Coup 1: Discard the desiccant immediately after opening the bottle.
The expiration date marked on the drug package refers to the shelf life of the drug in the unopened state. Once the sealed package is opened, the service life of the medicine will be obviously shortened. The basic principles of drug preservation are airtight and dark. Avoid storing drugs in direct sunlight, let alone in cars. In the principle of drug preservation, keeping dry is a very important link.
Some medicine packages contain cotton balls or desiccants, which should be discarded after opening, otherwise it will absorb water vapor, which will make the medicine damp and deteriorate more easily. Now the packaging of many drugs has been improved, and there is no desiccant. When storing these drugs, attention should be paid to keeping them dry.
Coup 2: use up small bags of medicine as soon as possible.
Sometimes, we will retrieve medicines packed in small paper bags from hospitals or clinics. Most of these drugs are packaged in large packages and usually taken for 3-7 days. If they are stored in paper bags, they should be taken as soon as possible. If it is not used up or the disease is cured after adjusting the medication, it is generally recommended to discard it. If the medicine is expensive, it can be stored in a sealed small glass bottle, and the name, specification and expiration date of the medicine need to be affixed on the bottle to avoid confusion.
Coup 3: repackage large bottles and small bottles
If the medicine is 100 tablets in a big bottle, and the medicine cannot be used up quickly, you can take a small amount of tablets and put them in a sealed small dark glass bottle. Take the medicine in the medicine bottle first, so as to reduce the chance of the tablets being contaminated by repeatedly opening the medicine bottle. But be sure to put a label on the new glass vial, indicating the name, specification and expiration date of the drug to avoid confusion with other drugs.
Coup 4: "dish" medicine to avoid getting wet.
Aluminum-plastic charge, commonly known as "plate-loaded" medicine, is to seal capsules or tablets in separate plastic bubbles. This kind of packaging is very dry, but some drugs only need to take half a tablet at a time, and the remaining half will change the storage environment even if it is put back into the packaging. So if you don't use it temporarily and the medicine is expensive, it's best to keep it in a small dark glass bottle.
If you need to take the medicine again at an interval of no more than 24 hours, you can put the tablets back in the plastic bubble, but be careful to stay away from the humid environment. It should also be noted that the tablets should be broken off before taking the medicine, and the remaining tablets should be put away before taking the medicine to prevent water from getting on the remaining tablets, so that the tablets put back in the plastic bubble will get wet.