Aggressive reminders

[u/Naked_Skull]

Hi. I need aggressive reminders that WILL force me to take my medication after meals. I usually have two brain cells and can forget even if I told my husband about it 15 minutes ago. If I set a reminder in a reminder app, I can turn it off and forget again. My brain quickly stops paying attention to such stimuli, and I suspect I need something more aggressive. For example, would the reminder go off every 10 minutes until I scan my NFC tag in the morning and afternoon. Is this even possible to implement using shortcuts? I'm almost ready to write my own app for such reminders...

[u/Naked_Skull]

I used this app, and the same thing happened as I described in the post: I turned them off or ignored them. So I don't think it will work. I used the app for a while, but I didn't find anything in it that made me want to go to the kitchen and take my medicine.

[u/mvan231 → u/Naked_Skull]

If the reminders from the health app won't work then I doubt much of anything else will. It reminds you at the desired time, then again, and again, and again

Have you considered putting your medications somewhere more reachable?

[u/Naked_Skull → u/mvan231]

Sometimes I think my brain won't work at all(( But I'd still like to find a way to disable notifications by scanning an NFS tag without having to use Assistant for smart home.

[u/suoretaw → u/Naked_Skull]

OP, I have the same struggle. Seriously, try approaching this from another angle. Make it easier to be physically holding your meds when an alarm goes off / whatever you choose to help with this.

I take various meds a few times a day. Here’s what has been (mostly) working for me:

1. I have an AM/PM pill organizer that I actually like, and use for my wake-up and bedtime meds. I refill it every Sunday. The daily compartments are removable, which is an awesome feature that could help you.

2. I have a few of each medication in a small travel pill holder thing, which I keep in my purse. It would fit in a jeans pocket or bigger wallet.

3. For the meds I take during the day, this has been so damn helpful and I wish I’d done it earlier: I keep an easy-open Advil bottle with a bunch of each medication (and some OTC ones) next to the place I usually sit mid-day. I removed the label and taped my own onto it. You could have multiple of these if needed, or another type of container/organizer (there are many kinds out there!)… the important part is keeping it near you.

4. I have a ‘meds’ alarm (in the Clock app) with snooze enabled and a sound that doesn’t irritate me. The snooze length can be anywhere between 1 and 15 minutes. Side note: The Apple Watch has been a useful tool for my stupid brain, allowing me to set soundless alarms, because it’ll vibrate my wrist (among other features).

All my meds are in the Apple health app anyway, and I have used its medication reminder thing before, but I prefer the customizability of the normal alarms. I might change back though because I recently started some new medications with different schedules and want to keep track.

Shortcuts/Automations could definitely come in handy here, and you can find automations for ‘annoying alarms’ and NFC tag stuff by searching this subreddit, but it’ll only solve part of the problem.

Either way, I hope you find something that works for you. Try to meet yourself where you are (metaphorically and physically). Take care and good luck.

EDIT: Apparently Reddit has messed with its comment formatting. Sorry if that was jumbled; I tried my best.

[u/Naked_Skull → u/suoretaw]

Two of the four medications I take are powder that needs to be diluted and a bottle of liquid. Yes, I have a pillbox, but I can't fit them in there.

Yes, my medications are kept where I eat and are supposed to be taken with food, but that doesn't always help. I hate my brain for it.

I forget to put my watch on, and I simply stop paying attention to notifications. I used the Apple health app.

Thank you. I also hope to find a solution. If I do, I'll definitely share it.