Adherence tips

• Choose a treatment you think you can manage. Get all the information on what you will need to do before you start treatment:
  • How many tablets?
  • How big are they?
  • How often do you need to take them?
  • How exact do you have to be with timing?
  • Are there food or storage restrictions?
  • Are there easier choices?
• Plan your timetable. For the first few weeks mark off each dose and the time that you took it.
• Contact your doctor if you have difficulties with side effects. S/he can prescribe additional medication to help and change the treatment if necessary.
• Use a daily or weekly pill box. Then you can check if you have missed a dose.
• Use a pill beeper or alarm watch for both morning and evening doses.
• Take extra drugs if you go away for a few days.
• Take extra drugs if you go away for a few days. Be prepared in case flights or other travel arrangements are changed.
• Keep a supply where you may need them in an emergency. This can be in your car, at work or at a friend’s house.
• Get friends to help you remember difficult dose times. Ask them to remind you when you are out at night.
• Ask friends what they do and how well they are managing. Most clinics can arrange for you to talk to someone who is already taking the same treatment.
• Ask your doctor for a supply of medications to control nausea and diarrhoea. These side effects are the most common when starting therapy.
• Many combinations are taken once daily. This usually means taking them every 24 hours. Twice-daily drugs need to be taken every 12 hours.
• Completely missing a once-daily combination may be more serious than forgetting a twice-daily dose. Adherence is especially important with once daily combinations.