If you’re like most people, a bathroom cabinet is generally where you keep your medicine. But did you know that your shower, bath, and sink’s heat and moisture might harm your medication and reduce its potency? Aspirin pills can decompose into vinegar and salicylic acid, which irritates the stomach when heated or exposed to moisture.
Whether you’re storing your medications for yourself or your family, it’s important to know where to put them. But you don’t want to store them where they can get damaged or ruined. Instead, keeping them in a cool and dry place would be best.
What is Medication?
A medication is a drug used to identify, treat, or prevent disease. It is also referred to as a medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, or simply a drug. A significant area of medicine is drug therapy, or pharmacotherapy, which depends on the science of pharmacology for ongoing development and pharmacy for effective management.
There are many different categories of drugs. One of the important divides is by the level of control, which separates prescription pharmaceuticals from over-the-counter medicines (prescription drugs are those that a pharmacist can only give on the advice of a doctor, physician assistant, or licensed nurse) (those that consumers can order for themselves).
Which is the Best Place to Store Medications?
Even though you may believe that your medications are safe and in the right location, there are certainly a few factors you haven’t thought about. We have compiled some best drug storage practice suggestions to ensure your medications are secure and in the proper location at home. Consider these suggestions the next time you clean up your medicine cabinet.
Remove your Medication from the Bathroom Cabinet
Contrary to popular perception, the bathroom medicine cabinet is not the best place to store drugs due to heat and humidity. This is not keeping your medications dry and cool because the bathroom door is usually closed, and steam is pouring from the shower. This implies that the medication might degrade.
It Should Not be Stored Above the Cooktop or the Fridge
This is equivalent to keeping them in the bathroom since heat and light from the refrigerator or cooktop can prevent your medicine from staying cool, dry, and away from light, which increases the chance that it won’t function as effectively as it should.
Ensure that your Medications are High and Safe
Your medications shouldn’t be simple because curious brains can be driven to get into things they shouldn’t. Although it may seem simple, you must ensure that youngsters and household pets cannot get your medications. Locking your medication cabinet could also be a good idea if children are present.
Consider What you are Storing your Medical Supplies in
It would be best to consider where, how, and what your medications are stored. Instead of placing all your medications in one basket, organizing them into separate or split boxes is advisable. This means that by monitoring the expiration dates of your medications, you can prevent medication misuse.
Check the Dates on Medications
You must READ, REMOVE, and RETURN immediately. Examine all medications, read the labels, and look for expiration dates. Place all unwanted and expired medications in a bag or container after removing them from their packing. The cardboard box that the medication is packaged in can be recycled.
What to do if your Medicine Freezes?
Particularly susceptible to temperature changes might be liquid medications. But even certain medications might be impacted. Start by contacting the firm that supplied the medication immediately to report the issue.
Subsequently, get in touch with the drug’s original maker. Ask the US Postal Service, FedEx, UPS, or the mail carrier what to do if your medication freezes while being delivered to you or while it is being held in a mailbox.
Lastly, take extra precautions, whether it’s chilly or hot outside. While performing errands, some people forget their bag of medications in the vehicle. The medication may freeze in the winter or become extremely hot in the summer if you are gone for longer than a few minutes.
What are the Different Categories of Medicines?
Most medications are available in a variety of forms or kinds. But remember that certain medications only come in one variety, especially those uncommon or unique. Additionally, some people might perform better in one category than another.
Medicines are frequently available in the U.K. in the following preparations:
Liquid
To facilitate administration or improve absorption, the liquid component of the medication is mixed with the active ingredient. Other names for a liquid include “mixture,” “solution,” and “syrup.” Today, many common drinks come without any added sugar or coloring.
Tablet
A round or oval solid is formed once the active component and another substance are mixed. There are various tablet varieties. Tablets that are soluble or dispersible can be safely dissolved in water.
Capsules
The plastic shell that protects the medication’s active ingredient in the stomach slowly dissolves. You can open up a few capsules and combine the insides with your child’s favorite dish. Others must be consumed whole, delaying the absorption of the medication until the stomach acid dissolves the capsule shell.
How to Recognize Medicines are Gone Bad?
Consumers are urged to evaluate what has outlived its utility, whether a new year’s fresh start or a spring cleaning. The same applies to medications.
The United States Food and Drug Administration mandated an expiration date for prescription and over-the-counter medications in 1979. The expiration date is crucial when determining whether a product is safe to use and will function as intended.
The label, bottle, or carton will sometimes have the expiration date stamped or printed after the word “EXP.” The expiration date on your medication should be kept in mind and followed. Using expired medical supplies poses a risk to your health.
Before marketing prescription drugs, U.S. pharmaceutical producers must provide expiration dates on those items. The manufacturer’s assurance of a medication’s complete efficacy and safety end on the day of expiration. Most drug labels include prescription, over-the-counter (OTC), and dietary (herbal) supplements and expiration dates.
What are the Side Effects of Consuming Expired Medicines?
Taking outdated medications is the same as endangering your health. First, the medication may not work as intended and may make the pain worse rather than better. Medicines that have expired may lead to further health issues and new diseases.
In the worst instance, using outdated medications can harm your liver and kidneys. If expired medications hurt your metabolism, you may experience allergies or a lowered immune system.
Before taking any medication, it is advised to check the expiration date constantly. To maintain your safety and health, it is best to dispose of any expired medication.
According to the report, most people buy their medications through doctors’ offices, pharmacies, authorized chemical stores, and friends and family. When someone was ill or wished to enhance their health, they bought these medications. Unused and expired medications were primarily produced due to failure to finish the prescribed dosage due to an improvement in the disease status or an unfavorable side effect of the medications. Most respondents said they disposed of unwanted and expired medications primarily in the garbage, and very few flushed them down the toilet. Few people incinerate the solid and semisolid ones; most choose to keep them since they are unsure what to do with them.
What Should be done with Expired Medications?
You must make sure that any expired medications are out of reach of others before you may safely dispose of them. Tablets can be broken up and thrown away in a sealed container. You can either flush liquid medications and syrups down the toilet or drain them into your sink.
Even though it is against the law to sell medicines after their expiration dates, some medications do not retain their full effectiveness when our distribution system or retail establishments do not have the proper storage conditions as advised by the makers (such as warm or cold temperatures). To maintain the best possible effect, the regulatory authorities must ensure that the medications receive suitable storage throughout their life cycle.
Conclusion
Keeping medicines in the refrigerator is one of the best ways to maintain potency. This is because cold temperatures inhibit the growth of microorganisms and prevent medications from being ineffective. However, improper storage can lead to dangerous side effects and poisoning accidents.
Regardless of your medication type, it would be best to be careful with storing your medicines. Some medications are sensitive to moisture, even at room temperature. This is especially true if you live in an area with a humid climate.
