Daily drug schedule when controlling cancer pain

If you are taking several different drugs, you may find it helpful to draw up a chart that lists:

• the drugs you’re taking
• what they’re for
• their doses
• the time of day to take them.

Your doctor, nurse or pharmacist can help you do this, or they may be able to give you a chart to fill in this information. Make sure it has space for you to tick off each dose as you take it.

Pill organisers

You may find it easier to have your drugs arranged in a container (called a ‘pill organiser’ or ‘dosette box’) labelled with the times you need to take them. Then you can always check that you’re up to date.

The aim is to make things as simple as possible. If you find it difficult to remember to take medicines several times a day, talk this over with your doctor. There may be other types of the same drug that can be taken less often.

You may find it useful to keep a diary of how well your pain and other symptoms are being controlled, as well as the painkillers you’re taking. You can download our Pain diary [PDF, 286Kb]|. This will help your medical team too. They will be able to see whether the doses of any of your painkillers need changing. If you don’t want to bother writing a full diary, just make a note if your pain comes back before your next dose of painkillers is due, and note when you need to take any extra doses.