Any recommendations for a good medication reminder device? It’s actually not for the parkinsons meds. As well as Parkinsons my mum has gluocoma and will undergo an eye operation soon, which needs strict after care - ie. eye drops every 2 hours 8 times a day! The timing seems even more crucial than the parkinsons meds as the risks are higher (ie infection, loss of sight). (She manages the parkinsons meds using a blister pack, and keeps the stanek separately in a tin, placing 5 tabs a day in it, which she takes at intervals - probably not as exact intervals as they are meant to be). District nurse apparently can only come up to 4 times a day. The rest will be up to her to manage. I have been looking at watches (to minimise her misplacing/forgetting where she put a timer!). If someone has found one that works for them, please let me know. Already checked out RNIB and Parkinsons UK shop, but nothing suited.
Not sure if it would work for your mum but I use a Pivotell Vibratime vibrating watch. It doesn’t have an audible alarm but vibrates (which is specifically what I wanted as I didn’t want a load alarm going off when I was out). You can set up to 8 alarms in a day. It’s a bit tricky to set up though. It has a rechargeable unit (via a USB charger) which is meant to last for about 6 days but mine doesn’t last nearly that long so I recharge it overnight each day.
I was going to suggest the same although someone would have to set it up. The Parkinson’s shop does have one
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://shop.parkinsons.org.uk/products/vibralite-mini-vibrating-watch&ved=2ahUKEwiEpNvRkrXkAhUUhlwKHcQbDa8QFjADegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2RmQFLx921JlfUNSiVjKqU
But I found one that I preferred the look of haven’t got the details to hand but will look it up later. However found it by just a general search if you want to look.
Thank you both, it’s nice to get responses, helpful too:-). I’m not sure why I must have overlooked the one in the Parkinsons shop. I see both versions have vibrate and/or sound options. My mum isn’t very teccy, so yes, would need to set it up for her. Still open to more suggestions of what has worked for others.
my reply is above, thank you 
my reply is above, thank you
Hello again, this is an interesting idea which may or may not be suitable for your Mum but as a possible alternative worth consideration. Even if it only works for some of her drug regime. It might be worth a go as long as it doesn’t cause confusion. I think it probably works best with people who are happiest with
quite set routines. However can’t make much comment as I haven’t tried this method myself, as I said interesting idea.
Combine with a daily task.
Try taking your medication with an activity you do every day, such as making coffee or brushing your teeth, Tuckman said. “This works much better than taking the medication at a free-floating time or in the midst of other variable activities [such as] mid-morning,” he said.
I have a simple Doro Mobile Phone (Not a smart phone) which has an Alarm Facility you can set to trigger as many reminders as you wish. It also permits you to enter brief details for the reminder (e.g. Sinemet). I presume that other mobile phones also have this facility.
If your mum has a mobile phone, I use Medisafe which is excellent & would do all the things you ask for and more - eyes my main concern too. I have a Samsung Galaxy Fit band which receives notifications from my phone including the Medisafe app. but you don’t need that, phone app alone is fine. You can fine tune to suit you in many different ways & I use the free version. You can download & try yourself first. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.medisafe.android.client
Yeah mobile alarm works for me 12yr dx
We also use a very simple mobile phone - does require being in hearing distance but it works better than anything else we have tried - and the snooze function means that it can keep going off till you do something about it. Just have to take the meds then - not just turn the alarm off!
Thank you for your help everyone. We talked this through and considered options, and decided it would be best to have something that is always (litterally) close to hand, to avoid it getting misplaced. We will try out the Vibralite Mini Vibrating Watch (one with velcro fastening to easy to take on and off). It has options for vibration and/or sound. Separately, I would be interested about people’s experiences of using mobile phones (for other things, like phoning, funnily enough, texting and other uses) especially those that are not very good with technology,(and whose eye sight is not good) like my mum! I have been looking at the Doro phone. But that might be another discussion.
thanks, but it needs to be more time accurate than this, so not for this purpose.
Thanks, she struggles with basic technology, so not at this stage, but for others this sounds good!
Thanks Gerrard, we have been talking about getting her a phone that is easier to use than one she has (a tesco mobile!), and Doro looks good. Which do you have, and do you use it for anything other than sending/receiving calls, and reminders?
Hi, The model I have is a Flip Phone “Doro PhoneEasy 612”. I bought it in 2016 and paid just under £50 for it but it now appears to be available for around £20 from Amazon and e-bay. I do not use it for any purpose other than Emergency calls and Alarm Reminders. You can of course text with it but I rarely do so due to the nature and extremity of my tremors and shaking. It is very easy to use and has all the facilities you would require other than Smart connections. It has been perfect for me and I am never tempted to change it. I recently went into a phone shop purely out of curiosity to see what the newer Doro models were like and the very honest assistant advised me that she did not consider that the later models were as good as the 612. I can thoroughly recommend it and think it would be perfect for your mum.
Hi I’ve recently found a great app on Apple. Search for medication reminders and quite a lot come up. The one I use has the picture of a red alarm clock and is really simple to use. It only costs 99p! Good luck xx
Thanks, this wont work for my mum, as she does not have a smart phone, let alone apple. She struggles with any kind of technology.
It seems there is another issue - not even noticing the alarm when it goes off!! I don’t think it’s the volume. There seems to be too much distraction/lack of focus. I wonder if anyone has this issue?!
Its also proving very tricky getting proper after care after the op, from the hospital or the GP, even though in practice, it’s not realistic for a person with poor memory, focus, and dexterity manage drops 8 times a day at strict times.
Might it be worth looking at sites for hearing disability- I am thinking their equipment often has flashing lights which may help? Worth a look maybe?