Daily Medication Storage

[Bishop]

One of my pet hates about First Aid Kits is that many folk in an attempt to save space & weight shove three or four different types of pills into a single small plastic bag. It's OK I guess for most over the counter meds such as Paracetamol,Ibuprofen, Immodium, anti-histamines etc that are easily distinguishable, seldom needed with hopefully no untoward results should you select the wrong ones. Unless of course some twit mistakes the emergency stash of painkillers for anti-diarrhea meds then what follows is like a certain scene from Valhalla Rising only more pungent.

So if like me you are unlucky enough to be on a regime of pills daily then something a little more organised is definitely required, especially if some tablets are almost identical, have to be taken at different times of the day and suffice to say can really screw things up for the worse if you get the dosage wrong.

Sure there's a plethora of pill organisers available but most are bulky,often poorly made and almost all suffer from the fundamental problem of not being waterproof. Whilst alright for home use, the last thing you want when out and about is finding those essential meds in a soggy mush. So having shelled out anywhere between £15-20 for a good container then having to buy a dependable watertight bag as well kinda sours the whole deal. It's like buying a titanium mug and discovering handles are sold seperate.

So this is my solution for storing those daily meds I'm presently taking when away in the wild for a few days, a DIY mega sized blister pack. I was considering plastic straws but finding any suitably wide enough was fruitless.

For me that's three days worth totalling some thirty pills in various sizes, morning,evening and night doses all seperate and waterproof, weighing in at just 10grams and small enough to fit pretty much anywhere in a clothing pocket or EDC belt pouch.


The build is fairly straightforward, basically an empty pack of throat lozenges with a piece of aluminium foil glued to the back with a suitable adhesive. To stop the pills from sticking to the back cover I formed a shallow pots like a bottle caps with the same foil using a stack of small coins as a former. These cover the pills so you don't have to be precise with the glue just apply a thin coating liberally all over the foil back piece only and press on firmly.

Flip the lot over, admire handiwork then leave to dry, after that trim the excess and label as needed.

Alternatively if you don't need to carry tablets like this then with a few tweeks it makes for a handy herb & spices pack.

Pills covered with caps to protect from glue.

Waiting to dry

Close up of pack.

 

[TarHeelBrit]

Well bugger me that's a good idea. I might have to steal that idea for my wife's pills. Thanks for sharing. :You_Rock_

 

[Bindle]

https://www.dosego.co.uk/medication-aids/multifunction-waterproof-pill-box-green.html £2.30 doesn't seem too much money, and if you stand on it you won't be faced with a pile of tablet dust! Especially Atorvastatin, those statins aren't cheap you know!

 

[cranmere]

Very clever! I like that. For ordinary medications I put a blister pack into a ziplock bag with a label bearing the name of the medication, the dose, and the purpose. Beware if travelling abroad though, some countries have strange laws about what you can take in and may not let you carry stuff without a prescription or sometimes if it's not in the original packaging. For example, I got caught out by Australia, who have a ban on pseudoephedrine. It's an effective decongestant that I use occasionally when diving but they confiscated the half dozen pills of it that I was carrying.

 

[Bindle]

Approach your local pharmacy, they will do you up a blister pack, much safer and labelled. Just put it in a waterproof bag. With the home-made one no-one would know what you should be taking, when, why and any precautions as there are no instructions on the pack. It is a neat job, but beware, also some medicines interact with each other, and their properties can be changed, a pharmacist will not put interacting medicines in together.

 

[Bishop]

Thanks Bindle I'll ask the pharmacy about that. No worries about contraindications all those are currently prescribed for my heart condition.

As cranmere said don't ever try taking a homebrew medpack like this through customs even if it's benign over-the-counter stuff. If it's prescription meds then keep it in the original packaging and have documentation for everything. This is just something that I'm doing to keep the mass down for my local wanderings.

 

[santaman2000]

Approach your local pharmacy, they will do you up a blister pack, much safer and labelled. Just put it in a waterproof bag. With the home-made one no-one would know what you should be taking, when, why and any precautions as there are no instructions on the pack. It is a neat job, but beware, also some medicines interact with each other, and their properties can be changed, a pharmacist will not put interacting medicines in together.

TBH I was wondering about the legalities of repacking Rx meds. I know it's illegal here. That said, I wish it was legal. I certainly like this idea.

 

[pteron]

Boots do a range of pill dispensers - http://www.boots.com/en/Pharmacy-He...ily-living-aids/Kitchen-home/Pill-dispensers/

 

[mrcharly]

Could save some gluing time by using flue seal aluminium tape. Much stronger than foil, too.

But the waterproof box looks fairly decent. 6 compartments is a bit odd, mind, since many people will want to make up a week's supply.

Bindle is right about the pharmacy-made blister pack. My wife works in a pharmacy and they do this all the time. mostly for people who have trouble keeping track of what they should take when; the blister pack contains morning, afternoon bedtime doses, etc.

 

[Goatboy]

Approach your local pharmacy, they will do you up a blister pack, much safer and labelled. Just put it in a waterproof bag. With the home-made one no-one would know what you should be taking, when, why and any precautions as there are no instructions on the pack. It is a neat job, but beware, also some medicines interact with each other, and their properties can be changed, a pharmacist will not put interacting medicines in together.

That's a really good point, I talked to my local pharmacist before making up the tablet boxes in my possibles pouch. Luckily none of them would've interacted but it was worthwhile to check.

 

[Dave]

Probably also worth mentioning if youre going on a trip abroad, by plane, you're medication has to be in its blister pack, untampered with, and you have to have a prescription proving its yours.

 

[santaman2000]

Probably also worth mentioning if youre going on a trip abroad, by plane, you're medication has to be in its blister pack, untampered with, and you have to have a prescription proving its yours.

In it's blister pack? Our RX meds don't come in blister packs; they come in plastic pill bottles with the RX attached.

Like this

 

[Bindle]

Medicine does not have to be in blister packs, but it should be in it's original packaging with a clearly written label. Some countries require an accompanying prescription.

 

[pteron]

Medicine does not have to be in blister packs, but it should be in it's original packaging with a clearly written label. Some countries require an accompanying prescription.

This has always puzzled me - in the UK the pharmacist keeps the prescription when he dispenses the drugs.

So this advice would mean you need to have two prescriptions!

Have to say, I travel most months and have never bothered to get a second prescription - the box has the pharmacists label with my name on it, I expect that to suffice.

 

[Bindle]

This has always puzzled me - in the UK the pharmacist keeps the prescription when he dispenses the drugs.

So this advice would mean you need to have two prescriptions!

Have to say, I travel most months and have never bothered to get a second prescription - the box has the pharmacists label with my name on it, I expect that to suffice.

Take a photocopy, or get your GP to write a short note on headed paper. Especially important if you are on insulin and need to travel with a bunch of needles and some syringes!

 

[mrcharly]

This has always puzzled me - in the UK the pharmacist keeps the prescription when he dispenses the drugs.

So this advice would mean you need to have two prescriptions!

Have to say, I travel most months and have never bothered to get a second prescription - the box has the pharmacists label with my name on it, I expect that to suffice.

No, it's two part. Pharmacist keeps one bit, you keep the other.

 

[oldtimer]

Mine stays in its various blister packs: 28 days supply is removed from the cardboard sleeves and kept together with the prescription in one of Bilmo's excellent drawstring bags. This in turn goes into my waterproof grab-bag. The rest stays in original packaging until needed, usually in the bowels of the pack.

 

[pteron]

No, it's two part. Pharmacist keeps one bit, you keep the other.

Doesn't the second part simply list how many repeats you have left? I'm picking one up this afternoon, I'll check!

 

[Bindle]

You are right pteron, the prescription is only one part, the other part is for repeats/information. If you need a copy you will have to photocopy it or get your GP to write a short note.

 

[santaman2000]

This has always puzzled me - in the UK the pharmacist keeps the prescription when he dispenses the drugs. ......

That's the practice here as well. The bottles here (or rather the labels on those bottles) contain all the RX info:
-medication (brand name and generic)
-dosage
-patient's name
-prescribing doctor's name and phone number
-Rx date and fill date
-number of refills
-pharmacy name and phone number
-expiration dates (both for the meds in the bottle and when the RX will expire)

In summary, the label is a valid, legal copy of the RX. That's why I questioned the legality of moving the meds to a home made container (or any container other than the one they were dispensed in)