Can you store levo in a 7 day tablet dispenser

[Jelley93]

Maybe a daft question but I am thinking of keeping my levo in a weekly dispenser. Is it alright to do this I know when you receive the boxes of pills they are sealed up.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Some people do, and some people have dosette boxes made up at the pharmacy (my mother used to). Personally, to avoid any possible chance of deterioration I prefer to keep mine in the blister pack and pop it out the night before I take it, put in a small container on my bedside cupboard and I take mine in the early hours of the morning when I need the bathroom. If I split a tablet I keep the unused portion in a small screw top container in my bedside cupboard to use the next day.

[DippyDame]

I prefer to pop them from the pack as I take them because I don't know if they can deteriorate once exposed....not worth the risk I feel.I keep the opened pack in a small drawer in my dressing table

I take my full dose at bedtime

Any other packs, I keep in a cool dark cupboard in an airtight box.

Any split pills go into a small pot and are used the next night.

I have other meds which I do take from a weekly dispenser box but feel replacement thyroid hormones ( I'm T3-only) need different storage.

It's a perfectly sensible question....

but I don't have a definitive answer I'm afraid.

Sorry!

[Grumpygeek01]

Hi there. I've been keeping mine in a weekly dispenser for a number of years and haven't noticed any problems. I just fill it up every Sunday morning and it's good to go (until the following Sunday of course!).

[san_ray70 in reply to Grumpygeek01]

Our chemist does all of our tablets in a weekly dispenser. It is sealed in until it is used.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to san_ray70]

If it is like the dosette systems that I have seen, the individual bubbles are not airtight, nor is the gas inside managed to be low oxygen, etc. Nor are they in any way light-proof.

In factory blister packs, they can fill them with nitrogen and manage its humidity. The aluminium foil is light-proof (though not the white or clear side).

The dispenser might be adequate, but it isn't optimum.

[tattybogle]

I haven't ever used a weekly pill dispenser .. ( my ego won't let me 'go there' ) But i'm sure they are fine for a weeks worth of Levo .. the deterioration factor wouldn't worry me over just 7 day in a closed box. I do however always make sure i start a new foil strip on a 'monday'.. and always take them in the same pattern ... all along one edge, then the next row etc . This way, if i ever forget whether i've taken that days tablet or not .......i can easily see by counting monday/ tuesday etc along the strip. ...like a calendar .

I prefer to take 112.5mcg (same each day) rather than 100 /125 alternate. days ... so i just bite one in half each day and put the other bit back in the packet... i know .. lazy bugger., can't be arsed to walk all the way to the cold kitchen first thing in the morning to cut it in half .

..... however , have recently found a rather more hygienic method that just involves my thumb!

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to tattybogle]

That really made me smile tatty, I love your style 🤣🤣🤣

[Jhgking in reply to tattybogle]

😂😂My ego also hates me for having two of the bloody things … one for Levo in the middle of the night and one for supp’s before bed. Zero street cred 🙊

[BeePurple in reply to Jhgking]

My husband has a 7 day one with 4 different compartments for times of day and pulls out the current day he's using.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

I have used a weekly pill dispenser for years …..started when was taking different dose levothyroxine on different days

It’s soo much easier

I also have a weekly one for vitamin supplements too

[Fruitandnutcase]

I have a really big daily storage box and it is big enough to take pills in their ‘bubble’ so one day a week I cut all my pills - prescription and vitamin / mineral out and make up my box. It’s odd though because years ago I used to be given pills (Zestril for BP and others) in a bottle to tip out myself.

I always keep pills in their packaging until I want to take them and I can see pros and cons about blister packs but I can’t help but thinking someone, somewhere is making big money out of individual packaging.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

It's not odd that you were given loose pills. That is how all pills came back in the 80's when I had a Saturday and holiday job in a pharmacy. The pharmacy assistant counted out the pills for a prescription (using a measuring tray, not literally counting them) and put them into a returnable glass bottle. One of my jobs was washing all the returned bottles and getting the labels off. Just washed them in hot soapy water in the sink and rinsed them and left them to dry on a special rack. Blister packs are a waste of packaging.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to FancyPants54]

Blister packs are a waste and I bet they just push the prices up.

[FancyPants54 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

I bet they do!

[radd]

Jelley93,

I press all mine out from the blister pack and put in a container with different days off the week. Deterioration factor in a week doesn't worry me because when I was medicating T3 I used to get it loose from the hospital pharmacy in a brown medicine bottle that lasted me 3 months!.

[humanbean]

I use a 7-day pill dispenser, and I pop them out of the blister packs when filling up the pill dispenser each week. I haven't noticed any problems with deterioration in a week.

[nellie237]

I think it might matter if you live in the tropics where humidity is high. The MHRA did some testing:-

assets.publishing.service.g...

[shaws Administrator]

I use a weekly dispenser.

I cut the blister pack separately still keeping a.m T3 tablet and p.m. dose (not T3 tablet) both still enclosed in their plastic and fill the 7 day dispenser. So wherever I go I just pick up the container confident that I don't worry that I've forgotten anything:-

amazon.co.uk/RZJZGZ-Organiz...

It suits me and doesn't expose the tablets too long from their 'blister package'. Also you can always double-check to ensure you've taken the daily tablet.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to shaws]

The one I’ve got at the moment looks a bit like this - amazon.co.uk/Organiser-Comp... - it is BIG and even them I’ve got space for more if I want to add anything else.I have a weekly fill up - really boring task that is - then each morning I take the morning ones and leave the box out where I can see it for the evening pills. Organising the all once a week certainly saves a lot of effort and I can take each ‘day’ with me if I go away for the day or the weekend.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

I do the same as you. "a weekly fill-up". Mine has four daily compartments and I only need two (1 T3 and 1 other pill llater in the day) at present. I hope I don't need any extras. It is also neat and very unobtrusive.

[Stumpy57]

I use a weekly dispenser. It came in a little zip pouch and I’ve added a couple of the desiccant sachets that come with lateral flow tests to decrease risk of humidity spoiling the pills. I found that pills crumbled quickly when travelling in tropical countries so moisture is definitely to be avoided.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Stumpy57]

Ironically, using a desiccant can adversely affect levothyroxine!

If they are stored in too dry an atmosphere that can change the form of the levothyroxine towards being anhydrous.

The impact is probably minor and of no great significance, but it is yet another way in which levothyroxine appears to confound common-sense.

[Stumpy57 in reply to helvella]

Oh 😯Thanks Helvella. It is complicated isn’t it. I’ll take them out again!

[Valerie2015]

Its easy to snip up the entire card of pills with scissors - just in case

[LeighDelaine]

I keep mine in a weekly dispenser and have done for 20 years.

[Jacarilla]

I use a pill dispenser and cut up the blister packs into individual pills which fit into my box. It’s a bit fiddly to get the pill out of the small square first thing in the morning 🙈 but I don’t want to risk it.

[Thyroider30]

My endocrinologist actually told me to use a weekly pill dispenser to keep track of my meds- so one would assume it is ok!

[Gilbo72]

I do, but it took a while to found a cool one that didn’t make me feel like an old lady! Found one that says ‘Contains Stardust’ which makes me feel cosmic!

[Dizzy444]

Once upon a time all tablets were dispensed from large bottles kept in the pharmacy, most liquid medicines came in very large bottles ready to be measured out, and we even used to make some ointments from scratch.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Levothyroxine tablets can deteriorate by exposure to oxygen, humidity and light. (And heat, but not much until over 25 C. But it will enhance the rate of deterioration from any other factor.)

You wouldn't expect them go from 100% potency to 50% in seven days! But getting them out of the blister pack will increase the rate of deterioration.

When it comes to humidity, it can be affected by both high and low humidity.

Therefore, if you do use a weekly dosing device, make sure it is kept in a cool, dry, dark place. So far as you can!

At the same time, it isn't necessary to get obsessed with storage conditions for a few days.

[beaubeau1121]

Hi!Interesting enough… I have never recd in anything but loose pills in a container!

However… your post has inspired me to get weekly dosing containers like I would buy my sweet mother & she would never use!

Time flies!

[Partner20]

In many parts of the world, including the States, a wide range of prescription meds, levo and T3 among them, are dispensed in glass bottles, usually coloured to protect them from light. Placing a weekly supply of levo in a dispensing box is no different from this. Regarding storage in very hot and/or humid conditions, specific storage instructions, such as necessity to refrigerate, are given. Storage at very low temperatures when not required can actually cause degeneration to occur.

[raglansleeve]

You learn something new every day! I had no idea that pills were dispensed in blister packs in the UK. In Canada, ours are all doled out in small plastic containers, after being counted out from a much larger one at the pharmacy. It is alarming to think that the T3 I get as a three month supply could be deteriorating every day on my desk. Almost all of our prescription medicines (except liquids) are dispensed this way, but many over the counter drugs come in blisters. Also, when my mother was in a nursing home, all of hers were in individual blister packs.

Pill Container

[fredjones]

I keep mine in an closed individual black seven day container and it works fine. I have T4 in different doses every other day and T3 as a same daily dose but split in half. If I had to sort this every day it would be a bit of a nightmare. The only snag I find is that the opening catch for each day is a bit tricky with my arthritic thumbs.

[Dirttm]

Shock horror…I organise 3 weeks’ worth of Levothyroxine at a time, in 3 separate weekly pill cases, taken in the morning…cos I had 3 containers in my possession! Same with my vitamins, etc which I take in the evening. I use the pretty rainbow coloured ones, labelled with the days of the week, which separate off, so if you are going away overnight, for example, you can just click off the one you need to take away with you, if you wanted. (I also transfer the emptied one to end of the strip when I’ve taken it, so the next one is at the beginning for the following day. ) Been doing this for years and I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference.

[Starling87]

I've used a weekly pill organiser for ages, and I'm only 34.

My pills have never crumbled and it helps me make sure I've remembered taking my levo in the morning since the slot is empty. (I have a very dynamic, non-routine job so it's easy for me to forget)

I don't ever assume anyone judges me for it, people rather think it's handy as it means I can take my meds and vitamins in seconds without having to stop to fiddle with packets and bottles. If anyone ever asks I just say it's a handy way for me to remember my vitamins at certain times of day. At the end of the day, who cares!

I have four slots, 1st one for morning Levo. 2nd slot for after lunch time vits. 3d for dinner vits. 4th for before bedtime vits.

And yes, I keep it dark and make sure it's never in hot temperatures. Never had any issues. Like others have pointed out here, you could always cut out the pill bubbles and put them in the dispenser if damp and light is an issue!

Have a lovely day! X

[Doris11]

I do as I have mine early morning and they live on my bedside table 😍

[JackieVest]

In the U.S., ours come in a bottle, which is dispensed from an even larger bottle at the pharmacy so unless yours is manufactured differently (i.e. preservative-wise) it shouldn't matter.

[Goldengirl01]

Weekly pill dispenser, days of the week, rainbow coloured and a white one.