How do you organize your Medicines?

[lovetoscrap]

We don't have any medicine cabinets, which is fine because you aren't supposed to store meds in the bathroom anyway. Also no linen closet to put them in. I can't find a convenient place or way to organize them. I don't have to worry about keeping it away from young children so pretty much anything is an option. It is a huge pain anytime I need to find something and I am pretty sure I just bought some cough meds that I already have because I just couldn't find them.

How and where do you organize your meds in a way that it is easy to find what you need when you need it-- which is usually the middle of the night or when you are feeling really ? Not the stuff you may take everyday but the things you only need when an illness or injury hits. Cough, colds, tummy issues, first aid supplies, thermometers, allergies, pain relievers etc. . . I need a better way to be able to find it all.

 

[AKL_Megs]

We have a linen closet.

BUT, I want to say my MIL used to keep them in an upper "spice" type cabinet in her kitchen.

 

[phorsenuf]

For the general OTC and first aid stuff I have baskets on top of the refrigerator I keep all that stuff in. For my prescriptions they are in a dresser drawer.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I have a few bins that keep everything in place upstairs in the linen closet. One for OTC adult stuff like Nyquil, a netipot etc., one for OTC kids stuff like Dimetapp and kids dose Motrin, another for my prescription Migraine stuff, a 4th for the kids prescription Asthma stuff and 2 much smaller bins one I call the sick bin with thermometers, sheaths ect and a 6th I call the bandaid bin for Bandaids/Neosporin, gauze ect. All the bins are fully stocked all the time so I know exactly where to go to find whatever I need whenever I need it. My Migraines and the kids Asthma do not leave me much room for discovery so everything I need must be findable within seconds.

On the main floor of the house I have a small basket in the cabinet with my dishes which keeps my Migraine stuff and the kids Inhalers in easy access. This includes prescription stuff, Advil ect and also a small stash of band-aids and Neosporin. This has always worked for me because not only can I find whatever I need quickly I can direct someone else to get me stuff just as easily and, more importantly, everything is contained and movable so it doesn't get in the way.

 

[Juliegirl1]

I have a few baskets labeled - 1. allergies, colds, coughs and sinus, 2. fever and pain, 3. first aid, and 4. eyes, ears and nose.

It helps me to have it arranged this way and everytime I need a medication I glance at the dates on the medicines in the basket and toss anything expired.

 

[merekc]

Last time we cleaned out cabinets we were so frustrated with all the duplicate and expired meds that we went and bought 3 quart hinged sterilite containers at Walmart to organize everything. They were a couple bucks each. Looks like this http://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-190...1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1292356652&sr=8-1 but can't find 3 quart online so maybe they quit making them.

We sorted and labeled and now have about 5 or 6 of these stacked in a cabinet together. I think we have them sorted by Allergy, Pain, Daily, Bandages, Cough/Cold. Seems like we might have one other thing but you get the idea. We've had it this way for about a year and it has really helped us out. We no longer have 5 open bottles of something at a time.

We also pull out a container and then put it back when we are done. Probably the only place in the house where this occurs on a regular basis.

 

[Deb Quen of Colorado]

In my linen closet we have 3 baskets. They are kind of sorted into first aid, cold and cough, and extra stuff like rubber gloves and heating pads. The main meds are kept in a corner cabinit in the kitchen, everyone knows to go there for tylenol, etc. I just have it in a tupperware type container.

 

[Pakey]

As a cancer patient, I have a ton of meds. I keep them on the counter in the kitchen, kind of around a corner where they are not visible. I just take so many daily that I got tired of pulling them out and putting them away.

All of the over the other stuff is in kitchen cabinets; one entire cabinet is for people meds and another one is for the dogs' meds.

 

[Inigo]

I use an old purse that I still like but don't want to carry to hold my meds. It's got two large compartments, so I use one for my everyday medications, and the other for those which aren't used as often. Once every two weeks, I fill those daily medication strips with my usual medications and have those sitting at my desk so I can get to them easily, then the purse gets put in a convenient yet out-of-the-way spot.

 

[DisGirlAllie]

I keep all of my meds by my bed on my nightstand

 

[MIGrandma]

We keep our prescription meds in an upper corner kitchen cabinet.

Regular cold medicines, Tylenol, etc. are kept in the mirrored cabinet in the bathroom. Spare stuff is kept in a lower bathroom cabinet, under the sink.

 

[CleoPahd]

With my husbands CF we have tons of drugs. We keep the ones we use on a regular basis in a draw in the kitchen for smaller bottles, and the bigger ones we keep in a kitchen cabinet. We keep the extras in a dresser drawer.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

daily stuff is in one side of a shelf in the cup cabinet. The kitchen is the hub of our house so that's were everything goes.
The rest goes in the linen closet.

Since you don't have one I would suggest either in a basket in your bedroom closet, a shelf in the kitchen or your pantry.

My dad keeps his meds on top of the fridge even though I've told him it's not a good idea. It gets way to warm up there.

 

[Mandychelle79]

We have a bin, that keeps all non refrigerated medicines in. Its on top of the fridge.

 

[Meriweather]

prescritions in a cupboard in the little room off the kitchen (I think it was listed as a butler's pantry ).
OTC stuff.....bathroom cabinet in master bath, and medicine cabinet in the downstairs bathroom

 

[golfgal]

In a cabinet in the kitchen. The ones we take daily sit on the kitchen counter.

 

[lovetoscrap]

You all have much more closet, cabinet and drawer space than I do!

Right now the things I take daily are on my nightstand, DH's are in our bathroom, one DD's is in her bathroom and the other's is downstairs in a basket in our kitchen which is where she needs it. The nebulizer and asthma meds are all in a travel bag that is somewhere in my bedroom, I think next to my bed.

The rest is just a mess! Some is in my nightstand drawer all jumbled together, some is in a big plastic box in my bedroom where it gets dumped when I get frustrated and gather it all together and throw it in until I can sort it. I have a cabinet in my bedroom entertainment center where I have been trying to keep it-- even have a bunch of little labeled drawers for things--but it isn't big enough for everything. And it is a bottom cabinet so it is really hard to get to anything and find it, and I have a very difficult time getting on the floor to search (actually I get on the floor fine, I just can't get up!).

I have an over the door shoe organizer that isn't being used so I am considering trying that. I am just not even sure what door would work best to put it on. All the kitchen cabinets and pantry are stuffed to the gills.

 

[merekc]

...DH's are in our bathroom, one DD's is in her bathroom...

Something to consider is that supposedly it is bad to store medicine in bathrooms due to the humidity in the room. It will break down the medicine faster and it loses its potency.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007189.htm

 

[merekc]

I have an over the door shoe organizer that isn't being used so I am considering trying that.

I think this is a great idea. maybe on the back of your bedroom or closet door?

 

[SandrA9810]

My aunt keeps all of hers and my grandmother's in a glad tupperware thing on top of her dresser, and fills up the little daily dispenser thing. Those then sit on the kitchen counter since you need a drink of water to take it.

That over the door thing sounds like a good idea. If it's clear, it'll be easy to see which meds you have, and organize the rows by types of meds and who they're for. So top row for your DH, second row for you, third for your DD, then cold meds and pain meds, then sinus/antihistamine stuff, Bandaids and creams on the bottom.

You just have to do it all in one shot to get it over with. I'd say, take a laundry basket and just start dumping everything in there. You need something big and bulky enough to be in your way if you decide to put it off. It's easy to shove a little box into the corner or under the bed, a laundry basket isn't as kind and isn't as easy to step over all the time.