How to Organize Your Medications
Choose a storage location., Clean out the space., Bring all your medications together., Check expiration dates and pare down., Create a system to organize medications in the storage area.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Choose a storage location.
If you have lots of medication in your home, there's a good chance you are storing it in several different places.
The first thing you should do is find one place to store it all.
This allows you to always know where any medication can be found.This could be your bathroom medicine cabinet, or a medicine chest, or some other type of bin.
While many people keep pills in a bathroom medicine cabinet, you may want to consider a different room to store your medications in, because the heat and humidity of the shower can negatively affect some medications.In choosing your medication storage location, be mindful of safety concerns.
If you have children, or if children visit your home often, you'll want to make sure your medications are stored somewhere that they can't get into. -
Step 2: Clean out the space.
Once you've chosen a place to keep all your medication, empty it completely.
If you already have a medicine chest or bin, for example, take everything out.This will make organizing things much easier.
If you already have medications stored in this space, you might sort them into piles based on what they're for as you take them out.This can make it easier to organize them later. , Get every medication you'll be storing together in one place.
This will make it easier to organize them and to see if you have unnecessary duplicates of anything., Before you organize your medications, it's a good idea to make sure you aren't hanging onto expired medications or other medications you no longer need.
Check the labels and expiration dates and get rid of any unwanted or unsafe medications.Note that many medications should not be thrown in the garbage because of the possibility of misuse by others.
Flushing them down the toilet may create other hazards.
Consult the directions that came with the medication or the Food and Drug Administration website for details about how to properly dispose of medication.
Often you can take them to your local pharmacy for safe disposal., Once you've collected all your medications in one place and ensured that they are all up to date, your next step is to create a system for organizing them within your chosen space.
Choose a method that works well for you.
Here are some suggestions:
Organize alphabetically, or by frequency of use.Place medications in plastic bags with cards labeling what's inside each in large font.If multiple people will be storing medication in the space, clearly label which medicines belong to whom using a permanent marker or colored stickers.If using a medicine cabinet, organize by shelf.
For example, you could put over-the-counter medications on the top shelf, medications for your heart condition on one shelf, and medications for your migraines on another shelf. -
Step 3: Bring all your medications together.
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Step 4: Check expiration dates and pare down.
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Step 5: Create a system to organize medications in the storage area.
Detailed Guide
If you have lots of medication in your home, there's a good chance you are storing it in several different places.
The first thing you should do is find one place to store it all.
This allows you to always know where any medication can be found.This could be your bathroom medicine cabinet, or a medicine chest, or some other type of bin.
While many people keep pills in a bathroom medicine cabinet, you may want to consider a different room to store your medications in, because the heat and humidity of the shower can negatively affect some medications.In choosing your medication storage location, be mindful of safety concerns.
If you have children, or if children visit your home often, you'll want to make sure your medications are stored somewhere that they can't get into.
Once you've chosen a place to keep all your medication, empty it completely.
If you already have a medicine chest or bin, for example, take everything out.This will make organizing things much easier.
If you already have medications stored in this space, you might sort them into piles based on what they're for as you take them out.This can make it easier to organize them later. , Get every medication you'll be storing together in one place.
This will make it easier to organize them and to see if you have unnecessary duplicates of anything., Before you organize your medications, it's a good idea to make sure you aren't hanging onto expired medications or other medications you no longer need.
Check the labels and expiration dates and get rid of any unwanted or unsafe medications.Note that many medications should not be thrown in the garbage because of the possibility of misuse by others.
Flushing them down the toilet may create other hazards.
Consult the directions that came with the medication or the Food and Drug Administration website for details about how to properly dispose of medication.
Often you can take them to your local pharmacy for safe disposal., Once you've collected all your medications in one place and ensured that they are all up to date, your next step is to create a system for organizing them within your chosen space.
Choose a method that works well for you.
Here are some suggestions:
Organize alphabetically, or by frequency of use.Place medications in plastic bags with cards labeling what's inside each in large font.If multiple people will be storing medication in the space, clearly label which medicines belong to whom using a permanent marker or colored stickers.If using a medicine cabinet, organize by shelf.
For example, you could put over-the-counter medications on the top shelf, medications for your heart condition on one shelf, and medications for your migraines on another shelf.
About the Author
Debra Adams
Brings years of experience writing about cooking and related subjects.
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