Many people have trouble keeping track of their medicines and remembering when to take them. A pill card is a simple, visual way to show all of the medicines that a person needs to take on a regular basis. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a Division of the US Department of Health and Human Services (US HHS), developed the following Pill Card Tool.
The pill card uses pictures and simple phrases to show each medicine, its purpose, how much to take, and when to take it. FYI: medicines taken "as needed" should not be included on the pill card since they do not follow a regular daily schedule.
Using AHRQ’s easy-to-follow instructions, the ICA designed a sample pill card for a prototype IC patient, Dana Smith, who takes pentosan polysulfate sodium (Elmiron), amitriptyline (Elavil), and diazepam (Valium) for her IC and pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD).
Sample Pill Card
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Dana Smith
2/25/2009
Pharmacy telephone number: 000-000-0000 |
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NAME OF MEDICINE |
USED FOR |
INSTRUCTIONS |
MORNING
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AFTERNOON
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EVENING
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NIGHT
 |
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pentosan polysulfate
(Elmiron)
100 mg
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IC |
Take one pill by mouth in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening.
Take with water one hour before meals or two hours after meals. |
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amitriptyline
(Elavil)
10 mg
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IC
Sleep
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Take by mouth before bedtime.
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diazepam
(Valium)
½ 5 mg
 |
Pelvic floor dysfunction
Sleep
|
Take by mouth before bedtime.
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How to Create a Pill Card
The dosage and usage instructions included above may be different from your prescription directions. To create a custom pill card, include only the names and specific dosage directions provided with the medicines your doctor prescribed for you. Here's what you need:
- A computer with word processing software.
- Access to the Internet to copy and paste a picture of each medicine from http://www.drugs.com/. Search on the name of the medicine and find a picture of your medicine. Check the dosage of your medicine and copy the correct color picture. For example, 10 mg of Elavil is blue, 25 mg is yellow, and 50 mg is brown.
- A color printer -- or, the pill card may also be printed on a black and white printer and colored in by hand after printing.
- A list of the medicines -- or, the pill bottles or other containers of your medicines.
- Information about the medicines you wish to include on the pill card.
Revised March 2, 2009
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