Apothecary Organization

[Jojo]

Hello.  How do YOU organize your apothecary as you age?  It used to be so simple: a bottle of baby aspirin in the bathroom medicine cabinet.  Fast forward 30 years, and that little bottle of aspirin has grown tentacles into all sorts of tubes and bottles all over. Today, in seniors' homes, I see messes of meds taking up windowsills, tables,and all available shelf space, all over the bathroom and bedroom, with no organization.  Not to mention medicinal herbs, foods, and supplements.  The last few times I was sick, including recently, I did not feel like rummaging through bag after case of crap to find relief.  Even in a small space, there must be a good way to organize one's personal prescriptions, OTC, homeopathic, and healing herbs/foods/supplements.

Several items need to be in one's purse or right by the bedside (if not in the bed). But what to do with all the supplements, prescriptions, OTC including homeopathic, herbs, etc...  The other day, I reached for toothpaste as I left the house, but when I got to my destination, it turned out I had packed hydrocortisone cream, not toothpaste.  What if I hadn't noticed before using it???  So, on top of all that now I need the poison hotline number handy, too???

It's hard to find one item when there are so many.  Should the bottle of parsley really sit next to cough medicine?  If I put the dried parsley or celery in with the food, it won't be handy when I reach for it for medical reasons.  When I need those prunes, I don't want to hike to the kitchen, where someone else may or may not have put their fingers in them.  But it feels awkward to pack dried herbs next to a bottle of cough syrup!

Should people keep all their tube items together so they are forced to select carefully in order to avoid mistakes?  The fonts keep getting smaller and smaller - it is hard to tell what's in a tube at a quick glance.  Sometimes I put a large masking tape label onto items.  Do other people do that?

Surplus prescriptions can go together in one place.  Doesn't that make sense?  But if I use my apothecary correctly, I don't need the prescriptions very often.  So the supplements, OTC, herbs, homeopathic, and other healing items are just as important as the prescriptions are.

Should people organize by topic, like a section for pain, another section for swelling, etc...?
Or, should they organize by medium, with all herbs together, all pills together, all supplements together?  I prefer to organize topically, but when herbs and foods are part of the section, it is kind of weird.

When I was younger, I saw many older people's homes cluttered with OTC everywhere.  But there also were some seniors who seemed much more organized.  I wonder if they had a system, or if they just were healthier and didn't need as much stuff.  Did they have a secret organizer that hung like those over-the-door shoe holders!  Or a hanging sweater holder?  Has anyone tried that?  Drawers are difficult, not just because liquids leak, but also because you can't tell what most items are just by looking down on the top of the lid.  While if the bottles lay, then they rattle a lot.

Purse pill packs are relatively easy to organize and prioritize, especially using a dab of masking tape to label sections.  And the bedside stuff is pretty clear.  But refilling the purse and bedside can be insane, having to locate supplements, herbs, homeopathic, OTC, prescriptions, and special foods.  Maybe everything that is in the purse packs should be coordinated into a large bag from which to refill?  I guess.  But that still leaves backup supplies to be organized.

This topic might be silly, but i'd hate for one of us to start brushing out teeth with hydrocortisone, or to take pills that are too powerful or not powerful enough, just because the appropriate pill is hard to locate.  No matter how Falkiesque all this is, it is not as bad as the burning poo thread plus this is not as stupid as George Noory is so there is that.  How would you recommend apothecary organization to seniors with poor role models?

[Little Hater]

I suppose it's a little easier for me, since I'm sure homeopathy is utter nonsense, and 'healing herbs/foods/supplements' close behind, so i only need to track prescription drugs and a few OTC things I don't take regularly. It's a pretty simple matter to gather the six prescription drugs and 4 prescribed supplements together in those pill caddies labeled for each day of the week and keep them in the kitchen, since I take them with meals. The extra OTC stuff, like acetaminophen and allergy pills live in the bathroom medicine cabinet.

[Jojo]

I suppose it's a little easier for me, since I'm sure homeopathy is utter nonsense, and 'healing herbs/foods/supplements' close behind, so i only need to track prescription drugs and a few OTC things I don't take regularly. It's a pretty simple matter to gather the six prescription drugs and 4 prescribed supplements together in those pill caddies labeled for each day of the week and keep them in the kitchen, since I take them with meals. The extra OTC stuff, like acetaminophen and allergy pills live in the bathroom medicine cabinet.

Very fortunate person.  I have had bad side effects from OTC stuff like certain pain killers, decongestants, and even topical ones.  Especially when I'm on albuterol.  But the supplements quercetin and L-Cysteine have cured warts on my fingers, herbs cure edema, and homeopathy cured finger warts as well, and cured long-standing hives.  And stops asthma attacks. With homeopathy, as with many things, it was darkest before the dawn, big flares just before the cure settled in.  At which point, I took way more than you are supposed to, which calmed it down and I never had a side effect.  One time, I downed half the pills in a bottle of hive homeopathic pills, because after using the remedy a long time, I knew I needed to do that.  And it worked, that flare was the hives very last hurrah.  No side effects from half a bottle of over-the-counter homeopathy!  Amazeen!

I used to drink more than two drinks per day.  Because of that, labels said I couldn't use many OTC products.  But with homeopathy, drinking doesn't synergize, as long as I didn't drink 15 minutes before or after the pill.

[Dr. MD MD]

Very fortunate person.  I have had bad side effects from OTC stuff like certain pain killers, decongestants, and even topical ones.  Especially when I'm on albuterol.  But the supplements quercetin and L-Cysteine have cured warts on my fingers, herbs cure edema, and homeopathy cured finger warts as well, and cured long-standing hives.  And stops asthma attacks. With homeopathy, as with many things, it was darkest before the dawn, big flares just before the cure settled in.  At which point, I took way more than you are supposed to, which calmed it down and I never had a side effect.  One time, I downed half the pills in a bottle of hive homeopathic pills, because after using the remedy a long time, I knew I needed to do that.  And it worked, that flare was the hives very last hurrah.  No side effects from half a bottle of over-the-counter homeopathy!  Amazeen!

I used to drink more than two drinks per day.  Because of that, labels said I couldn't use many OTC products.  But with homeopathy, drinking doesn't synergize, as long as I didn't drink 15 minutes before or after the pill.

Didn't you say you were an alcoholic?

[Jojo]

Didn't you say you were an alcoholic?

Okeeee, so I drank [way] more than two drinks per day. Same moral of the story, that OTC and more than two drinks are a bad combo!

What do you want from me!

[Dr. MD MD]

Okeeee, so I drank [way] more than two drinks per day. Same moral of the story, that OTC and more than two drinks are a bad combo!

What do you want from me!

You made it sound like you were still drinking.

[Jojo]

You made it sound like you were still drinking.

Second paragraph past tense! Tense past!

[Jackstar]

I throw all my drugs into a shoebox, in the drawer next to the knives in the kitchen. Then I fill and cover my entire home with cannabis. No problems to report. But hey, I'm still young!

[Robtheacidghost]

My strategy is to reduce the amount I take. I only keep tried-and-proven medications and supplements. Everything else got thrown away.

My parents believed in vitamins, so I took vitamins in college. Then I quit when I realized they were bogus, except for a few uncommon ones and in cases involving malnutrition-related vitamin deficiencies (eg the kid who got scurvy for living off peanut butter sandwiches all semester). Same with homeopathy - debunked. The one vitamin I still take daily stays in the kitchen, but I'm not going to continue after the bottle runs out. I don't notice any difference with or without it.

The sodium bicarb and tooth powder stays in the kitchen. Also in the kitchen are alcoholic beverages , which are helpful sometimes for sickness. A hot toddy (high quality whisky or brandy), for example, helps sore throat and seems to improve recovery time and reduce severity of colds, for me at least. Caffeinated beverages are in the kitchen too. Caffeine is an excellent mood-enhancer, but my only problem with caffeine, however, is that it gives me an irresistible urge to sleep. The antihistamines and allergy meds are every where, including on my night table, because I might wake up in the middle of the night and need something fast.

The painkillers, aspirin, ibuprofen, codeine, morphine, tramadol, etc. live in the bathroom on a shelf. Digital scale and syringes sit in my studio because I use them to make ink and load ink cartridges, but when people see it, they think it's for dope. They're kind of a conversation piece.

I get warts sometimes, but I've never found medicine that worked. Duck tape works sometimes, but even then, I end up cutting out the wart with an Exacto knife or drilling a hole in it with an 18 gage needle (kills it every time).

Facial moisturizer is by the door on a table next to a mirror. You should never leave the house without facial moisturizer.

[Robtheacidghost]

ps. if two bottles look alike but one has something that should never be taken internally while the other is a food item, one gets wrapped in red tape.

[Jojo]

My strategy is to reduce the amount I take. I only keep tried-and-proven medications and supplements. Everything else got thrown away.

My parents believed in vitamins, so I took vitamins in college. Then I quit when I realized they were bogus, except for a few uncommon ones and in cases involving malnutrition-related vitamin deficiencies (eg the kid who got scurvy for living off peanut butter sandwiches all semester). Same with homeopathy - debunked. The one vitamin I still take daily stays in the kitchen, but I'm not going to continue after the bottle runs out. I don't notice any difference with or without it.

The sodium bicarb and tooth powder stays in the kitchen. Also in the kitchen are alcoholic beverages , which are helpful sometimes for sickness. A hot toddy (high quality whisky or brandy), for example, helps sore throat and seems to improve recovery time and reduce severity of colds, for me at least. Caffeinated beverages are in the kitchen too. Caffeine is an excellent mood-enhancer, but my only problem with caffeine, however, is that it gives me an irresistible urge to sleep. The antihistamines and allergy meds are every where, including on my night table, because I might wake up in the middle of the night and need something fast.

The painkillers, aspirin, ibuprofen, codeine, morphine, tramadol, etc. live in the bathroom on a shelf. Digital scale and syringes sit in my studio because I use them to make ink and load ink cartridges, but when people see it, they think it's for dope. They're kind of a conversation piece.

I get warts sometimes, but I've never found medicine that worked. Duck tape works sometimes, but even then, I end up cutting out the wart with an Exacto knife or drilling a hole in it with an 18 gage needle (kills it every time).

Facial moisturizer is by the door on a table next to a mirror. You should never leave the house without facial moisturizer.

I took over the counter homeopathic Thuja (Evergreen shrub) for finger warts.  Homeopathy takes time, but it did work.

I also eliminated finger warts by taking the nutritional supplement L-Cysteine and the non-citrus vitamin C called quercetin daily.  Just a couple gel caps of each, or whatever good websites say, I can't remember.  But it didn't take much, although it takes a little time.  Worked great.

Thank you for the no-nonsense info on where things can sensibly kept.  Sorry you have histamine issues too!

I'm going to do that red tape or red reflective tape thing, bec a lot of things look just like tooth paste!