My medicine cabinet is a mess. How many pills and syrups does one person need? I'm in need of some severe medicine cabinet clean-out, and thought I would share some very important tips I'll be using on getting this bathroom staple in order.
I must admit, through the various aches and ailments over the years I have turned into a walking pharmacy. From prescriptions, to over-the-counter meds, I don't throw any of it out because what if I might need it again?! Well, after a bit of internet surfing, I learned that keeping those pills and pain meds could be dangerous, why? because everything has an expiration date.
One of the main reasons I have kept old pills is because I know it isn't easy to get rid of them so, I just stash them in the back of the cabinet. I found that there are two ways to get rid of prescription drugs properly:
1. Find a drug take-back or prescription drug program. Check the Department of Justice's Drug Disposal page for locations.
2. If a program isn't available to you can mix the pills with an undesirable substance (cat litter or coffee grounds are suggested) and place it in a sealed disposable container and place in the trash
3. Don't forget to black out your name and personal information when disposing of the RX bottles
So, what should you get rid of? Here are some basic rules to follow:
1. If over-the-counter pills are past the expiration date by a year or more, better be safe and dispose of it
2. If it's a prescription drug that wasn't completed, or had a few left over, get rid of it
3. If you can't remember how long you've had it, it goes in the outbox
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Growing up, my parents never had the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Their bathroom was more for personal products, stuff only they used or needed to use. The guest bathroom (my bathroom) was for my personal stuff too. We had a medicine drawer in the kitchen that included first aid items as well.
Now that I have my own place with a husband, I keep my medicine cabitnet in the kitchen as well. It just makes sense to me, I have glasses in the kitchen for drinking water and spoons for taking Mylanta over the sink. If I spill, it'll be easier to clean. And if I get cut in the kitchen, which is more likely than anywhere else in the house, I have the first aid items there. Also, if I have a guest, it's least invasive for me to have them go in the kitchen than my bathroom for stuff. I don't keep anything in the guest bathroom but candles and soaps.
This is kind of timely for me, as I just went through my medecine cabinet (which is a cabinet in the kitchen) and threw out exactly that - things that were a year expired, or if not yet, things we had too much of that were close to that date.
I made a list of meds, with expiration dates, and taped it inside the kitchen cupboard. Hopefully that'll save me from buying MORE naprosyn (i seem to always forget i have it) next time my neck goes out! ;)
Actually, Anita83 is on to something. The heat in your bathroom can degrade medications.
In my country (The Netherlands) all pharmacies accept leftover/expired pills for safe disposal. I thought this was universal.
Our medicine is in a basket in the kitchen as well (away from the stove and heat). It just seems to make more sense there for us :)
When I was growing up my parents kept all the medicine in the spice cabinet. To this day when I cook I always wish there was a valium hiding behind the cinnamon.
I'm with Anita - I take my vitamins and pills with water, it doesn't make sense to have in the bathroom. Plus it is easier to inventory what is on hand at all times.
I use up prescriptions as directed, usually. So I rarely have leftovers to deal with. (I do have a couple of Ambien that I'm sort of afraid of since the revelation that some folks do weird stuff in their sleep on them!!)
I have a flat mirror, not a medicine cabinet, in the bathroom. So instead I have a plastic utility drawer under the sink (which has a solid top for things like soap to sit on.) In there are my personal meds: multi-vitamin, Calcium tablets, my two ongoing prescriptions, some sinus tablets for bad days, some motion sickness pills for travel and when I think an inner ear infection is coming on -- a too-frequent problem for me. I don't use much and only buy the things I use.
A few things we have on hand that we rarely want (bandaids, ipecac from the last time someone needed it, Chloreseptic throat spray, etc.) are in the linen closet in the hall for general access. Those might need a purge...
I’ve been lucky with my health and haven’t needed a prescription for 10 or so years (knock on wood). I rarely get a cold, so I usually toss my bottle of cough syrup and cough drops once a year and buy a new only if I feel a bug coming on. I keep a bottle of Advil in a cabinet in my bathroom and my roommate keeps his daily vitamins in our kitchen. That’s about it.
I don’t have a guest bathroom, but if I did, I think I would place a bottle of aspirin or Advil in that cabinet as well, just in case a guest has a headache. Or maybe just move my bottle into the kitchen…
Not all prescriptions direct you to take every single pill (eg, migraine medicines only for acute migraines, asthma inhalers as needed, etc.).
Also---please please please take expired/unused pills back to the pharmacist or to wherever takes them in your area. For the city of Cambridge, there is a biannual hazardous waste "drive" which takes these medications, and they can always be dropped off at the police department. As someone who did work involved with chemical contaminants in the environment for my thesis, drugs should stay out of drinking water, always. Don't flush them down the toilet, ever. And even crushing them and throwing them out isn't a stellar plan due to landfill leakage.
Also, prescription bottles can be recycled in some areas; do block your name off, though, just to be safe.
you can always take your unused medications to any pharmacy and they will happily dispose of it for you. never flush your unused pills down the toilet (it'll soon say on most medication container's not to do this). never keep antibiotics. i know they are expensive but you are doing yourself and everyone else MORE harm then good by using them later. also, keep in mind there are many drugs that are harmful after the expiration date (eg. tetracyclines). if in doubt, throw it out or ask a pharmacist.
oh and don't keep your medications in the bathroom... the heat AND humidity can degrade the medication making the expiration date actually sooner than what's printed.
haha Kimberlina you make me laugh
How does taking medicines with water make keeping them in the bathroom un-sensible? Do you not have water in your bathroom??
I'm with Anita and cutey pie. The only things we keep in the bathroom are toiletry and first-aid items. The few medicinal-type things we keep have a home in the dining room, away from heat and moisture, and which is where we eat and drink anyways, having a small kitchen.