What should I do with left-over pills?

Question

I was recently given a prescription by my Dr. I took it for a couple of days, and then had a severe reaction to it. I am also allergic to many other antibiotics. I called the Dr. and he gave me something different to take. What should I do with the pills that I still have???

I think that people are maybe taking this question the wrong way. I guess I should have said it this way...

I have a left over prescription, and was wondering how to dispose of the pills in a safe and legal way. I DO NOT want to give them to anyone else. I am allergic to this type of medication, and do not want anyone else have to go through the same thing and discover that they might be also.

Answer 1

You can flush them without worrying about making a big individual effect on the environment. Yes, human introduction of antibiotics into the envronment does contribute to rise in bacteria called "super bugs" which are resistant to common antibiotics. When you expose an organism to a small amount of a toxin, too small to kill them, they will naturally develop resistance to it so the next time they are exposed to it, they will have antibodies prepared to fight or neutralize it, even a lethal dose. What doesn't kill them makes them stronger. This is part of the reason why people are so strongly encouraged to finish the entire course of an antibiotic, it's not just for the health of the individual, it's for the entire population. If you only take 75% of your prescription and stop because you "feel better now" you better realize that perhaps you have killed 99% of the bacteria that were infecting you and but now you are carrying the 0.001% that you have just "trained" to fight that antibiotic and now that bug is going to go after some baby or elderly person that will end up in the hospital on some IV antibiotic that pharmaceutical companies have had to develop for super bugs. Super bugs can mutate and reproduce alot faster than Pfizer et al. can make the next 'mycin-cillin du jour and we are going to have another 1918 before you know it. It also doesn't help that farmers mass dose with antibiotics before any of their crops or livestock are even sick. Did you know that you can get antibiotics OTC for cows at Quality Farm and Fleet?

Back to the question, when people use antibiotics, they are going to get into the environment no matter whether they are directly introduced by a flush or peed out of your body or a cow's as 80% unchanged drug, as in the case of amoxicillin, for expample. A drug isn't completely metabolized or neutralized just because you put it through your system. Flush 'em. It wasn't your fault that you had a reaction to it and it isn't going to make any difference in the grand scope of things.

Answer 2

I just read that our waterways are starting to show trace elements of prescription drugs, because of the number of them being dumped into toilets. That used to be the prefered method. Some pharmacies may have a disposal program. If not, they are now recommending that we do the following:

Put about a tablespoon of water in the prescription bottle (or flour if the prescription is liquid), and close it up. The water/flour is to make them unusable. Than toss it in the garbage, still closed in the original prescription bottle.

Answer 3

Contact the pharmacy where you got them; the pharmacist can tell you how to dispose of them properly. DON'T flush them down the toilet; that puts them into the sewer system, and can create problems by killing organisms that are beneficial.

Answer 4

There isn't anything you can do except flush them. You can't give prescription drugs out or take them back so just flush them down the toilet.

Answer 5

Take the 7 reminder pills till they run out. you should get your era in this time. After that start up a clean %.. it truly is in no way sturdy to waste the hormones because your body has already gotten used to that agenda.

Answer 6

DO NOT FLUSH THEM and do not throw them in the trash. Put them out of reach until your city has it's day where they will take old pills and properly dispose of them.

Answer 7

you could throw them straight away in the trash...but if you are afraid someone or a dog would dig them out and get sick from them, then dissolve them in vinigar and pour them down the drain. Also, scribble on the label where your name and info are on the bottle-that way no one can take your bottle and get a refil or have any of your information.

Answer 8

Flush them!!! If you throw the bottle away, some dummy might take them in the hopes of getting high. Then the dummy would be found with an empty bottle of pills with your name on them.

Answer 9

Throw them out or go back to your doctor and ask him/her what to do with them. Some people go through other peoples trash cans looking for stuff like perscription pills, needles from diabetics, and stuff like that.

Answer 10

Flush them down the toilet if you cant use them anymore, thats the safest way to dispose of un-needed pills.