Medicines to take home after each cycle

Usually anti-sickness medicines, sometimes steroids, sometimes something for the bowels, and occasionally an antibiotic or an injection. Most of it starts that same evening — not when you begin to feel unwell, and not the next morning.

That timing is the whole point. Anti-sickness medicine works far better taken before sickness arrives than after, and the commonest reason a plan appears to fail is that it was treated as something to take when needed rather than on a schedule.

Take them on the days you feel well too

People stop on day two because nothing has happened. What has happened is that the medicine is working. If you are given a set number of days, that count is the instruction, not a maximum.

Almost every difficult first week traces back to one of these, and all four are avoidable in the two minutes before you leave the unit.

Not collecting them

A prescription still at the pharmacy counter at eight in the evening means the anti-sickness cover never starts. Have the medicines physically in the bag before you leave the building.

Taking them only when unwell

The commonest error by far. Most of these work preventively and are prescribed on a schedule. Waiting for symptoms means the medicine is always behind the sickness rather than ahead of it.

Stopping early because you feel fine

Feeling fine on day two is usually evidence the medicine is working. Complete the number of days you were given, every cycle, even when it seems unnecessary.

Following last cycle's instructions

Plans get adjusted at reviews, and the change is easy to miss at a busy desk. Compare the new boxes against the old ones, and ask what is different and why before you leave.

Keep everything for this cycle in one box or bag, separate from the household's other medicines, with the written schedule taped to it. Mixed into a general medicine drawer is how doses get missed and how the wrong tablet gets taken.

Write the schedule where the family can see it

Which tablet, what time, how many days. On the fridge alongside the emergency list. Whoever is at home at the relevant hour needs to be able to read it, not ask the person who is unwell.

If a dose comes back up

Ask your team in advance what they want you to do, because the answer differs between medicines and there is no safe general rule. Write it down. If nothing is staying down at all, that is a reason to contact them rather than to keep trying.

If you miss a dose

Again, ask in advance rather than deciding at the time. Never double up to catch up without being told to. Note the miss so you can mention it at the review if the cycle went badly.

Storage and children

Out of reach of children, away from heat and damp, in the original boxes so the names and dates stay readable. Check expiry dates if you are given several cycles' worth at once.