What to Do at Home

As soon as you get home, make sure you put your medication away appropriately. The best place is dry, dark, and not too hot. If there are children in the house, or even if the grandkids come over to visit from time to time, make sure that all bottles are locked up high where children cannot get at them.

Some people who take many medications find it convenient to put all their pills for the week into little 7-day boxes made just for this purpose (you can pick up one of these at the pharmacy). Once this is done, there are a few rules regarding prescription drugs:

• For many medications, especially antibiotics, you need to finish the whole bottle, even if you feel better. Take all your medications as your doctor prescribed, or you may wind up back at the office for a second round.
  
  
• Some drugs are given to treat ongoing conditions and will need to be continued beyond the month’s supply generally given to you by the pharmacy. Be proactive and call your pharmacy a few days in advance so that your prescriptions can be filled and waiting for you when you need them. They can also tell you when your refills will run out so that you can make arrangements with your doctor for either more refills or a reevaluation.
  
  
• If you experience a side effect, call your doctor right away.
  
  
• Don’t take other people's medications, and don’t let others take yours.
  
  
• Don’t resume taking an old medication, even for the same symptoms, unless you have discussed it with your doctor first.
  
  
• Periodically clean out your medicine cabinet. Check expiration dates. If there is no expiration date on a bottle, call your pharmacy to find out what to do. If you don’t know what is in a bottle, dispose of it. The best way to dispose of unused medications is to return them to your pharmacist.