Medication

I went through something similar. Eventually you will have to take over responsibility for administering medication. What worked for me was a gradual take over. I tried to use as much cooperation and kindness in the approach and would back off when I sensed conflict. It is hard to solve the problem during or after a moment of conflict. I think hiding the meds right now may not be productive. Just try to keep track of where she keeps them and create an environment with a cooperative approach. Ultimately you need to think about the effectiveness of the meds vs the difficulty caused by the conflict. If there was a day or two that DW missed the meds but we otherwise had peace in the home, I was ok with that.

In my experience with DW problems like this are not forever. They tend to have some duration and then all of a sudden that problem is gone but replaced by something else.

I now have to put my DW’s pills into her hands. I then take my pills and use my motion putting them into my mouth for her to follow. It works pretty good. We then take our glass of water to rinse it down. I also have her open her mouth to make sure she swallowed them. Before all this when she couldn’t figure out what to take, we would sit down with our medications and sort out each days and put them into a small baggy and marked then morning and night. This way she still had some control on her medications. She never saw her actual pill bottles except when we sorted them. So when I finally had to give her her medications, she probably forgot about the RX containers. Everyone on this journey are unique and different so keep trying different things until you get it right. Good luck

I took over DH meds when I saw him putting 3 of the same thing in a pill box. Now I fill it 1 time a week and check it daily to see if they are taken

So far so good. Later it will probably be different. Oh yes I also have two separate pill containers 1 for days and 1 for nights. Each are different colors and work different. Days are easy, nights have seraquel and trazadone and is harder to open.

Work arounds are always the best way to go. Don't make this about her incompetence or untrustworthiness.

Early on, a good strategy is to both take your meds together rather than single her out as needing supervision. If you don't take any scripts, it could be a supplement of Tictac for you.

You could secure all meds in a lock box explaining it's in case someone breaks in. You can explain that new packaging as "how things are done now".

It might be useful to have blister packs made for you both instead of her having a pill box. Out of sight is often out of mind; removing visual triggers is typically advised.

HB

I took over meds and filled the weekly pill sorter after he had a couple of meltdowns trying to do it on his own. I would hand him his pills and hand him a bottle of water in the other hand and watch him take them. Hide the pill sorter and bottles where she can’t see them or find them. When the doctor added Memantine and Risperidone I just added them to his pills and when he asked what they were for I said the doctor said to help your brain and he accepted that. If she refuses to take her meds talk to the pharmacist and doctor about putting them in her food or drink.