A chart for once-weekly medicines

The specific danger of weekly dosing

With a daily tablet, a mistake costs you one day. With Methotrexate, taking a weekly dose twice in the same week is a serious overdose, and it has happened often enough that prescribers deliberately name the day: methotrexate on Mondays. The interval is too long for habit to help, so it has to be written down.

The medicines involved

Methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, Alendronate and Risedronate for bone density, some Vitamin D preparations given as a weekly or fortnightly sachet, and long-acting injections such as weekly Semaglutide. Each has its own precautions — Alendronate must be taken with plain water while remaining upright, and methotrexate is usually paired with folic acid on a different day.

Naming the day beats naming the date

Fix on a weekday rather than a number. A weekly medicine taken every Monday is far easier to sustain than one taken every seventh day, because the week itself becomes the reminder. Set the chart start date to that weekday and print the sheet with the date of every dose visible so a tick can be placed against each one.

Folic acid and other companions

Where a second medicine is tied to the weekly one — folic acid on a different day of the week, for instance — add it as its own entry. Both appear on the same chart in different colours, and the separation between the two days is visible at a glance rather than something to remember.

How to make one

1. Add the medicine and pick the weekday to start
2. Switch the layout to Weeks
3. Print and tick each weekly dose

Questions

A note on safety. PillsChart reproduces the schedule you type. It does not check doses or interactions. Always follow the instructions from your doctor or pharmacist, and check the printed chart against the prescription before anyone relies on it.

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