The holiday, the new prescription, six tablets a day, the cost, and when it's more than forgetting

The holiday. A fortnight away with the packet at home is the commonest way a fade starts. Count out the days before you go, into an organiser or a labelled bag, and put them with the passport. If you've already come back and the packet's been untouched for two weeks, ring a pharmacist before restarting. For most medicines the answer is just start again. For a few the restart is done differently, and the pharmacist will know which.

The new prescription. The first month of a new medicine is where the quiet stop most often happens, because the side effects arrive before the benefit and there's no habit yet. This is what the pharmacy's help with new medicines is for. The NHS says you can have up to three appointments with a pharmacist, in person or by phone, to ask questions and check the medicine's right for you. Take the first one in the first week.

Six tablets a day. If you're on several medicines, the fade is as much about the pile as about any one tablet. Ask a pharmacist for a review of all of them together. Sometimes times can be lined up, a twice-a-day can become a once, or a tablet you've been on for years turns out to be one nobody would start you on now. That's a conversation, not a drawer, and it's the reason pharmacists ask to see everything you take.

The cost. If you're not collecting a prescription because of what it costs, say so at the pharmacy. There are ways to pay less for regular prescriptions in England and some people don't pay at all, and the pharmacist can tell you which apply to you. Not taking a medicine to save the charge is a decision the prescriber needs to know about, because they may be able to change what's prescribed.

The repeat. Running out because the repeat wasn't ordered is admin, and book 60 in this series, It can be done today, is about the heap that kind of task lands in. Order the repeat when you open the last strip, not when you take the last tablet.

Children's medicines. The NHS levothyroxine page says that if you forget a child's dose you should talk to a doctor or pharmacist rather than apply the adult rule, and it points to the Medicines for Children website. The same goes for most children's medicines. The leaflet rules in this book are written for adults.

When it's more than forgetting. If you're missing doses because you can't keep track of days, because you're low most of the day most days, or because the thought of the tablets brings on something closer to dread than boredom, that isn't a hook problem and the NHS says to see a GP. Say what's happening with the medicine as part of the same visit. It's the kind of thing they'd rather know.