Within Your Walls

This isn’t normally on your spring-cleaning list, but it should be.  The lurking dangers behind your medicine cabinet are just that, hidden.  Ask yourself these questions; Did I finish all those Antibiotics from the Doctor?  Where did I put all those painkillers?  And, How old is our cough syrup?  These may not be questions you ask yourself.  However, it makes you think, “When was the last time I cleaned out my medicine cabinet?”  I do this on a yearly basis, and you should too.  With kids stealing painkillers from their parents, the elderly taking out of date prescriptions, and everyone else using old medicines to treat today’s illness.  It high time we did this.

Where do I start?  Make a list of everywhere in your home you keep drugs; Prescriptions, over-the-counter (OTC) and first aid products

• Bathroom medicine cabinet
• Linen Closet
• Bedroom nightstand
• Kitchen counter

Start with the least cluttered and work your way around the house.

1. List all the current medications being used in the household.
2. Arm yourself with a garbage bag and a heavy duty gallon sized zipper bag (Ziploc Freezer bags work great)

The FDA has released directions on how to properly dispose of prescription and OTC drugs.
Here is the link to the webpage for full directions. http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm101653.htm

However here is the quick and easy way.  DO NO FLUSH DRUGS! I know you have done this for years, but research has found that this isn’t the greatest for our country’s water supply.  Instead, armed with your zippered baggie, load all the out of date pills & syrups into the bag and add water, cat litter, used coffee grounds or sawdust to the cocktail.  Then crush or shake the bag.  This mixture is to deter animals or dumpster divers from eating or using your disposed pharmaceuticals.

Now that you have done the hard part, you’re left with current medicines and up to date first aid items.  First and foremost I highly discourage medicines and drugs being left on areas that are easy to reach or that can be knocked over or into things.  For example: your kitchen counter, this is a horrible place for drugs.  Water can get on them or the bottle, either dissolving pills or making the label impossible to read.  Another is easy to reach places, nightstands and counters.  Children have easy access to them and can put them in their mouths mistaking them for “grandma’s candy” or worse yet a curious teen steals Mom’s Xanax.  So remember, out of sight out of mind.   Now that I am off my soapbox here is the next step.

Next, most medicine cabinets have 3-4 shelves.  I put prescription drugs on the top shelf; this includes inhalers, pills and syrups.  If you’re having are hard time determining what goes up there here are a few helpful hints.  Drugs you only take “as needed”, anything prescribed by a doctor that has to be administered, or Drugs that are dangerous if children get a hold of.  With that cleared up, next shelf I put OTC or frequently used items, Advil, Tylenol, and everyday first aid items such as band-aids and bactine. Finally, the bottom shelves; toothbrushes and items anyone can reach.  The rule I go by is, the more dangerous the higher it goes.

As far as OTC drugs, they can be tailored to your families needs.  What I keep around are the basics in my house.

• Advil
• Tylenol
• Excedrin
• Benadryl
• Robitussin D
• Pepcid
• Mucinex
• Pepto-Bismol

We also keep Children’s Tylenol, Motrin, and Mylicon.  The first-aid kit goes along the same lines.   Wal-Mart sells a basic kit for around $10.00, and every home should have one!  My first-Aid kit is a bit more extensive.  I’m a klutz and refuse to go to the hospital, so I have more than enough:

• Band-aids (for every surface on your body)
• Butterfly closures
• Gauze
• Tape
• Dermoplast (antiseptic/pain relief spray)
• Neosporin w/ pain relief
• Bactine

We have all of this along with a store bought first aid kit.  Most normal households do not need this much, however a few basics like band-aids, bactine, and Neosporin should be kept somewhere in your home.  I keep my first aid supplies in a Rubbermaid drawer in a separate area in the bathroom, not in the medicine cabinet.  First-Aid materials should be in an easy to reach place in the house.  I keep the majority in the bathroom, but I keep a small kit in the kitchen (that’s where most of my accidents happen there).

Well, I hope this has helped you keep your medicine cabinet organized, and how to properly dispose of old drugs properly. Furthermore, clearing out your cabinet should remind you to teach your children about drug safety and the dangers of taking someone else’s medicines.  Along with this exercise of cleaning, it should also strike a chord of the hazards of taking out of date drugs.  Their chemical compound can change or more frequently, the drug is not as        effective when taken.   So take the time and become more aware about drug safety in your home.  Good luck, and if there are some areas you would like me to go further on, please let me know.

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bathroom, disposing, drugs, FDA, first-aid, medicine, Medicine cabinet, Organizing, OTC, prescriptions