Looking for a way to keep 2 spoonfuls of medicine in my pocket.

May 6, 2009 2:29 PM

I'm looking for a clever way to bring 2 tablespoons of liquid medicine around with me in my pocket on weekends, without lugging around an entire bottle.

I take a medicine twice a day - once around 10:45am, another around 4pm. It is one tablespoon of a medicine per dose, and it does not come in any alternative form. Taking this isn't a problem at work, as I have a bottle that sits in my desk. However, I find myself missing it on weekends when it is inconvenient to take a whole bottle around, plus a spoon. Any thoughts on how to conveniently take around 2 tablespoons of a liquid a day (hopefully something that can fit easily in a pocket and not leak).

Asked anon because I don't want to worry friends and others who don't know I am taking meds, but read MeFi and know my user name.

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (40 comments total)

Plastic baggie? Put a corner in your mouth and bite it off to dispense?
posted by crickets at 2:31 PM on May 6

What about a cool little vintage flask? You can find dozens on ebay or etsy.
posted by iconomy at 2:32 PM on May 6

Basing off crickets idea, perhaps you could you find a small plastic or glass (food safe of course) bottle (perhaps from an outdoor store) and measure your doses in there? You'd be carrying around two little bottles, I guess, but better than carrying around a spoon maybe.
posted by R343L at 2:34 PM on May 6

I've seen little medicine vials at drug stores. Try that.

Or, find a small screwtop bottle and cut off the top as close to the screw threads as you can. Unscrew the top, slip a corner of a ziploc type bag through (a freezer bad would be nice and heavy). Just slip the corner through, or however much you need for your medication. Screw the top on OVER the remaining bag. Trim away the excess bag and voila! Little container!
posted by zerokey at 2:34 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

These may be a little big, but they could work: GoToob Bottle or the more expensive Silicone Travle Bottle. I have the latter and use + love it for shampoo.
posted by wyzewoman at 2:35 PM on May 6

REI carries a good stock of small, travel-sized bottles, like these. This is what I use for my toiletries when I travel or camp, and they're quite nice. Not too bulky, light weight, variety of sizes, water tight.
posted by melogranato at 2:35 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Ask a pharmacist? (maybe they'd give you one or two, particularly if you go where you fill your prescription?)
posted by kch at 2:35 PM on May 6

A one-ounce screw-top Nalgene bottle?
posted by box at 2:36 PM on May 6 [5 favorites]

I think the search term you're looking for is 'vial'. And maybe 'plastic' to be safe for sitting.
posted by artdrectr at 2:37 PM on May 6

I've seen (really gross looking) 'liquid candy' that comes in little dispensers - something like this might be easy to carry around if it has a screw top (it appears to)

there's also the keychain flask
posted by sarahj at 2:37 PM on May 6

Or how about the 1 tsp mini spoon listed here? Clearly medicine, but looks absolutely perfect for your needs.
posted by wyzewoman at 2:38 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

damn fast thread, shoulda previewed.
posted by artdrectr at 2:38 PM on May 6

You should have a look at this shop, they have loads of bottles in all types.
posted by bigmusic at 2:41 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Little bento soy sauce bottles. Use a sharpie to mark on them where the 1TBSP line would be if you're holding the bottle upside down. Squeeze into your mouth, or a cup, or spoon or whatever is handy until you hit that line for your first dose. Finish off the bottle for your second.
posted by booknerd at 2:42 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]

(the search term that helped me find that was "liquid medicine travel spoon", btw.)
posted by wyzewoman at 2:43 PM on May 6

If you're near one, the container store carries all of the tiny travel size nalgene bottles in their travel section. there are also small glass vials/jars back else where in the store. (near the back close to kitchen and bath stuff in the store near me.) You could just buy two of the smallest size and put one pre-measured dose in each. (and possibly rinse with water and swallow that to make sure you get the entire dose).
posted by mercredi at 2:53 PM on May 6

Google says a tablespoon is a half ounce, so I'm thinking that box's response is pretty perfect.
posted by papayaninja at 2:56 PM on May 6

find a small screwtop bottle

Where? Look down, around a liquor store, the morning after. Many miniatures now come in plastic, but some are still made from glass.
posted by Rash at 2:57 PM on May 6

I've seen MRE's that come with mini screw-top Tobasco bottles that would do the trick. You might be able to make then into a keychain, charm, or pendant.
posted by sourwookie at 2:57 PM on May 6

Try a contact lense case. It will be easier to get the liquid out of it than out of a little flask or nalgene, if the liquid is syrupy.
posted by jabberjaw at 3:00 PM on May 6 [4 favorites]

Akin to the soy sauce idea, Tabasco has tiny giveaway bottles that look like about a tablespoon to me. They're often hanging on bloody mary mix in the store. Or you could buy some for fifty cents from the online store.

But I like the keychain flask best, I think. You won't lose it.
posted by rokusan at 3:00 PM on May 6

Damn sourwookie. :)
posted by rokusan at 3:01 PM on May 6

Ask your pharmacy people for an oral syringe or two. More convenient to stick in your pocket than a spoon if you want to carry around two doses in a small bottle, or easier to measure up one dose and squirt into the bottle than trying to measure it in a spoon. If they have the kind with a cap, you could draw up your dose in the syringe, cap it and just take that with you. It's no big deal and they won't charge you or anything, they pass them out all the time with medicine for kids.
posted by little e at 3:03 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Health food stores sell empty or 'blank' gelatin capsules, too, for people who make their own herbal supplements or... whatever.

A tbsp would take two or three of them, and it'd make for a messy evening's work, but you could make a month's supply at a time and transform your liquid into pill form that way.
posted by rokusan at 3:03 PM on May 6

No matter what type of tiny container you're filling, a syringe (without needle) will help make your life easier. You'll also want it for measuring.
posted by rokusan at 3:04 PM on May 6

Thirding the plastic syringe. I'd guess you'd want something like a 50ml syringe. I've seen smaller ones packaged with children's medicines. The advantage is that it's really easy to get the medicine into (unlike, say, a small bottle). Some come with a plastic cap that screws or clips onto the end.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:08 PM on May 6

kch is right. Your pharmacist should be able to provide this service.
posted by Neiltupper at 3:09 PM on May 6

Tupperware of course! These Midgets have 1oz and 2oz markings, and in my experience, Tupperware seals quite well.
posted by dormouse at 3:17 PM on May 6

I like jabberjaw's contact lens case idea. You'd have to lick it out, though....
posted by kestrel251 at 3:33 PM on May 6

If you can't find a Nalgene bottle or syringes, you could probably get a travel sized bottle of Listerine or some other mouthwash to use in a pinch. Just wash it out well before you use it.
posted by spinifex23 at 3:51 PM on May 6

Plastic film canister? Maybe swish it out with a little water after drinking most of the dose. I find the clear ones with inset lids are better for not leaking than the black snap-on lid ones. Any camera store should be able to just give you one.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 4:59 PM on May 6

As a geocacher, let me say that film canisters and tupperware aren't as watertight as you might need. You want something with a firmer lock - the mini-listerine bottles are probably a good idea, as is the 'ask your pharmacist' one. That will have the right cap, and some medication bottles will have gradiations on the side.

My creative suggestion for the thread is a well-washed out flavor-extract bottle.
posted by cobaltnine at 5:39 PM on May 6

If you have a friend in a biology/biochem laboratory, see if they could give you a sterile 50 mL or 15 mL conical tube. They're normally used for centrifugation of samples, making solutions, etc. And, of course, recommending you only ask for one or two and wash/reuse!

Be sure to see if your meds are light-sensitive (did it come in a brown/opaque bottle?) and choose your storage container appropriately. I used to wrap tape or foil around just the conical tube itself for light-sensitive solutions.
posted by NikitaNikita at 5:49 PM on May 6

Do you have one bottle at work, and one bottle at home, and just then need to carry one day's supply with you when moving around during the day?

Or do you need to carry the whole weekend's supply? That would be 4 oz.

I would also second box's suggestion for skrew-top nalgene bottles, but that keychain flask is awesome. Now I want my medication to come in liquid instead of icky pills, because I want an excuse to get a keychain flask.
posted by jb at 6:47 PM on May 6

Ah, I see melogranato also recommended the nalgene - on the REI link (more selection).
posted by jb at 6:49 PM on May 6

Box's Nalgene bottles look like just the ticket, though the keychain flask is pretty awesome.

As cool as the mini Tabasco bottles are, they're only 1/8 oz. each.
posted by chazlarson at 8:11 PM on May 6

Seconding the suggestion of 15 mL conical tubes, if you could get your hands on them. 15 ml is very close to 1 tablespoon, the lids tend to stay on well, and they seem easy to slip in a pocket.

http://bioland-sci.com/images/15%20ml%20conical%20tube-large.jpg
posted by david06 at 1:09 AM on May 7

maybe in one of those little energy shot drink bottles near the registers at convenience stores/supermarkets?
posted by glenno86 at 5:23 AM on May 7

Centrifuge tubes.
posted by 8dot3 at 10:06 AM on May 7

I don't know what the capacity of a contact lens case is, but if each well happens to be able to hold 15ml of liquid, it seems like a very apt way of carrying about 2 tablespoons of medicine.

If you don't have one, they are usually sold with lens solution, and when I wore contacts I always had extra cases. Maybe you can ask a friend.
posted by Xianny at 10:59 AM on May 7