The Forums › Forums › Medication › Have you been taking your medication? › Re: Have you been taking your medication?
I’ve been around this issue quite a bit… my husband suffers from bipolar disorder, and one of the symptoms is that he is unable to perceive the effects of his medication, and it’s common that he will either stop taking or screw around with timing and dosages, not following doctor’s orders. This is common with bipolar I think, and can be a real issue. What happens is that he’ll start showing signs of an episode, and at the same time be unable to cope with questions about his medication. No matter how nice you ask him, he will take it as a low blow – playing the medication card, etc. We had to develop a system of communication around that with the help of a marriage counselor, and it’s still a very difficult issue.
With ADHD, I wonder whether that kind of conversation is needed… I think we are pretty aware of whether or not we are taking our meds, what our dose is supposed to be, and how taking or not taking the medication affects us… If I forgot to do something or misplaced something and was asked – what’s up with you – did you forget to take your meds? I would be insulted. The meds help, but they aren’t a cure. Not to say I don’t understand other people being frustrated when I screw something up and it effects them. I just don’t think a comment about the meds is the best way to express that. I would rather hear “when you forget xxxx it causes xxxx problems for me – is there any way you can work on that?”
What really gets my temper up is when the mistake causes absolutely no harm to the other person, but they feel the need to put me down about it. Then to ask about meds in something other than a concerned manner – like in a sarcastic tone – would probably not go over too well with me at all!
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