10 Things Your Pharmacist Wants You To Know

SPECIAL FROM 1. Don't store medication in the bathroom. The bathroom is probably the last place in house where you should keep your medication—especially your pills, tablets, or capsules. Why? Because the moisture and extreme temperature changes can weaken your medications or cause your medications to spoil before their expiration dates. You’re better off keeping your medications on your nightstand or in a kitchen cabinet away from the stove. Just make sure when grandkids come visit that medications are stored somewhere safely away and out of sight. 2. Don't flush medication down the toilet. With the exception of certain pain medications, most medications shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet. Many medications do not break down completely in water, and traces of medications have been detected in drinking water as a direct result of flushing unused drugs down the toilet. Here's what you should do: Some pharmacies have medication take-back programs that allow you to return expired or unused medications for disposal. Keep in mind you can return most medications, but not controlled substances.  Also, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has some great tips about how to get rid of old medication here. Pain medications that contain hydrocodone or other ingredients related to opium are flushable. You can see a list of medications that the FDA says are safe to flush here.  3. There's a correct way to take over-the-counter meds. Just because you c...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news