Is your medicine cabinet stocked? #SDMFluFighters with Giveaway!

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cold

“I’m Sick” came the text just a few days ago…and I immediately sprung into texting action.

“How Sick?” I asked followed by a great number of questions about his cough, sore throat, heavy chest and headache.

He felt miserable.

I did too.

The thing is, my son has never been away from me when he’s been sick…and now that he’s at university in a different province, I’m at a complete loss as to how to help him AND I’M KICKING MYSELF for not being better prepared. Why on earth didn’t I put together a basket of things he might need when/if the time came that he got sick while living away?

“I’ll be fine Mom,” he unconvincingly told me as I did a quick look online for flights to Newfoundland and conceded to him saying he’d make a run to the drug store.

This Christmas, I’ll be stuffing his stocking with everything he needs for next time!

What’s in your Medicine Cabinet?

Are you ready when the time comes? When was the last time you took a good look in your medicine cabinet?

Research shows that more than half of all Canadian households do not regularly check the expiry dates of medications, and if they do, they only do it right before taking the product. Since we’re heading into flu season and it hits with very little notice, it’s important to be prepared because no one wants to run out to the drug store in the middle of the night! 

Here are a few things to stock up on so you are ready day or night

  • Pain reliever for adults and children: To help with fever, aches and pains caused by the flu.
  • Electrolyte Maintenance Powder: Prevents dehydration and you can freeze them into popsicles that are tasty enough that young ones will eat then when they are sick.
  • Antibacterial wipes: To wipe down common surfaces like light switches, door handles and remote controls.
  • Throat lozenges: To help soothe a sore throat.
  • Vaporizer: To ease congestion since cough suppressants and decongestants are no longer recommended for children.

If you have any questions…you can always talk to your local pharmacist to help you choose the right products for you and your family. And above all, remember you can help avoid flu this season by going to your local Shoppers Drug Mart to get vaccinated!

This week, I really and truly wasn’t happy to get the “I’m Sick” message from my son while he’s away from home. We had a quick chat and he PROMISED he’d head to Shoppers to talk to the pharmacist to make sure he had everything he needed to get himself back to feeling healthy again soon.

A little more sleep, a little less partying and a few days of taking care of himself should do the trick.

But I sure wish I was there!

Twitter Party:

Be sure to join the upcoming #ShoppersFluShot Twitter party on Thursday, Nov 17th at 1:00pm ET to win flu prevention prizes and learn more about the Flu shot.

2449_sdm_twitterparty-invitation_draft-basket

Giveaway:

To help stock your cabinet, one lucky Canadian reader at Curtains are Open will win a prize pack from Shopper’s Drug Mart (Value: $150). Fill in the information below to be entered into the draw!

flupack

Prize Pack Items:

  • Life Brand Hand Sanitizer
  • Cough Drops
  • Vaporizing Cold Rub
  • Electrolyte Maintenance Powder
  • Disinfectant Wipes
  • Vaporizer
  • PC Chicken noodle soup
  • PC Facial tissues
  • PC Feeling Soothed Tea
  • $100 gift card

 

Disclosure: I am compensated for my part in the #SDMFluFighters program, all opinions are my own.

50 Replies to “Is your medicine cabinet stocked? #SDMFluFighters with Giveaway!”

  1. We were just doing this last week when our little guy had a fever. I am embarrassed to say that almost everything we had was expired (by more than a year!) I could use a restock of everything!

  2. I moved in September so I spent some time throwing out old meds, but I really do need to restock!
    I have super low white blood cells, so I should be ready to go…

  3. I need that plug in vaporizer in the worst way. There is someone in my house that is currently full of a cold and It isn’t me!

    I went through our medicine cabinet back in the summer when I cleaned the drawer out and it’s sort of alarming how much expired cold medicine we had. We definitely need to stock up (though I did get sinus medicine for the aforementioned sick individual yesterday 😉 )

  4. I’ve gone through my cabinet recently, to clear it pretty much out. I’m big on prevention and knock on wood, since I’ve been on an anti-inflammatory diet, I haven’t been sick. Should a germ strike, I’m planning some natural remedies 🙂 Oh and wash yer hands 😛

  5. Sorry to hear your boy is sick! My oldest is just recovering from a bad bug, perhaps the result of recently turning 19 and being too busy to take care of herself (or let me take care of her). Since she’s going to school locally, I did get to mother her for a bit…but I also got to hear all the whining!!

    I’m very guilty of cleaning out the medicine cabinet when I’m going for something! Maybe this post will move that job a little higher on my to do list!

    Hope your boy is feeling better soon…and that he’s having a great year so far!

    TLH
    XO

  7. Sending get well soon vibes his way!!

    I haven’t done a clean out of my medicine cabinet in a long time….maybe something to work on this weekend. 🙂

  8. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been caught off-guard without Gravol, acetaminophen or ibuprofen. It’s so easy to forget… and also to forget to check the expiry dates! Oops.

    (And as it were, I’m currently fighting the cold from hell.)

  11. We moved here in May so we have done it pretty recently. If we hadn’t moved I’m sure there would be a few items out of date.

  12. I went through my cabinet earlier this year and brought in a HUGE bag of expired meds to the pharmacy. It was kind of embarrassing how old some of them were! I’ve been slowly restocking it but not usually until someone is sick and NEEDS something. This gift pack would go a long way towards getting us ready for the season (and that soothing tea sounds perfect!).

  13. Oh my…my method is checking the expiry date when I need something…which isn’t ideal. 🙂 This is a great reminder. No one wants to worry about having what you need, when you are actually sick!

  14. Wow feel better soon Noah, I agree with you, nothing like a moms touch when you are sick. You can never be prepared. I usually don’t keep to much medicine here as that’s what I worry about the most is the expiry dates. Plus if one of the kids gets sick I know one of us are bound to get sick with them so I just purchase as I go and use up all I can, then I get new once I hear someone getting a sniffle or two. My go to medicine for the cough s the vapor rub, my mom would put it on our throats right down over our chest to help with the coughing at night. It works cause my son swears by it.

  16. It has been months since I’ve gone through our medicine cabinet. I do check expiry dates though prior to taking any medication.

  17. Last time I went through mine was the summer. I usually do about 3 times a year! Thanks!

  19. I went through it a few weeks ago when I had a cold and tossed a bunch of expired meds.

  24. I am terrible at cleaning out my medicine cabinet; Idon’t have a set day I do this task. As the year progresses I throw out & re-buy items as they are needed once I see the expiry date.

  26. I went through it to see what I needed to buy or get rid of about 2 wks ago, I like to do this in the fall and prepare for the winter

  27. We actually just went through the medicine cabinet. We all got colds and I had to find some medicine. It was all expired so, had to go buy new ones. I returned all the prescribed drugs to the Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist.

  30. It has been a couple of months since I have gone through my medicine cabinet and cleaned out any expired product.

  31. I had a wicked cold already this Fall and I do NOT want another. It was a small miracle that no one else got sick. Whew!

    Meanwhile, when I was ill, I made a point to make sure we didn’t have anything expired/recalled at all in the cupboard where the elixirs are kept.

    My husband was kind enough to replenish some fever reducers and lozenges while I was dying* on the couch.

    *slight exaggeration

  33. My dog just died in Sept and at that time I went through the doggie and human meds. However, the bag is still hanging around waiting to get returned to the pharmacy.

  36. I just cleaned it out last month! I needed to replace a few things so I just did a clean out at the same time!

  39. The last time I went through my medicine Cabinet to check expiry and stock up was 3 weeks ago. I try and do it with each season

  40. My son currently has strep throat, so the day I got him his medicine I went through and got rid of all the old and expired items (so within the last week)

  41. I checked a few months ago. We never take medication without checking the expiry date first!

  42. Hi, I last checked in the summer. We stocked up on pedalite.

    Also, your site is hard to read on a phone. Thanks
    Shelly K

  44. I just cleared out my medicine cabinet a few weeks back. Fortunately I only had one expired medication!

  45. I actually went through it the other day, and yes there was a few expired items in it!

  47. Thanks for this post! Now I know to be prepared for Sarah when she goes away for school next year!

  48. Yikes! Better get on this. This is something you don’t really think about until someone says those dreaded words “I don’t feel good”

  49. I just did mine in September actually! I find it’s a good thing to do right at back to school time, because I KNOW my kids are going to get sick at some point when they head back to school, so I like to make sure I have children’s medicine on hand, as well as vitamins, sinus rinses etc. It is one of my “fall cleaning” tasks, and every year I have stuff I need to get rid of due to expiry, and then I know what to stock up for the school year ahead.