar,
> her oedema didn't swell and life carried on much more happily for many
> years until she was almost ninety and suddenly, painlessly and
> unexpectedly fell off her perch, went to join the choir invisible and
> became an ex-mother.

I remember seeing a TV prog some years ago about a new Doctor taking on
a geriatric ward in a hospital and he stopped a large proportion of the
various prescribed medications and a large proportion of the patients
then no longer needed to be in a geriatric hospital ward.

The result of my last blood test led to 2 of my definitely-needed
medications being stopped because of serious contra-indications in other
areas. Another test due to-morrow to see whether I might as well go
back to taking them or not. I'm not desperate but I do wonder about the
fanatical urge nowadays to keep everyone alive at all cost.

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

On 03/10/2023 09:45, Mike McMillan wrote:
>
> I had a colleague who signed up for a memory improvement course - he forgot
> to attend the sessions (True).
>
I had a colleague who was offered an assertiveness course. He refused to
sign up. (Also true.)

--
Ric

On 02-Oct-23 20:10, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> In message <W5ESM.59501$t4G1.8500@fx10.ams1> at Mon, 2 Oct 2023
> 19:37:41, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes
>> On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> []
>>>  (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly
>>> things.  Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind
>>> me, but can  still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep
>>> them in the box  anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than
>>> just the foil  thing, anyway.
>>
>> Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
>> remember to actually take the things.
>
> They wouldn't me either, but at least their remaining in the dosage box
> would _show_ me that I hadn't.

Maybe, sort of.
A fairly common observation might be:
(On a Tuesday morning) "Well I apparently forgot to take last night's
tablets - but I do seem to have taken Wednesday afternoon's."
>
>> She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
>> unconscious process going on.
>
> Do you have an always-on computer? That is what reminds me. I use System
> Scheduler from https://www.splinterware.com/products/scheduler.html
> (there are many others - including those built-in to Windows, 7 at least
> and later; I just find it easier to use than the built-in one). I have a
> morning reminder for metformin and tamsulosin, and a lunch-ish one for
> metformin, atorvastatin and dapagliflozin. (Never thought I'd remember
> the name of that one, but I seem to have - though I did just look at the
> box to check.) It has a snooze function, like an alarm clock.
>
>> There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
>> like the same degree.
>>
> To be fair, _is_ there anything else with a similar frequency?

Eating?

I know what I've said will make her seem as though she has lost the plot
- and that is certainly not true.
It's just this one topic that stands out like a sore thumb.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 03-Oct-23 9:49, Mike McMillan wrote:
> Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com> wrote:
>> On 02/10/2023 19:37, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>> On 01-Oct-23 16:13, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>> In message <511jhit8sq1l02iissr0g2dhca4u9fsjat@4ax.com> at Sun, 1 Oct
>>>> 2023 15:38:47, Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> writes
>>>>> Chris wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Chris J Dixon <chris@cdixon.me.uk> wrote:
>>>>>>> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Anyone else irritated by the blister-packaging now universal?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> My question is why are they not all made from transparent plastic
>>>>>>> so that you can easily check you haven't missed one?
>>>>>
>>>>>> Some of mine are.
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes, but why not all? Perhaps it is for keeping out light, though
>>>>> white plastic isn't that opaque.
>>>>
>>>> (But some people pop them out anyway, into those daily/weekly things.
>>>> Thinking of getting one - I have this computer set to remind me, but
>>>> can still forget. Or forget whether I did or not.) I keep them in the
>>>> box anyway, which presumably keeps out light - more than just the foil
>>>> thing, anyway.
>>>
>>> Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help her
>>> remember to actually take the things.
>>> She forgets tablets _so_ often, that I'm sure there is some deep
>>> unconscious process going on.
>>> There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to anything
>>> like the same degree.
>>>
>> You can get those boxes with alarms on them to remind of the need to
>> take something, but that will only work if you have the box nearby. They
>> are also available with time locks to prevent the taking of extra doses
>> between scheduled times.
>>
>
> If one carries a phobile, there is always the alarm function…
>
Phobile... Wofe...

Err... no.

P.S. Yesterday I mentioned to her that "landline" phones are becoming
extinct. This was news to her - and not happy news.

(I think she just enjoys being a crochety old reactionary.)

--
Sam Plusnet

On 03-Oct-23 8:56, Vicky wrote:
> On Mon, 02 Oct 2023 23:08:02 +0100, Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 2 Oct 2023 21:21:28 +0100, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 02/10/2023 19:39, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>>> On 02-Oct-23 12:21, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>>>> On 02/10/2023 12:13, Clive Arthur wrote:
>>>>>> On 02/10/2023 11:54, Jane Vernon wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> <snip>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Paracetemol can be prescribed in some areas but not mine.  I had a
>>>>>>> phone consultation with a locum the other day and when I asked about
>>>>>>> paracetemol on prescription he said they didn't do it but I could
>>>>>>> easily buy a tub of 500 from a pharmacy.  When I asked which
>>>>>>> pharmacies he hesitated and told me that you can in some countries
>>>>>>> but probably not the UK.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think you can get up to a hundred from a pharmacy, at their
>>>>>> discretion.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I haven't tried lately, but yes, you certainly used to be able to.
>>>>>
>>>> Please go into a Boots, and try to buy more than the default 16 tablets.
>>>>
>>>> The average drug dealer would get a less hostile response.
>>>>
>>> I think you mean 32. I have bought over the limit in the past at Boots
>>> and elsewhere, but I had to talk to a pharmacist.
>>>
>>> I have 18 pharmacies, 5 supermarkets and an unknown number of
>>> convenience stores (some of which will sell painkillers) within a mile
>>> of home. More a little further away. If I want extra I don't think I'll
>>> have a problem getting them.
>>
>> Anybody who wants to buy 48 paracetamol or ibuprofen at a time rather
>> than the usual 32 ought to pop into a pound shop where, at least as
>> recently as a couple of weeks ago, they were selling three packs of
>> generic painkillers for a pound. I have no idea now they avoid the
>> limits that every other shop seems to have to abide by.
>>
>> Nick
>
> I get Paracetamol and Ibuprofen on prescription for arthritis. A
> month's supply at 3 Ibuprofen and as many as 8 paracetamol a day. I'm
> not good with codeine based pain control.

Thanks for the reminder.

I somehow managed to 'do my back in' whilst packing up the caravan to
leave a site near St Ives on Friday (it just happened for no apparent
reason) and the condition is still with me.
Ibuprofen does help ease it - but only if I remember to take the things[1].

[1] Yes. I know. Hoist with my own French flatulence.

--
Sam Plusnet

Joe Kerr wrote:

>On 03/10/2023 09:45, Mike McMillan wrote:
> >
>> I had a colleague who signed up for a memory improvement course - he forgot
>> to attend the sessions (True).
>>
>I had a colleague who was offered an assertiveness course. He refused to
>sign up. (Also true.)

Somebody tried to form an apathy society whilst I was at
university, but all those who turned up at the inaugural meeting
were deemed to have demonstrated themselves as ineligible for
membership.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham
'48/33 M B+ G++ A L(-) I S-- CH0(--)(p) Ar- T+ H0 ?Q
chris@cdixon.me.uk @ChrisJDixon1
Plant amazing Acers.

In message <tvTSM.270296$vMO8.8584@fx16.iad> at Tue, 3 Oct 2023
13:08:57, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes
[]
>P.S. Yesterday I mentioned to her that "landline" phones are becoming
>extinct. This was news to her - and not happy news.

Me neither.
>
>(I think she just enjoys being a crochety old reactionary.)
>
I do - to some extent; it's _partly_ "why should I change (usually
involving extra expense)", but also concern for those less technically
savvy than myself. Which doesn't always mean the elderly: some in their
thirties and forties aren't as some people assume - sorry for
stereotyping, but e. g. single mums, building site labourers.

(On the elderly: I remember once in Foyles bookshop - so quite a while
back! - in the computing section, seeing a "little old lady" who you'd
think from her appearance ought to have been running a sweetshop in a
little village somewhere. When I looked at what she was reading, it was
far beyond me - and that was when I was more into the subject than now.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I admire him for the constancy of his curiosity, his effortless sense of
authority and his ability to deliver good science without gimmicks.
- Michael Palin on Sir David Attenborough, RT 2016/5/7-13

In message <VqTSM.270295$vMO8.138961@fx16.iad> at Tue, 3 Oct 2023
13:04:05, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes
>On 02-Oct-23 20:10, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
>> In message <W5ESM.59501$t4G1.8500@fx10.ams1> at Mon, 2 Oct 2023
>>19:37:41, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes
[]
>>> Wofe has several of those weekly dosage boxes, but they don't help
>>>her remember to actually take the things.
>> They wouldn't me either, but at least their remaining in the dosage
>>box would _show_ me that I hadn't.

There are two things to remember here: remembering whether to take them
in the first place, and then remembering whether one has done so or not.
>
>Maybe, sort of.
>A fairly common observation might be:
>(On a Tuesday morning) "Well I apparently forgot to take last night's
>tablets - but I do seem to have taken Wednesday afternoon's."

Assuming I have understood correctly what's happened there, either
bigger/better labelling is needed (difficult for a finite size of box),
or some sort of clear what-day-is-it indicator, if knowing/remembering
that is the problem. (A lot of the big radio-controlled clocks - the
ones with lots of LC displays - include a day-of-week section.)
[]
>>> There is nothing else in her daily life which she forgets to
>>>anything like the same degree.
>>>
>> To be fair, _is_ there anything else with a similar frequency?
>
>Eating?

Yes, but she's been remembering to do that a lot longer. (And [a]
there's a reminder, hunger, and [b] forgetting to eat isn't uncommon: I
do it myself often enough, though that's usually due to distraction -
I'm doing something else - rather than just forgetting.)
>
>I know what I've said will make her seem as though she has lost the
>plot - and that is certainly not true.
>It's just this one topic that stands out like a sore thumb.
>
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Mike Jackson |\ _,,,---,,_
and Squeak /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ Shame there's no snooze button
[1998] |,4- ) )-,_..;\ ( `'- on a cat who wants breakfast
zzz '---''(_/--' `-'\_)

In message <E5USM.270300$vMO8.263731@fx16.iad> at Tue, 3 Oct 2023
13:49:40, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> writes
>On 03-Oct-23 8:56, Vicky wrote:
[]
>> I get Paracetamol and Ibuprofen on prescription for arthritis. A
>> month's supply at 3 Ibuprofen and as many as 8 paracetamol a day. I'm
>> not good with codeine based pain control.
>
> Thanks for the reminder.
>
>I somehow managed to 'do my back in' whilst packing up

My strange mind: I thought that sentence was going to continue "boxes of
ibuprofen" or something like that!

> the caravan to leave a site near St Ives on Friday (it just happened
>for no apparent reason) and the condition is still with me.
>Ibuprofen does help ease it - but only if I remember to take the things[1].

Over the years, of the three main easily-available ones (aspirin,
paracetamol, and), I've generally found ibuprofen the only one that has
much effect in actually easing pain (usually dental in my case).
Paracetamol for cold/flu symptoms, but I'm never sure whether that's
placebo effect or not. It does seem to be the main constituent of
powders. (And when one _has_ cold/flu symptoms, one isn't usually in the
mood to do proper testing.)
>
>[1] Yes. I know. Hoist with my own French flatulence.
>
(-: [I think it means a small grenade, but from the same root - elements
of explosion.]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I admire him for the constancy of his curiosity, his effortless sense of
authority and his ability to deliver good science without gimmicks.
- Michael Palin on Sir David Attenborough, RT 2016/5/7-13