You never know when someone in your family will need medical relief of some sort. That’s why it’s so important to keep your medicine cabinet well-stocked with over-the-counter remedies. And, your medicine cabinet should be regularly maintained to keep out old or harmful medicines. Never keep old prescriptions, unless the person they were prescribed to still needs them. And throw out any drugs that have passed the expiration date. If certain medications don’t display an expiration date on the box or bottle, go through once a year and throw out any you aren’t using regularly. There are some over-the-counter medications you’ll want to keep on hand in order to avoid a last-minute trip to the store. Many medicines also come in children’s formulas. Be sure to check with your doctor when a family member starts a new medicine. (After each drug is a popular name brand, to help you put it into perspective, but many of these drugs come in generic forms that work equally well.)
Try to keep a few kinds of pain-killers and/or fever reducers in stock. Talk to your family doctor about which types of pain-killers are appropriate for each family member. Some basic drugs to consider are ibuprofen (Advil), acetaminophen (Tylenol) and aspirin. Acetaminophen is good to keep around as it is a powerful pain killer and fever reducer. Drugs like ibuprofen and aspirin are nice to have because they not only fight pain and fever, but they are also anti-inflammatory drugs and can relieve tough pain like strained muscles, bruises and even sunburn. Also, it is important to keep a thermometer on hand in order to determine whether or not someone has a fever.
You should also have a variety of medicines designed to relieve cold symptoms. It is good to have a decongestant and a cough reliever. A popular choice for decongestants is pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) and many people choose the cough expectorant guaifenesin (Robitussin). For stomach or intestinal issues, you might want to have a few types of medicines available. For occasional heartburn, indigestion or nausea you will want to keep on hand Tums, Pepto-Bismol, Rolaids or Mylanta. For more frequent problems, try Prilosec OTC, Zantac or Pepcid AC. For frequent symptoms that become troublesome, contact your doctor. It could be an indication of a severe problem and there are many prescription drugs he or she can prescribe.
Some family members may also experience tooth or gum pain, or pain as a result of a mouth sore. For quick relief of these problems, keep Orajel or Anbesol on hand. For quick treatment of cold sores, try one of the many lip balm-like remedies out there such as Abreva. If tooth or gum pain are persistent, see your dentist as there could be a worse problem.
If family member suffer from allergies, try to have an antihistamine on hand. Benadryl is a popular choice. Though, drugs like Benadryl can cause drowsiness so you may want to try loratidine (Claritin). There are also several prescription medicines your doctor can give you for those that suffer from severe allergies. For relief of allergy symptoms like stuffiness and itchy eyes, look for allergy relief medicines in many brand names, including some eye drops. For itch relief, try a cream with anti-histamine (Benadryl) or hydrocortisone cream. You can also use hydrocortisone cream or Benadryl for relief of itching or discomfort due to bug bites or poison ivy and the like, or you can use calamine lotion. For minor cuts or burns, you need several things. First, have hydrogen peroxide and/or rubbing alcohol on hand to clean cuts. Also keep an ointment on hand that contains baccitracin (Neosporin) and have adhesive bandages (Band-Aid) of all sizes in your medicine cabinet. For minor burns, use aloe vera gel.
