Medisafer Story: Ashley

Chatting with us from her home in Iowa, Ashley discussed being diagnosed as ADHD as a kid and how she struggled for 15 years to figure out how to stay on track with her Ritalin, which she needs to take every four hours.
That is, until she found Medisafe.

What was it like getting diagnosed?

Ashley got diagnosed at 12 years old, and says she’s blessed to have a family that chose to look at ADHD as a gift, looking at the positives instead of the setbacks. In fact, her mother and brother both have ADD as well! She quickly found a medication that worked for her and has been on it ever since.

How did you manage your meds before Medisafe?

When she was a kid, she’d have to go to the school nurse to get her meds, unless she was at home and her parents were responsible. When she hit 18, Ash took control of her own med regimen. She tried several options, including a pill bottle cap which timed the moments between her doses, but it didn’t connect to her phone which she always had on her. She still missed doses, or took them too late.

How important is it to take your meds at the right time?

Taking the medication exactly at the four-hour mark is critical, Ash says, otherwise there are dips in focus and it takes a while to get back on track.

What are some of your favorite features?

When she downloaded Medisafe, Ashley synced it up to her Apple Watch, something she couldn’t just ignore. Ash also color coded her pills to match with her real ones. When her doctor prescribed Wellbutrin, an anti-anxiety medication, Ash noticed she became more irritable and tired. A possible side effect when these two medications are combined, the doctor hadn’t mentioned it, even though she knew Ash had been taking it for years. After checking out the drug-to-drug interaction notification from Medisafe, Ash talked to her doctor about the symptoms she was experiencing and was taken off the Wellbutrin.

Final Thoughts?

Ash says she’s “looked for something like this for 13 years and just found it now at the age of 31,” and hopes younger or newly diagnosed individuals, can find tools which help them stay on track earlier in their journey.