I thought I'd better bring this up as a separate topic. If you have any questions about Mestinon, this is the place to find answers.

http://mestinon.com/

DO NOT store your Mestinon in the refrigerator!!!

Look at the "How Supplied" section of the prescribing information. The syrup, tablets and Timespan all need to be stored at 25 degrees Celcius (77 F). "Excursions permitted" to 15C - 30 C (59F - 86F). It would more than likely affect the potency or even effectiveness of the drug.

A dark closet will be a coolish place to store it but not too cool.

Please read all the labels of all of your drugs!!! I know it's not fun to do but you may be able to avoid harm to yourself in the future by a little temporary harm to your poor ptosis laden eyes now.

Oh, and if you have stored your Mestinon in the fridge, I'm not so sure you should use it!

Annie

Thanks Annie,

I was going to look up this information. When I first got Mestinon I read the label and decided to store it in a cabinet not in the fridge but now that it has been a while I had forgotten why I made that decision.

I am concerned about keeping a supply at my house because of the large changes in temperature but I see now that it is usually within that range so I should be ok to keep more than a 30 day supply.

I do need to think about this since my house ranges between about 55 and 90 degrees F, a little out of the range sometimes. I am not sure what to do with the extremes, we try to save energy by not heating/cooling our house except when necessary. This winter has been much more mild than usual and it has not been very cold but summer will be here soon and I will need to find a way to store the Mestinon. Is there any type of small refridgerator made for medicine storage?

Thanks Annie.

I don't know the ranges if fridges. Back in the "old days" of my parents when they didn't have fridges, they stored food, etc. in a cistern below a windmill!

Do you have a basement? They are always cool.

No basement, but I do have one room with a small window-mounted air conditioner - I think I will set it up to keep just that one room cool enough in the summer. I don't want to risk the Mestinon not working correctly.

I store mine in my dresser drawer, the dresser is away from the heating vent. I learned many years ago that mestinon does not do well in cold or heat or humidity, well gee the medicine is just like us.. LOL

You might find using extra moisture absorbers for your tablets.

If they crumble at room temp that may be a humidity problem.

You can ask your pharmacist to save extra for you. The best drugs to save from are coated ones. (to avoid contamination)

The ones in the canisters are better than the paper packet kind.
The canisters can be rejuvenated with a blow dryer carefully so as not to melt them. (in the business we call them "do not eat"s

Give your pharmacist a ziploc to save some for you.
Don't store in kitchen or bathroom where humidity is highest.


The containers supplied with your drugs are typically pretty air tight...it is the opening/closing that lets the humidity in.

This looks like a good investment for long term storage and rejuvenation ...
http://www.amazon.com/Dry-Packs-Indi.../dp/B002VNI6L4

Desrt Flower,

I get a 90 day supply and only pull about 5 days worth out at a time.

I put the 'main med bottle' in a little thermal sandwich size case which I keep in a drawer.

The 'short' supply, I just keep in the cabinet in a small med bottle and use it for my dosages during the day.

I figure the main supply is less likely to be effected by temp or humidity if I'm not openning it all the time...and so far, I have had no problems with crumbling or effectivity.

Maybe this would work for you too.

Sue

That is a good idea. I'd use a typical dispensing vial from the pharmacy. (you can ask them to run a duplicate label, and put it on a smaller empty vial...5 or 7 dram. Usually there is no charge for this. These are designed to keep most noxious elements to a minimum. Heat, light, moisture.

The daily pill minders are not very well made IMO. You know the ones with M-Sun with the flip tops. A Pharmacy vial would be better.

Thanks, Kristy. I didn't mean to make you feel bad! It just goes to show how careful we need to be about drugs and info when we are sick. I never take a drug before I've read the insert. I've had doctors try to give me drugs, like in an ER setting, that I'm allergic to because they haven't read the insert or cross-referenced drugs against my list of allergies in their computer. I often ask for the drug printouts if I need to in an ER!

I'm glad you set it all straight with the pharmacy!

Annie