BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Summer officially starts this weekend, and the hot and humid weather can impact your medication.

Doctors say some prescriptions may be less effective if they’re exposed to the heat.

“We got the heat and we got the humidity. Those are just killers for medications,” said Boopathy Sivaraman, manager of pharmacy services at Cooper Green.

Medications are a mix of chemicals, hormones, and compounds. The ideal temperature to store them at is between 50 and 70 degrees in a cool, dry place.

Which medications are most vulnerable

Sivaraman said heart medications, antibiotics, and insulin are just a few of many that can lose their effectiveness if exposed to the heat.

“Sometimes if you’re talking about an emergency situation like an EpiPen or an inhaler, those things can really be reduced in their efficacy and not work as well,” he said.

Ways you can tell if your medications got too hot include looking for color changes or damage to the packaging.

“Go to your friendly neighborhood pharmacy, ask the pharmacist. We are the experts. We know what to do, and we will walk you through that,” Sivaraman said.

Travel tips for medications

When packing for any summer vacations, Sivaraman said to store your medications in a small cooler bag. If you’re on a road trip, avoid putting them in the trunk. If you’re taking a flight, keep them in your carry-on.

“An example is especially if you’re taking other medications like insulin and other things that need to be kept cool, keep a small ice pack in there. Put a small paper towel so they don’t directly touch because you don’t want them to be frozen but you wanna keep them cool,” he said.

While it may be the most common places to store medications, it’s recommended not to store your prescriptions in the bathroom or kitchen.

“A lot of people tend to do that but they’re really not the best places to do it. Why? Because in the bathroom you take showers, there’s a lot of moisture. That can mess up and degrade the medication,” Sivaraman said.

When you’re traveling, it might be tempting to move your medications into a smaller container. Sivaraman said to keep them in the bottle as they are designed to protect them.

Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.