Keep your medications safe in summer temperatures

July and August are known to be the hottest months of the year. While it is important to know how extreme heat can impact your health through dehydration and heat-related illness, it’s also important to understand what it can do to your medications. Dr. Mike Ren, primary care physician and associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, explains how leaving medications in rising temperatures can make them ineffective and lead to health risks. 

“Aerosolized medications, like inhalers and other medications you breathe in, can be damaged. Heat can cause liquid or injectable medications to dry up, making them hard or causing them to evaporate so that they cannot function the way they were intended,” said Ren.

Some medications are heat sensitive. Ren says that medications in pill form, such as thyroid medications or hormonal ones like birth control, might look fine after being in the heat, but inside, the molecules that make up the medication can be degraded. Liquid versions of pills can melt in the heat or become gummy. 

If you are concerned about the effectiveness of your medication after being in the heat, contact your pharmacy or your physician. 

“You don’t want your medications failing on you or for their potency to decrease,” he said. 

To safely store medications, Ren says to: 

• Remove your medications from direct sunlight. 
• Keep your medications at room temperature, in a cupboard, nightstand or in a cool, dry environment.
• Never leave medications unattended in a vehicle.