Hot Temperatures & Our Medications
Tuesday July 24, 2007
Mary Shomon, the Guide to Thyroid Disease, warns that Hot Temperatures May Be Hazardous to Your Drugs. “If you take any prescription drug, you need to be aware that storage at high temperatures can quickly degrade the potency and stability of many medications. Most drugs are recommended to be stored at what's known as 'controlled room temperature' - an average of 77 F. Some permit what are known as 'controlled excursions' - short periods to accommodate shipping, for example - at temperatures up to 86 F.”
We also need to be careful with ourselves during the summer. In Summertime and Our Meds, we review some important precautions needed to ensure our health and safety because many medications prescribed for bipolar disorder can make a person more susceptible to heatstroke and sunburn.
Comments
As a Certified Wilderness 1st Aid/FACTS responder, one who lives and recreates in the Arizona desert, and is bipolar, I thank you for the info on meds and heatstroke; I was also glad to see the links to heat illness and heat exhaustion on the second page. I think though, the bipolar site should have noted that heat illness and heat exhaustion come first, and that once an individual passes illness and exhaustion into heatstroke, survival is very iffy. Your suggestions for avoiding heatstroke really are suggestions for avoiding heat illness and heat exhaustion in the first place. It is important people recognize symptoms of heat illness and exhaustion wellbefore needing to acknowledge symptoms of heatstroke. But again, thank you for addressing the issue in general–I have seen (and rescued) far too many people who are unaware of how to handle themselves in hot weather.