You store all your prescriptions/ibuprofen/cold ‘n’ flu meds in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, right?
Like a lot of other humans on planet Earth.
Because DUH, isn’t that what a bathroom medicine cabinet should be for?
But actually…your bathroom medicine cabinet is exactly where you SHOULDN’T keep your meds.
“Restrooms are probably the worst place besides right in the kitchen to have [medications],” Heather Free, Pharm.D., a local practicing pharmacist in Washington D.C., and a spokesperson for American Pharmacists Association, tells BuzzFeed. “We have a lot of humidity and moisture in there and sometimes that moisture can really interfere with the stability of the medication.”
It’s true: Moisture, heat, and possibly even mold from all that ~hot water~ in your bathroom is super bad for your meds.
Why else would it be in the bathroom?
But actually…your bathroom medicine cabinet is exactly where you SHOULDN’T keep your meds.
“[Moisture] can make medication less effective — if you’ve ever seen a tablet get wet, it makes it disintegrate a little bit — so that’s what the moisture is doing to it,”
Free says.
“Sometimes, too, the restroom is a great place for mold,” she adds. “You really don’t want mold growing on the medicines that you’re taking.”
Other places you can’t keep meds: in your kitchen, your car, next to windows, or anywhere it gets too hot.
You may be tempted to just stick all your drugs in the fridge, but that’s also not a great idea.
Unless your meds are supposed to be refrigerated, don’t stick your meds in there.“Sometimes the refrigerator has moisture,” says Free.
The best place to store all your meds? A bedroom drawer.
That’s because drawers in your bedroom are generally dry places that don’t go up and down in temperature a whole lot.
But using a bedroom drawer isn’t necessarily the right choice for everyone. “It just depends if you have kids or not,” says Free. If you do have kids or pets who could potentially get into medication, Free recommends putting it in a locked drawer, or “putting it in a locked armoire — as long as it’s not directly in sunlight.”
Bottom line: When in doubt about how to store ANY meds — ask your pharmacist!
Which is to say: They’re there to help!
To see more of this article go here
Source: Buzzfeed
