Once a month, I write a column called “Creating Home.” This is for the young woman setting up her first home, whether it’s her dorm room or sharing an apartment with a friend. If you are an experienced homemaker, please share this with someone younger. I also hope you’ll share your experience by posting a comment at the end.
I took for granted the work my mother did to stock our medicine cabinet growing up, until I cut myself in the kitchen as a college student. It was minor, but I didn’t have any bandages or salve. So began my journey to stock a medicine cabinet.
With each new ailment, I learned something new. Sometimes I learned lessons the hard way. I’ll start out this post with two lessons I learned: 1) Over the counter medicines can be harmful, even deadly, when misused. 2) Do not self-medicate over a “long” period of time, which could even be a week depending on the problem.
Here’s my first example. I used to think Tylenol was harmless because it’s over the counter. That was until the day my four-year-old son took a handful of chewable Junior Tylenol when my back was turned. The bottle said to call Poison Control if that happened, and I almost blew it off – thinking again that it’s “harmless.” Thank the Lord I called! I was informed that if I didn’t get those out of my son’s body, his liver could be dead in 24 hours. With quick action, those pills came out of his tummy and I learned a lesson.
From that point on, I switched to Advil. However, I learned another lesson by self-medicating an ongoing problem. It started with a planter’s wart on the bottom of my foot. Every step was excruciating. I had been to the podiatrist, but it took three attempts to get rid of the problem. In between visits, I self-medicated by taking Advil. While I didn’t take more than the recommended dose, I did take the maximum amounts.
After about a month, I thought I was having a heart attack with a burning in my chest. It would go away, then come back. I went to the doctor’s office, and got an EKG, then an ultrasound. Everything was normal. It was only in talking to the doctor that we connected the dots. I had taken so much Advil that my stomach was irritated, and what I was feeling was heartburn. Since I had never had heartburn, I didn’t know what it was.
I hope my warnings sink in. As I review tips for stocking a medicine cabinet, please keep these warnings in mind. Always check with a doctor about any questions. Here we go with some basic suggestions to get you started:
Tip 1: Store medicines in a safe, cool and dry place, above the reach of children. Even if you don’t have children, your friends might. Make sure a child couldn’t easily grab a chair, or stand on something to reach your medicines.
Tip 2: Post the numbers for Poison Control, your doctor, and any professional advice your local hospital might offer. I have called these numbers several times.
Tip 3: Stock basic first aid supplies. These you will need without much notice, since you don’t know when you might cut yourself. Save money by buying generic.
- Bandages in assorted sizes. Include larger sizes.
- Gauze pads
- Medical tape
- Anti-bacterial ointment
Tip 4: Stock pain relief and fever reducers.
- Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Don’t use with liver problems
- Ibuprofen (Advil) This is also used to reduce swelling. Can affect your stomach.
When my children were little, their doctor recommended switching between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil) for each dose. This would have helped me as an adult when I had the foot pain.
Tip 5: Stock skin care.
- Sun screen
- Hydrocortisone (to reduce itching and swelling)
Tip 6: Stock miscellaneous supplies
- Thermometer
- Scissors
- First-aid manual
- Cotton balls
Tip 7: Stock other medicine as needed.
Make sure you get a medication that’s specifically designed for your problem. Allergy medicines don’t always work on a cold. Antacids won’t work on diarrhea.
Note on decongestant If you have a really stuffed-up nose, you will need to buy the decongestant product behind the pharmacy counter. This contains the more effective psuedoephederine. Be prepared to give your driver’s license.
Tip 8: Check expiration dates.
According to the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide (health.harvard.edu), drug manufacturers are required to stamp an expiration date on their product. Basically, they guarantee 100% potency on a given date. However, most over-the-counter medications are safe and potent far beyond that date if kept in a cool, dry place – even up to 15 years, based on an FDA study for the military. If you are concerned, throw it out. But it looks like many of us might be throwing out medicines that are safe and effective past the expiration date.
Okay, ladies. What have I missed? Please take a moment and share your experience. What basic items are in your medicine cabinet? Is there a product you couldn’t do without? Have a horror story to share? Your best advice. I’d love to hear!
Grace & Peace,
Glynnis
Great advice, Glynnis! Seems so simple, yet I’ll bet a surprising number of us wouldn’t be prepared in the event of an in-home medical crisis. Thanks!
Great ideas Glynnis! Now, I need to go and recheck my supplies. A few things that we always try and keep on hand – Chewable Vit C and regular Vit C, Garlic, and Elderberry Syrup – these things are what we give at the very first sign of not feeling well. Helps knock out colds quick!
Arnica is another good one as it is great to give for bumps and bruises and other minor traumas!
I couldn’t do without Arnica (both tablets and gel). It helps reduce swelling and bruising after an injury. This past weekend, I slipped and fell, hit my shoulder, but the arnica helped the swelling go down pretty fast, and their is only minor bruising. I think without it, I’d be black and blue.
Vitamins are also potentially deadly for children, and many times they don’t have child safety lids on them…the one close call we had was when my daughter choked on some psyllium husk capsules (they expand after you swallow them, and you have to take lots of water with them to prevent this). Be careful with “natural” things as they can be just as dangerous (if not more so) than over the counter or prescriptions.
Great points Kimberly!! Sometimes we can get “comfortable” with the natural things forgetting that anything in large doses can make you sick or be fatal!
Keeping things up away from little hands and stored properly is definitely the key!!
A couple of years ago my son got up from his nap, got a chair, climbed up on the sink and got in the medicine cabinet and took out his gummy Super Hero vitamins. I had told him repeatedly that he could only have the dosage of two a day, but he wanted more. It was a brand new bottle. When I found him, there were twelve left in the bottle and six or so on his floor. I calculated he ate close to fifty vitamins. In a panic I called poison control. They asked if they had iron ad miraculously they didn’t. I usually buy iron, but he really wanted Spiderman and they didn’t have iron. The nurse said he would probably have discolored urine and a tummy ache, but he would be fine, if they had iron they would have killed him. Spiderman saved his life that day.
What great information!
A few tips that I could share:
I have the numbers of the hospital, my doctors and pharmacy listed in my contacts on my cell phone. I have found that in a crisis situation, sometimes it is all you can do to even dial the phone.
Ice packs (or bags of frozen peas) are something we seem to need frequently at our home.
If there is a bleeding emergancy…a sanitary pad works great. (unless the emergancy is with a teenage boy.)
Thanks again for this informative blog.
Another helpful tip is that you can call a local pharmacist for advice on which over-the-counter medicine to take for which symptoms (even in the middle of the night!). For example, you may want to know if certain medicines are compatible with each other or if you take one, then don’t take the other.
One standard stock item I now keep with medicines and vitamins in my cabinet is a jar of cloves. These are amazing to chew or suck on for a cold or sore throat.
I do still use Vitamin C, B vitamins, Goldenseal root with Echinacea.
I enjoyed reading this, thank you Glynnis.
I had to learn to stock our medical cabinet in the first month or two of our young marriage.
Although living out of home for several years I never needed much more than a few Tylenol and fresh garlic but I soon leaned that was not enough for my husband.
We now have a constant supply of antihistamines, advil, decongestants, bandages, heat/cold packs, vitamins, fish oil etc. Being a hankie user I’ve also had to maintain a good stock of tissues too.
I also totally understand what you’re saying about the advil, we spent a night in the emergency waiting room with my husband having horrible stomach pains only to be told the advil had caused the problems.
you also recommend hydrocortisone, I would only use that as a last resort as to my knowledge it can be quite damaging to the skin if used repeatedly.