Comments on: Weekend project idea: Clear clutter from your medicine chest

By: Jeri Dansky

Jeri Dansky — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:47:30 +0000

And when you do this, please dispose of old medicines responsibly. I've provided some information here: http://jdorganizer.blogspot.com/2006/12/medicine-cabinets-and-related-spaces.html I'm lucky in that my county (San Mateo, California) has provided a number of places to drop off old medicines - maybe your local government has put something in place, too. San Mateo County: http://www.rethinkwaste.org/news.php?id=medicines

By: BobbyEsq

BobbyEsq — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:28:42 +0000

Weekend? Really? Seems like this could be done in the space of about a week’s worth of teeth-brushings.

By: Andamom

Andamom — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:52:33 +0000

Great points here — but I agree with Tom that expiration dates don’t necessarily indicate that the medicine is ineffective or harmful.

The real question for us is where to store true medicine. I’ve got a toddler, a teen, and a husband in an apartment. We need to ensure that 3/4 of us can access the medicine — but the 1/4 toddler element doesn’t get near it. One option would be a closet — but that is easier said than done in our place.

And we have multiple thermometers as well… It happened to us because all of them have different purposes… We’ve got the ear one (most used), a rectal one (I think–better check because it has mercury and cannot be disposed of easily), one used for fertility charting, and a random one that seemingly just appeared one day. I know some parents have the forehead one for babies too…

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:12:24 +0000

Oh god I need to do this. Half of our medicine cabinet stuff is in a Safeway bag in the bottom of our closet.

By: Tom Karches

Tom Karches — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:47:23 +0000

FYI, most over the counter medications are fully effective long after the due date.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/.....103a.shtml

No point in throwing away perfectly good medicine

By: Erin

Erin — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:25:25 +0000

dott –

The answer to that question could easily (and preferably) come from your doctor. He or she can describe to you how the different pain relievers work and which one is best under which circumstance.

By: dott

dott — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:04:56 +0000

Do you have recommendations about how many different types of pain relievers to keep on hand? I am confused. I prefer aspirin (somehow I think it is more “natural” but is it?)

My partner likes Tylenol (or the generic version) but we also have Advil (what is different about that) and some other varieties too.

By: Chris Garrett

Chris Garrett — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:23:08 +0000

I daren’t look in our medicine cabinet. Fortunately it is well out of reach of small hands but at the same time it is an avalanche risk

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:31:13 +0000

I don’t worry about locking, because the only child in the house is 9 and sensible. I keep all the cold medicines, peroxide, etc in a couple of dishpans from the dollar store - I store them on a shelf of my linen closet in the hall - the shelf is far above anything a *visiting* small child could reach.