WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:06.600 First cold evening of the year. I turn the kitchen radiator right up, reach into the 00:06.600 --> 00:14.300 cupboard above it for the tea, and my hand lands on the box of medicines. Warm. Properly 00:14.300 --> 00:22.600 warm. And that's when it hit me. That box has been sitting there since spring, and for 00:22.600 --> 00:27.340 the next six months it's going to warm up right alongside the tea. 00:27.340 --> 00:35.000 Hello, I'm Tomasz Szuster, and I built the mojApteczka app. What you just heard was 00:35.000 --> 00:40.360 Iza, my wife. And yes, that cupboard above the radiator is our cupboard. 00:40.920 --> 00:47.100 Ours. Because it's handy. Anything that's handy ends up in the wrong place eventually. 00:47.780 --> 00:53.180 And that's what today's episode is about. Back in the summer we did an episode on medicines 00:53.180 --> 01:00.840 in the heat. The car in the sun, the beach bag, the south-facing windowsill. Today's the 01:00.840 --> 01:01.840 winter edition. 01:01.840 --> 01:08.480 But surely winter isn't a problem. It's cooler, and medicines like the cold. That's what I've 01:08.480 --> 01:09.180 always heard. 01:09.180 --> 01:15.420 It depends on the medicine. The conditions are in its leaflet. But in winter you suddenly 01:15.420 --> 01:22.260 get two problems at once, pulling in opposite directions. Indoors there are spots that are 01:22.260 --> 01:28.740 noticeably warmer than the rest of the room. And outside there's frost. In the car, on the 01:28.740 --> 01:30.340 balcony, in the garage. 01:30.340 --> 01:34.800 So in summer one enemy, and in winter two? 01:35.480 --> 01:36.120 More or less. 01:36.960 --> 01:42.860 Right. Let's start with my cupboard. What's wrong with the cupboard above the radiator? It's 01:42.860 --> 01:43.660 hardly an oven. 01:44.240 --> 01:50.080 It isn't. But warm air rises off a radiator when it's on. The cupboard above it can heat 01:50.080 --> 01:56.960 up. And not just once, but every day for the whole heating season. October to April. 01:57.580 --> 01:58.940 Six months. 01:58.940 --> 02:07.300 Six months. And almost every box and every leaflet has a line about storage. For example, 02:08.080 --> 02:14.220 do not store above 25 degrees. Those are the conditions the manufacturer tested the medicine's 02:14.220 --> 02:19.120 stability in. And the expiry date on the box assumes you stick to them. 02:19.340 --> 02:25.500 So if a medicine spends the winter above the radiator, the date on the box… 02:25.500 --> 02:31.620 Might not be enough anymore. I'm not saying the medicine's definitely gone off. I'm saying 02:31.620 --> 02:37.700 the date on its own stops giving you certainty. And that's not something we can settle at the 02:37.700 --> 02:38.400 kitchen table. 02:38.400 --> 02:40.300 So who do we ask? 02:40.300 --> 02:45.620 The pharmacist. Sometimes they'll need extra information from the manufacturer to judge 02:45.620 --> 02:46.060 it too. 02:47.060 --> 02:54.060 Fine. And the windowsill? At my mum's there's a whole chemist's on the kitchen windowsill. 02:54.640 --> 02:57.840 Drops, syrup, dad's blood pressure tablets. 02:57.840 --> 03:04.920 In winter, the windowsill is a place of extremes. The radiator under the window warms it from below. 03:05.360 --> 03:11.400 The cold comes off the glass. And when the sun's out, it shines straight onto the boxes. 03:12.340 --> 03:14.500 Medicines on the windowsill get the lot. 03:14.500 --> 03:18.400 I'll tell Irina. She'll be thrilled. 03:19.000 --> 03:22.080 Tell her it's from the podcast. Then it's not your comment. 03:22.740 --> 03:31.060 Very clever. And the bathroom? I know the bathroom's always bad. But why is it worse in winter? 03:31.840 --> 03:38.800 It isn't worse, actually. A hot bath pushes up both the humidity and the temperature. And how long 03:38.800 --> 03:45.540 that damp hangs about depends on the ventilation. The bathroom is a bad place for medicines all year 03:45.540 --> 03:47.320 round, winter included. 03:48.560 --> 03:58.260 Right. Now the second enemy. Frost. Where do medicines end up in the frost? Nobody keeps their medicine 03:58.260 --> 03:59.380 cabinet on the balcony. 04:00.220 --> 04:06.800 Maybe not on the balcony, but in the car. You come back from the chemist's. The bag stays on the back 04:06.800 --> 04:11.960 seat because you're popping to the shop first. And then you forget about it overnight. 04:12.640 --> 04:14.480 Don't look at me like that. 04:14.900 --> 04:16.800 I'm not. I'm speaking generally. 04:17.280 --> 04:19.020 You're speaking about me. 04:19.860 --> 04:26.940 In winter, a car parked overnight can drop below zero inside. And plenty of leaflets have a line 04:26.940 --> 04:36.060 that's easy to remember in winter. Do not freeze. It applies all year round, but in winter it gets very 04:36.060 --> 04:39.980 real. And then what? Teaching the syrup spent the night in the car? 04:40.440 --> 04:45.720 Then you don't judge it by eye. If you suspect it's frozen, even though the leaflet says not to 04:45.720 --> 04:52.560 freeze it, or it looks different from usual, you don't guess. You take it to the pharmacy and tell 04:52.560 --> 04:58.300 the pharmacist where it was and for how long. It's the pharmacist who decides what happens next. 04:58.300 --> 04:59.980 And if it looks normal? 05:00.440 --> 05:06.540 That's the most important rule of the whole episode. It only works one way. If it looks 05:06.540 --> 05:11.880 different from how the leaflet describes it, or the blister pack's damp, or the packaging's damaged, 05:12.260 --> 05:19.080 that's information for the pharmacist. But a medicine looking fine does not mean it is fine. 05:19.860 --> 05:21.620 Some changes you simply can't see. 05:21.620 --> 05:26.640 So the way it looks can warn me, but it can't reassure me. 05:27.040 --> 05:29.180 Exactly. I couldn't have put it better. 05:29.880 --> 05:37.960 Right. Now something specific. The 1st of November. All Saints Day. We drive to my parents, 05:38.460 --> 05:47.100 visit the family graves, stay the night. Bash's medicines, mine, yours, all in one bag. What about 05:47.100 --> 05:52.720 that? First, before we set off, I check the leaflets for what each of those medicines needs, 05:52.720 --> 05:58.880 and I plan where the bag will be when we stop. At the cemetery car park, we can easily be there 05:58.880 --> 06:07.120 two hours. Or three, if we bump into my aunt. Or three. So the bag of medicines doesn't wait in 06:07.120 --> 06:14.100 the car, it comes with us. The car itself, cabin or boot, doesn't guarantee the conditions in the 06:14.100 --> 06:19.740 leaflet. And if I'm not sure how to keep to them for the whole journey, I ask the pharmacist 06:19.740 --> 06:25.800 before we leave. Second thing. When we get there, the bag comes into the house with us. 06:26.320 --> 06:30.120 It doesn't spend the night in the car, outside Irena and Christoph's. 06:30.480 --> 06:35.440 And when I bring it in from the cold, do I pop it on the radiator to warm up? 06:35.440 --> 06:41.940 No, exactly not. The radiator's out. And remember, warming the box up doesn't settle anything. 06:42.760 --> 06:47.240 If you're not sure the leaflet's conditions were kept to, you note where the bag was and for how 06:47.240 --> 06:50.820 long, and you ask the pharmacist what to do with that particular medicine. 06:51.500 --> 06:54.340 And the cool bag? We've got one from the summer. 06:54.900 --> 07:00.260 It slows down heat exchange, but it doesn't control the temperature. And if any medicine needs to be kept 07:00.260 --> 07:05.580 cold on the journey, I sought out how to transport it with the pharmacist. Because, for example, 07:06.240 --> 07:09.660 a frozen ice pack touching a medicine can freeze it in places. 07:10.260 --> 07:15.540 Ah, the irony. You protect it from the frost and end up freezing it yourself. 07:17.060 --> 07:23.700 Right, Tomek. So, where am I meant to keep these medicines? Because if you take away the cupboard 07:23.700 --> 07:30.480 above the radiator, the windowsill and the bathroom, I'm left with… nothing. 07:31.020 --> 07:35.800 You're left with a spot that matches what the leaflet says. Usually that means away from 07:35.800 --> 07:41.000 the radiator, the window and the steam, and out of the children's reach. For us, it'll 07:41.000 --> 07:43.600 probably be the cupboard in the hall. The tall one. 07:44.060 --> 07:45.280 The one with the hats? 07:45.640 --> 07:48.560 The one with the hats. The hats are moving out. 07:49.220 --> 07:50.600 The hats won't be happy. 07:50.600 --> 07:54.920 I've turned it into a little autumn check. 15 minutes, no more. 07:55.680 --> 08:01.000 1. You go round every place where there are medicines. Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, handbag, 08:01.140 --> 08:05.580 car. 2. You check what's been sitting by the radiator or somewhere cold. 08:06.340 --> 08:11.440 3. For each medicine, you pick a spot that matches its leaflet. Fridge medicines stay in 08:11.440 --> 08:17.780 the fridge. 4. You look at the expiry dates and at when you open the syrups. If the leaflet 08:17.780 --> 08:21.980 says how long it can be kept once opened, that period doesn't extend the date on the 08:21.980 --> 08:27.960 box. Whichever of the two comes first applies. The date on the box, or the date that period 08:27.960 --> 08:28.320 gives you. 08:28.320 --> 08:29.320 And 5? 08:29.320 --> 08:35.480 5. And this is the most important one. You tell everyone at home where the medicines 08:35.480 --> 08:40.140 are now. Because if you move the medicine cabinet and the rest of the family goes looking 08:40.140 --> 08:44.300 for it in the old place, then one evening, with the temperature, you'll have everyone 08:44.300 --> 08:45.540 ransacking the cupboards. 08:46.980 --> 08:54.140 I know that evening. Leon standing in the kitchen shouting that there's no syrup and the syrups 08:54.140 --> 08:55.000 in the other room. 08:57.000 --> 09:02.900 Right. And where does your app come into all this? Because I can feel it coming. 09:02.900 --> 09:10.780 It's coming. But first, to be straight, here's what the app does not do. It has no sensor. 09:10.780 --> 09:14.400 It doesn't measure temperature. It doesn't know a medicine has spent the winter above the 09:14.400 --> 09:19.180 radiator or the night in the car. And it won't judge whether it's still usable. 09:19.180 --> 09:22.740 So what use is it to me in winter? 09:22.740 --> 09:28.460 So that knowing where everything is doesn't live only in your head. Every medicine has a 09:28.460 --> 09:34.200 location field. You type in plain text, hall cupboard, and it shows up on the medicines 09:34.200 --> 09:35.200 card. 09:35.200 --> 09:37.700 And when I move the medicine cabinet? 09:37.700 --> 09:43.360 Then you update that field. And because we use a shared medicine cabinet, I see the same 09:43.360 --> 09:50.260 list – me, you, and if need be, Grandma Elżbieta when she's looking after the kids. 09:50.260 --> 09:52.340 Everyone can see where each medicine is. 09:52.340 --> 09:55.420 And if I opened the syrup last week? 09:55.420 --> 10:01.700 There's no separate field for the opening date. You write it in the medicine's note. 10:01.700 --> 10:05.960 You can also add something like, don't leave in the car. 10:05.960 --> 10:08.740 And the bag for going to my parents? 10:08.740 --> 10:14.180 You can set up a separate cabinet, say, travel bag. That way the medicines travelling with you 10:14.180 --> 10:18.600 don't get mixed up on one list with the ones staying at home. 10:18.600 --> 10:23.700 And what the leaflet says about storage? Do I have to dig the leaflet out of the drawer? 10:23.700 --> 10:28.880 If the medicines documentation in the app has a storage section, you can have a look there. 10:28.880 --> 10:34.700 But to be straight, that section describes the active substance, not your particular pack. 10:34.700 --> 10:39.980 So you still check the details on the box and in the leaflet. The app tells you where to 10:39.980 --> 10:42.980 look. It doesn't replace the box. 10:42.980 --> 10:50.160 OK. That actually sounds honest. I thought you were going to say the app sorts everything 10:50.160 --> 10:51.160 out. 10:51.160 --> 10:56.900 It doesn't. It helps you remember what you've got and where it is. It'll also remind you 10:56.900 --> 11:02.160 when an expiry date is coming up. But whether a medicine is still alright after a winter above 11:02.160 --> 11:09.040 the radiator is a question for the pharmacist. Not for me and not for your phone. 11:09.040 --> 11:17.380 You know what's funniest? It's hardly secret knowledge. Leaflet first, then the spot. And 11:17.380 --> 11:22.180 not above the radiator. Everyone knows that. 11:22.180 --> 11:27.180 It's just that the cupboard above the radiator is closer. 11:27.180 --> 11:35.660 Right. Tomorrow we move. Hats into the box on the balcony. Medicines into the hall. 11:35.660 --> 11:40.980 Hats on the balcony is a very good idea. Hats don't come with a leaflet. 11:40.980 --> 11:43.040 Or an expiry date. 11:43.040 --> 11:48.860 Or an expiry date. If you'd like to give it a go, the link to the Moya Poteczka app 11:48.860 --> 11:55.980 is in the episode description. The app is free and works offline. And if you enjoyed this episode, 11:55.980 --> 12:00.620 share it with someone who keeps their medicines above the radiator. 12:00.620 --> 12:06.600 One more thing before we go. This podcast is made with the help of artificial intelligence. 12:06.600 --> 12:12.100 I wrote the dialogue myself, but the voices you're hearing aren't ours. They're AI-generated, 12:12.100 --> 12:17.400 synthetic voices. We're telling you this straight out because we think it should be the standard 12:17.400 --> 12:24.480 for any podcast made this way. Full details are in the show notes and in every episode description. 12:24.480 --> 12:25.480 Until next time. 12:25.480 --> 12:27.280 Until next time.