Is air exposure ok for Pseudoephedrine

May 15, 2007 7:57 PM

Is it safe to repackage Acetaminophen/Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride/Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride from the manufacturer's blister pack to a child resistant pill bottle?

My daughter is going to be able open this blisterpack in about 3 seconds. Obviously I'm going to keep them someplace she can not get to them but in the interests of belt and suspenders operation I'd like to transfer them to a child resistant pill container. I've already stripped the original labels and I'd write on the container what they are. The question is whether the blister pack is also acting as a freshness package. IE: will my glorious Pseudoephedrine oxidize or something if I move them to a bottle?

posted by Mitheral to health (13 comments total)

I thought blisterpacks were more child-resistant than pill bottles. That is, she may be able to get one pill out of the blisterpack, but if she opens a pill bottle she's got access to many more pills at once. In any case...ok, your daughter may be able to get the blisterpacks open. Do you know that she also cannot get the pill container open? Both things need to be true to be an improvement. How old is she?
posted by cocoagirl at 8:08 PM on May 15, 2007

I do not know the answer to your question. However, for the purposes of travelling I have cut up the blisterpacks into smaller blisters and stuffed them into a pill bottle still blistered, so you could try that.
posted by jessamyn at 8:10 PM on May 15, 2007

I buy Benadryl/generic strictly in pill bottles, and they work fine. I'd second cocoagirl though - I've always found it more difficult to open the blister packs than the bottles (and that is in fact why I began buying pills in bottles).
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 8:11 PM on May 15, 2007

I've done this and have had no bad consequences come from it. In fact, I usually have an Advil container on hand with a bunch of different pills and multivitamins stuffed into it. I don't know if it is safe or a good idea, but for what it is worth I have done it and, as far as I know, have not suffered any ills.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 8:15 PM on May 15, 2007

yes
posted by caddis at 9:48 PM on May 15, 2007

Until the rise of meth countermeasures, we were able to buy pseudoephedrine in child proof bottles. It shouldn't be a problem.
posted by Good Brain at 9:58 PM on May 15, 2007

This blister pack is really easy to get in to. It's got a paper backing that peels off like a sticker and then the foil underneath is very thin.

My daughter has no problems opening the push and twist bottles but she can't yet get into the align the arrows and pry type.

Sounds like the pills aren't going to be hurt by air exposure. I'm going to try jessamyn's solution if I've got a bottle large enough otherwise I'm going to remove them from the blister pack.
posted by Mitheral at 10:02 PM on May 15, 2007

Once upon a time (three years ago) I bought a 100 pack in an easy open bottle from Kaiser for $2.97.
posted by mmdei at 10:33 PM on May 15, 2007

As other mentioned it shouldn't be a problem in daily life. However if you travel to certain countries they may not like the mix up of medicines and bottles not originally intended to store that medicine.
posted by mmascolino at 5:48 AM on May 16, 2007

Oh, for the olden days when I, too, bought 100 in an easy-open bottle. Same stuff as in the blister packs. Air isn't a problem.

If you're worried about looking suspicious when traveling, just put them in a bottle for some other common OTC medication.
posted by desuetude at 6:46 AM on May 16, 2007

Yeah, like others have said, I used to buy pseudoephedrine in bottles before the meth issues came up. I hate all that extra packaging. One thing to keep in mind if you do end up taking them out of the blister packs, though, is that your hands should be very clean and dry. Air won't hurt the medicine, but the grease or water on your hands might.

And definitely label the bottle with whatever you're putting in it, and keep different medicines in different bottles. In case someone has a bad reaction or (god forbid) your daughter ends up getting into one of the bottles, you want to know exactly medicine has been ingested.
posted by vytae at 9:55 AM on May 16, 2007

***exactly which medicine***
posted by vytae at 9:55 AM on May 16, 2007

I think the original plot behind the blister packs was (partly) that it would slow the kid down, and you'd catch them before they got in (too much) trouble. If you can cut them up and stuff them in a bottle, it would give you better protection.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:58 AM on May 17, 2007