WEBVTT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Exactly, almost nobody.

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

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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

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High temperature speeds up the chemical breakdown.

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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.

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

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Hang on. So the expiry date can be lying?

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

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

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

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

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

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Exactly. The expiry date assumes proper storage.

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

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

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

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

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You've got it right there with it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Most medicines are kept at room temperature.

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

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

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

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

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So give me the forms I ought to worry about.

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

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Say, two to eight degrees.

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

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

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Suppositories, which are made to melt at body temperature,

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

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Pressurised aerosols and inhalers.

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

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That's quite a long list.

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

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One rule will do.

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

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take it more seriously in summer.

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And check the specifics on the leaflet.

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OK, now the hardest question.

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

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

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

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because this is a rule that only works one way.

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

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A suppository that's melted and set again.

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A tablet that's changed colour.

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A syrup that's separated.

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A cream that's split.

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A swollen blister pack.

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

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

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And if there's nothing to see?

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That's the most important part.

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

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

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

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the look of it isn't a good guide.

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

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So the app won't tell me this?

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It won't.

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And I want to say that plainly because it matters.

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The Moya Potechka app doesn't measure temperature.

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It doesn't know where your medicine physically is.

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

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

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It's not a sensor.

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And it's not a medical advisor.

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It's a tool for organising.

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Do you know what?

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Fair enough.

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That's honest.

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

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Because whether a particular medicine is still safe,

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

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The app helps with something else.

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

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

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

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because theory's all very well.

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Take your trip to the allotment.

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A seasonal place.

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Hot.

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Humid.

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

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You arrive and you have a proper sort-through.

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

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which medicines are near their date.

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

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Amber, a date that's coming up.

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

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

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And what about where I keep everything?

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Because at mine, some medicines are in the fridge,

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some in the cupboard,

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and when the grandparents come to stay,

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

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There are two things for that.

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

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

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It's just a bit of organisation.

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

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

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The fridge one separately, the cupboard one separately.

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

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with what's actually on the shelf.

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

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but my mum's as well?

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Then the shared cabinet view comes in handy.

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But that's a topic for its own episode.

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Today, let's stay with the heat.

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Right.

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And getting into the car with medicines?

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No theory, just the practical stuff.

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Not the glove box and not the rear shelf.

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A cool bag stood in the shade inside the car

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to insulate the medicines from the heat.

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

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

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

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

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And if I'm flying?

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

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Checked baggage can spend hours out on hot tarmac,

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or in the hold where the temperature swings about.

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With you, you've got them under control.

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And if something needs fridge storage,

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an insulated bag with a cooling pack,

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

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Do you know what strikes me in all this?

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That it isn't medical knowledge.

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It's just being organised.

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Exactly.

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In summer, a few habits are enough.

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Cool, dry, in the original packaging,

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away from the car and the sun.

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And if in doubt, ask at the pharmacy.

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A cabinet you keep in order all year round

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is the one you can look through quickest,

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right when you really need it.

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At three in the morning, say,

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when Bash has got a temperature

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and you're hunting for a syrup

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

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That's exactly the point.

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If you'd like to give it a go,

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that's the Moya Patechka app.

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The app is free and works offline.

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You'll find the link in the episode description.

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And if this episode was useful to you,

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share it with someone whose summer medicine cabinet

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is one big shambles.

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One more thing before we go.

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This podcast is made with the help of artificial intelligence.

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I wrote the dialogue myself,

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

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They're AI-generated synthetic voices.

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We're telling you this straight out

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because we think it should be the standard

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for any podcast made this way.

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Full details are in the show notes

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and in every episode description.

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Until next time.

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Until next time.

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...

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