Episode 17 — Medicines in the heat: how to store them in summer

We're back from the beach. A whole day in the sun, the car's been sat in the car park since morning.

I open the glove box, and there's the paracetamol I chucked in a month ago, just in case.

The box is warm, the blister pack's a bit soft.

And I'm standing there holding it, thinking, after a day like that in the car, can I still rely on the expiry date?

Hello, I'm Tomasz Szuster. I built the Moja Pteczka app.

And what you've just heard is a very real summer problem that almost nobody thinks about the rest of the year.

Exactly, almost nobody.

Because in winter the medicines sit in the cupboard and all's well.

But in summer, suddenly they're in the car, in the beach bag, on the kitchen windowsill.

And that's the nub of it. Most medicines are happiest kept somewhere cool, dry and dark, unless the leaflet says otherwise.

And in summer, there are fewer spots like that in the house than you'd think.

Alright, but tell me honestly, this paracetamol of mine from the glove box, does a few hours in the car really make a difference? It's only a few hours.

The trouble is, we underestimate the scale of it. The inside of a car parked in the sun on a hot day can climb well over 50 degrees.

And spots by the windows, like the rear parcel shelf, get hotter still.

That's not a few degrees over the limit. That's a completely different world from the cupboard in the hall.

50 degrees? That really does sound like a little oven.

Because it is one. And it's the same story with a dark beach bag on the sand, a south-facing windowsill, the shelf above the cooker where the steam from cooking gets to it.

Medicines spend hours in all those places, and we never give it a thought.

Okay, but what actually happens to a medicine in that kind of heat? Because to me, a tablet's a tablet. It looks the same.

And this is the most important sentence in the whole episode.

It may look the same, but the look of it doesn't confirm the quality.

High temperature speeds up the chemical breakdown.

The warmer it is, the faster you get reactions that can compromise the stability of the active substance, or of the medicine as a whole.

For some medicines, that means their quality and durability can decline before the date on the box is even up.

Hang on. So the expiry date can be lying?

It's not lying, but it comes with one condition we rarely think about.

The expiry date is the manufacturer's promise that the medicine keeps its quality up to a particular day, provided you store it properly.

On the leaflet, there's something along the lines of, store below 25 degrees.

That's not a suggestion. That's the condition under which the manufacturer tested how long this medicine lasts.

So if a medicine spends a week in a hot bag, then the date on its own might not be enough anymore?

Exactly. The expiry date assumes proper storage.

Break that condition, and the date no longer gives you the same guarantee of quality.

And that's exactly the moment the Moya Potechka app can help.

Because on the medicines card, you've got access to its leaflet, and in it, a separate storage section.

You don't have to search the internet for how to keep a particular medicine.

You've got it right there with it.

All right. But that opens up another question for me.

Because now it sounds as though I've got to police the temperature of every single tablet.

How am I meant to know which medicine's sensitive and which isn't?

Do I put everything in the fridge, just in case?

That's the most common mistake. And please, that's the one thing not to do.

Really? Because it seems logical to me. Heat's bad, so I chill it.

Most medicines are kept at room temperature.

You only put in the fridge the ones whose leaflet specifically calls for it.

Because needless chilling, and the damp in a fridge, can harm a medicine too.

Instead of learning a list of names, look at two things.

The form of the medicine, and what the leaflet says.

So give me the forms I ought to worry about.

The most pressing are medicines whose leaflet gives a narrow, low range.

Say, two to eight degrees.

If the manufacturer tells you to keep something in the fridge, it's sensitive by design.

Then, syrups and suspensions, because liquid forms spoil more easily once opened.

Suppositories, which are made to melt at body temperature,

so in the heat they change form while still in the packet.

Pressurised aerosols and inhalers.

And patches, gels and emergencies, where the base can separate.

That's quite a long list.

Which is why I'm not asking you to memorise it.

One rule will do.

If a medicine is liquid, greasy, under pressure, or the leaflet asks for the fridge,

take it more seriously in summer.

And check the specifics on the leaflet.

OK, now the hardest question.

Let's say my paracetamol did spend that day in the car.

How am I to tell whether it's still any good?

And here I've got to be completely straight with you,

because this is a rule that only works one way.

If you see a change, that's your signal to set that pack aside and ask at the pharmacy.

A suppository that's melted and set again.

A tablet that's changed colour.

A syrup that's separated.

A cream that's split.

A swollen blister pack.

You see something like that, you don't overthink it.

You put it to one side, and you ask the pharmacist.

And if there's nothing to see?

That's the most important part.

The fact that a medicine looks fine doesn't mean it is fine.

Changes in quality after poor storage very often leave no visible trace at all.

So, if you know a medicine spent long hours in a hot car,

the look of it isn't a good guide.

That's when you ask at the pharmacy, rather than trusting your own eyes.

So the app won't tell me this?

It won't.

And I want to say that plainly because it matters.

The Moya Potechka app doesn't measure temperature.

It doesn't know where your medicine physically is.

It won't detect that a box spent the day in a hot car,

and it won't judge whether a medicine is fit to use after overheating.

It's not a sensor.

And it's not a medical advisor.

It's a tool for organising.

Do you know what?

Fair enough.

That's honest.

Because it'd be easy to fake a certainty the app hasn't got.

Because whether a particular medicine is still safe,

that's for the pharmacist or your GP to decide.

The app helps with something else.

It helps you stay on top of what you've got,

when the recorded expiry date passes, and where you keep it.

So, show me what that actually looks like in summer,

because theory's all very well.

Take your trip to the allotment.

A seasonal place.

Hot.

Humid.

Medicines can be sitting there from one summer to the next.

You arrive and you have a proper sort-through.

In the app, the colour-coded expiry alerts help you spot faster

which medicines are near their date.

Red helps you catch what's expired or very close to it.

Amber, a date that's coming up.

Green, one that's still a good way off.

At a glance, you can see what to deal with.

And what about where I keep everything?

Because at mine, some medicines are in the fridge,

some in the cupboard,

and when the grandparents come to stay,

I've honestly no idea who's put what where.

There are two things for that.

First, on each medicine, you can add a note.

Say, keep in the fridge, or went to the allotment.

It's just a bit of organisation.

One written-down note of where it is, instead of guessing.

Second, you can group your medicines the way they actually sit at home.

The fridge one separately, the cupboard one separately.

Then it's quicker to compare what's in the app

with what's actually on the shelf.

And if I'm looking after not just my cabinet,

but my mum's as well?

Then the shared cabinet view comes in handy.

But that's a topic for its own episode.

Today, let's stay with the heat.

Right.

And getting into the car with medicines?

No theory, just the practical stuff.

Not the glove box and not the rear shelf.

A cool bag stood in the shade inside the car

to insulate the medicines from the heat.

And if you're carrying something that needs fridge storage,

add a cooling pack, just so it isn't touching the packaging.

And the moment you arrive, you put the medicines somewhere cool,

rather than leaving them in a hot car in the car park.

And if I'm flying?

You carry your medicines with you, in your hand luggage, not in the hold.

Checked baggage can spend hours out on hot tarmac,

or in the hold where the temperature swings about.

With you, you've got them under control.

And if something needs fridge storage,

an insulated bag with a cooling pack,

just so the medicine isn't touching it and doesn't freeze.

Do you know what strikes me in all this?

That it isn't medical knowledge.

It's just being organised.

Exactly.

In summer, a few habits are enough.

Cool, dry, in the original packaging,

away from the car and the sun.

And if in doubt, ask at the pharmacy.

A cabinet you keep in order all year round

is the one you can look through quickest,

right when you really need it.

At three in the morning, say,

when Bash has got a temperature

and you're hunting for a syrup

that's been sat on the windowsill for a week.

That's exactly the point.

If you'd like to give it a go,

that's the Moya Patechka app.

The app is free and works offline.

You'll find the link in the episode description.

And if this episode was useful to you,

share it with someone whose summer medicine cabinet

is one big shambles.

One more thing before we go.

This podcast is made with the help of artificial intelligence.

I wrote the dialogue myself,

but the voices you're hearing aren't ours.

They're AI-generated synthetic voices.

We're telling you this straight out

because we think it should be the standard

for any podcast made this way.

Full details are in the show notes

and in every episode description.

Until next time.

Until next time.

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