I’m referring to my increasing difficulty getting into the pill bottles and other packaging that keep the pharmaceuticals I need to put into my body just out of reach.
MS Affects Not Just Leg Strength, but Arm Strength, Too
When it comes to progressing multiple sclerosis, I once heard a leader in the field, professor Gavin Giovannoni, MBBCh, PhD, say that the arms are the legs for a person who has progressed to a wheelchair. He said this in reference to the importance for attention to upper limb strength and dexterity as relapsing MS transforms into progressive disease. As a person who has been living with the ever-increasing effects of secondary-progressive MS, I have to say that not only is the professor spot on, but that an even finer distinction can also be made. RELATED: Preserving Hand and Arm Function Is Vital for People With MS
Hand and Finger Strength Take a Hit, as Well
After a couple of years of increasing struggles with oral medications in standard pill bottles, someone from our Life With MS community suggested that I ask my pharmacist to use snap-off caps for my meds rather than the standard childproof lids. My strength and fine motor skills had begun to leave me unable to easily open the containers, and it was just a little too “in your face, Trevis” as I struggled. While I had to explain why a “healthy looking” man in his late thirties would need such accommodation, and had to nearly swear an affidavit that no children were ever within blocks of my medicine cabinet, it made quite a difference to both my quality of life and my level of frustration as the number of prescriptions waxed and waned.
The Tyranny of the Blister Pack
Over the past several years, the number of tablets and capsules I’ve had to — or agreed to — take has dwindled to the point where I really didn’t think of the difficulties much. But as I’ve had a whole new set of health concerns with which to deal over this past year, I’ve now come to know another dispensing difficulty: the blister pack. I’d known the challenges of blister packs from nonprescription, over-the-counter medications in the past: Little pills, crunch plastic, thin foil, dodgy fingers. It seldom ended well and often found me, on hands and knees, searching behind the sink (or worse) for the damned tablet, which had finally made its way from its packaging, but my slow-reacting hands and fingers were neither speedy nor nimble enough to fulfill their part of the equation.
When the Packaging Affects Our Willingness to Take a Drug
When, as the patient advocate for a major progressive MS medication study, I saw the proposed use of five doses per day, each in its own blister, I had to ask if the researchers knew anything about upper-extremity symptoms with MS. If you have progressive MS, odds are the idea of someone creating a game-changing treatment then making you break open five little blisters to get your medication every day begins to border on the guy who built a sailboat in his basement and then couldn’t get it out.
Something’s Gotta Change
Of late, and as some recent non-MS health concerns have required prescriptions, I have noted that more and more of even these medications are being dispensed in blister packs. From antibiotics to cholesterol-lowering drugs, to pain meds, and to even my dog’s prescriptions, my fingers just can’t manage it anymore! Maybe some recent prescriptions for our dogs was the last straw. I’m going to have to ask my chemist if they can start opening the packs for me and placing them in conventional bottles. It may mean shorter shelf-life, and I’ll have to refill them more often. But if taking the meds I need becomes aversive before I even get the pill in my palm, how do the doctors and drug companies expect us to remain compliant with their prescriptions? Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis
