COLUMBIA, S.C. — The summertime temperatures can affect the medicine you take. Medicine Mart pharmacist and owner Lynn Connelly says if medications get too hot, they can degrade.
"Medications, if they’re stored at a very high temperature, they break down, they can discolor, they become weaker, they don’t work as well," Connelly said. "You’re really just wasting your money."
The best thing to make sure this doesn't happen, he says, is to get your medicine from a physical store. Not only does that reduce the chance of the product overheating during shipping or after delivery, it also ensures you have a contact to go to if you need help with your prescription.
For some, picking up a prescription in person isn't possible.
AFH Pharmacy Manager Whitney Williams said if you do have medications delivered, she recommends inspecting them to make sure they look how they normally do.
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"Generally it would probably be safe if it were a couple of hours so you got home to check the mail," Williams said. "But I would say as long as you’re aware your medication is coming, to get it as soon as possible."
Connelly agrees.
"When the mailman comes, especially in summer and winter time, get out there and get it as quick as you can," he said.
"Try and also know when you have medications coming in the mail so that they don’t end up on the porch," Williams said.
Williams said her pharmacy packages medicine with bubble wrap and cardboard to try and prevent it from too much heat exposure. For medicine that needs to be refrigerated, Williams says it comes with an ice pack and a temperature tracker that shows if it’s overheated.
Ron Guida with the South Carolina Pharmacy Association said patients can most likely tell if medicine has gotten too hot because they will look different.
"If there’s variations in it - if you have a darker spot or a lighter spot - that may be some indication that something’s gone on with it earlier," he said.
Capsules and gummies may also be melted. If that’s the case, he says it never hurts to call your pharmacist.
"You can check with the pharmacy you got it from and see if it’s supposed to be like that," he said.
Guida says if you’re on medication, it may be best to avoid the heat. This is because if you take a medication that makes you more prone to sun effects, like sunburn or dehydration, higher temperatures could make it worse.
"With the heat index where it is, there’s not a whole lot more people can do," he said. "Just stay inside for now."
Connelly says that most medications should be stored at room temperature. He says most labels have a recommended range of what they should be kept at.