I Figured Out How to Store My Extra Mestinon

As many of us with myasthenia gravis (MG) know, Mestinon (pyridostigmine) is very sensitive to temperature and humidity. My prescription currently reads 120 milligrams every 3 hours while awake. Now, these are 60 milligram tablets, so that's a lot of tablets a day sometimes.¹

So, when I go to pick up my prescription it's actually 4 bottles with 100 tablets in each bottle. My pharmacy knows I will not accept this prescription in anything but its original container from the manufacturer.

Once those bottles are open, even with the moisture absorbing packs in them, I believe they start to degrade immediately. By the end of that bottle, I feel the Mestinon does not work as well for me. And it seems like the quality is even less if the pharmacist has packed it into other bottles.

Ordering my medication

I have a few other health conditions besides MG, so I take quite a few medications a day. Many of these medications require me to fill a prescription of 2 to 4 bottles at a time, and most medications are sensitive to heat and humidity and/or sunlight.

But Mestinon is super sensitive. For things like the Mestinon, I always re-order when I open the last bottle so there is plenty of time to refill. Some of these medications can be hard to get at the pharmacy and I don't ever want to run out of my medications.

Trying to store the extra Mestinon

After picking up my prescriptions, I was really struggling to find the best place to store the extra bottles of medication. I tried a variety of different places in my house. My husband, bless his heart, saw my struggle and understood how sensitive the medications were.

It was my husband that first noticed that the longer the bottle of Mestinon was open, the less it seemed to help my symptoms. Sometimes if it was the end of the bottle, it didn't seem to work at all. And if the pharmacist repacked it, I felt it just degraded even faster than if it was left in the original manufacturer container.

Our solution

My husband is ex-Navy - first Gunner's Mate and small arms trainer. This means he taught people how to shoot. I'm sure many of you are wondering what this has to do with storing Mestinon. Well, believe it or not, ammunition has to be stored in controlled temperature and humidity also!

My dear sweet husband went and bought me an ammunition box. He made sure it was big enough to fit the refills of almost all of my medications. Since then, I've no longer had trouble with any of my medication drawing too much moisture from being stored improperly.

We found a place out of the way that keeps a constant temperature, but is not in direct sunlight or heat. That ammunition box keeps my medication secure. Also, it is an easy grab-and-go in case of an emergency.