Pillboxes and Keychains

[CaveyUK]

Something I hadn't really thought about until I saw something vaguely related on another website and it set me-to-a-thinking....

I keep my meds in a wicker basket, on a high shelf inside a kitchen cupboard (it's next to the stove but far enough up and away not to have a heat problem). On a weekly basis I decant a weeks worth of pills into a 'filofax' type pillbox, with labelled days - this helps with any 'shit, did I take todays pills' moments. In addition I have one of those pill/stash type bullet keychains where I put a days worth of meds, for emergencies.

Q1. As the original pill boxes contain moisture-trap devices, will putting a weeks worth of pills in the pillbox, cause any potential issues in terms of the effectiveness of the drugs? Am pretty sure the answer is no, unless there is a huge amount of moisture getting into it, which I'm confident there isn't - although this is a kitchen at the end of the day, so who knows...

At the gym yesterday, I realised I had left without taking my pills and would be taking them quite late when I return home. Ah-ha! I have my keychain for this very occurrence! So I took the pills out of it and took them, but as they had been in the keychain for a few weeks, and presumably rattling around next to each other, they were a bit 'dusty' in that the outside coating had in places rubbed off and left a very slight powdery residue inside the keychain. The pills were still fully formed and recognisable, so I think it was only some of the very surface coating.

So

Q2. Are pills in that condition still trustworthy, or should I bin/replenish the pills in the keychain on a regular basis?

Again, I'm pretty sure the answer is they are all fine, but I am aware that in both cases I'm taking them out of their nicely protected environment and placing them elsewhere, and wondered if this isn't such a sound strategy....thoughts?

[Jim Allen]

Hi

Pill fob, well my only comment is to invest in a good airtight and moisture-free one. That said no matter how good the pill fob is, you do get moisture in and so what i personally do is, whenever I open a new bottle of medication I take the pill from the pill fob first and than I open the new bottle and stock the pill fob again.

That way the medication in the pill fob is never older than 28 days and I have fixed event to remind me. I am sure a nurse once said every 2 weeks it should be replaced but that's not practical at all.

Jim

[bocker3]

One way to keep the FOB pills "fresh":

Each week when you fill up your pillbox, put your FOB pills into the first day of the new week slot and put "new" pills in the FOB.  Then your FOB will never be old.

Personally, I don't do the FOB thing, because my keys experience more temperature extremes in a typical week than does my pillbox -- hot, humid days in the summer and colder days in the winter.  If I "forgot" to take my pills one day, well, I'd either take them a bit late or simply say, "damn" - and move on.  If I'm ever away overnight or longer, I take my pillboxes with me (with extra days worth).

Mike

[Wade]

I do the same as Bocker , right down to the damn- and move on.
I have used only pill boxes for years and just snatch then up when going away .
Keeping things simple seems to work best for me.

Wade

[CaveyUK]

Hi

Pill fob, well my only comment is to invest in a good airtight and moisture-free one. That said no matter how good the pill fob is, you do get moisture in and so what i personally do is, whenever I open a new bottle of medication I take the pill from the pill fob first and than I open the new bottle and stock the pill fob again.

That way the medication in the pill fob is never older than 28 days and I have fixed event to remind me. I am sure a nurse once said every 2 weeks it should be replaced but that's not practical at all.

Jim

Asked my doctor about this at my clinic visit this week, and she recommended I follow exactly the process you take here, for what it's worth.

Thanks all for responses. I think I will re-cycle the fob pills on a weekly basis going forward, just to be on the safe side (although extremes of temperature are less of a problem in the US, lol)

[bocker3]

I do think it is a good habit to get into -- rotating pills through whatever "mechanism" you have.

In addition to pillboxes, FOBs, etc -- remember to always use oldest bottle first, if you are able to build up any sort of reserve.  I have ~8 month reserve.  Gives me tremendous peace of mind -- especially given that I am in the process of getting laid off {sigh - it was a good 16+ year run, I guess}.  Knowing I have that extra time for my meds is wonderful.

Mike

[leatherman]

i have been rotating the pills out of my keychain fob once every month since I bought this one way back in 1999 at walmart. This baby used to hold a norvir gelcap put a few other pills that constituted just the pills I needed to take at dinner time. Now, with a newer regimen, it holds a whole day's worth of my meds plus a couple of tylenol just in case.

as soon as I figure out how to get an antacid and a bandaid in there too this fob will be my own little emergency first-aid kit