r/mildlyinfuriating • u/astercalendula • Jun 22 '26
SPOILER ALERT I can't open my arthritis medicine because I have arthritis
Currently waiting for my husband to get home because I can't open my arthritis medicine due to me having arthritic hands.
*UPDATE: *
Thank you to everyone who suggested solutions.
I especially loved learning about how Meloxicam helps your dog/cat/chinchilla!
To reply to some common comments:
I will request a different cap next time. This is a new-ish condition, and I just don't take it regularly enough to bother going to the pharmacy. Also, I've fiddled with it enough now that the nubs wore down and it's no longer me-proof.
Thank you for the warnings of ulcers and kidney damage. I guess it's pretty common with NSAIDS, so I'll keep the dosage as needed only.
Why I didn't use tools: it was 10 PM. I didn't want to.
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u/Raganash123 Jun 22 '26
Next time request non-child safe caps. You may have to sign a waiver, depending on the the state.
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u/Procrasturbating Jun 22 '26
Was gonna say.. when did they stop giving medicine like this without a reversible cap that can be either/or.
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u/Uber1337pyro333 Jun 22 '26
In my local experience Walmart/CVS uses the awful ones in the photo, Walgreens uses the reversible ones still.
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u/NervousDogFarts Jun 22 '26
My Walmart only uses the reversible ones unless you get a manufacturers bottle. I guess we are lucky. I haven’t seen this kind so far. Our local Costco had child-proof lids that I hated though.
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u/HollowSuzumi Jun 22 '26
The "child lock" on manufacturer bottles can be removed to make it easy open. It can be tricky on the bottles, but it's an option. The pharmacy I worked at had a tool similar to a bottle opener that would catch the lip of the bottle and remove the top plastic case of the lid.
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u/Blurgas This text is purple Jun 22 '26
One of mine it's a tossup if I get the manufacturers bottle or the orange one.
What drives me nuts is when they give me this stupidly large one that's far too big for what I'm picking up→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)7
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u/AppropriateCap8891 Jun 22 '26
That is going to depend largely on the pharmacy.
I get my meds from the VA, and they do use reversible lids. But when I was Active duty they might or might now have, depending on what they had at the time.
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u/TiogaJoe Jun 22 '26
No "next time" - just go back and ask for an easy open cap. It replaces the cap on that very same bottle. I've done it when they messed up. They just handed me a new cap.
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u/JustAMinah Jun 22 '26
well, they gotta open it for ya and then place the new cap on! handing you a new cap don't mean shit if you still can't open it
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u/Umeyard Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
If you request through mail order, KEEP THEM. Most companies don't send new ones each time and expect you to keep them.
Worked for a major insurance company in the grievance department, the mail order refusing to send extra easy remove lids was something I handled weekly for years.
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u/darsynia Jun 22 '26
My pharmacy gives us lids that are child safe if put on one way and not child safe upside-down.
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Jun 22 '26
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u/icehot54321 Jun 22 '26
also buy a pill holder
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u/ItWearsHimOut Jun 22 '26
But only if keeping the medication at home. If traveling, having prescription medication outside of the bottle with the pharmacy label can cause serious charges if you're ever unlucky enough to be searched by police (or stupid enough to consent to a search by police). This advice is USA-specific.
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u/Nearby-Sentence-4740 Jun 22 '26
I only keep narcotics in their original labeled bottle. Everything else is stuff you wouldn’t abuse like Meloxicam or statins and they go in my pill minder.
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u/mm_reads Jun 22 '26
This is rabbit hole I would love to explore. For traveling for two weeks, I pack my meds in two or three bottles and take photos of the bottles (name, medication, strength, doctor etc). Otherwise I would be carrying 12 different bottles. How do people on a ton of medications handle it?
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u/danafromsantaana Jun 23 '26
The unfortunate answer is indeed carrying 12 different bottles. I put them in a makeup bag. The hilarious part is no one has ever checked or cared when I mention they’re labeled
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u/JustAMinah Jun 22 '26
no, it is helpful. they can go back and get them to open it, and then change on their profile for easy open caps. I had to do this despite it being on my profile..luckily, my current pharmacy is down the street so it wasn't a hassle to drive back. I was feel a lil wimpy though lol. I would've just asked someone at work the next day to do it,(I've done before) but it's my tramadol and I like taking it before work, so I'm not in pain rather than it kicking in an hour or two into work (plus, I can't/shouldnt fix the pharmacy's mess up on it. and going back shows moving forward, they have been better making sure I get the cap. I also check before I leave so I can catch it, too. oh, helps that my neighbor works there so I guess I can bug her at home lol)
random-ish, but back when I first got diagnosed and not medicated as I am now, I had the hardest time opening this sparkling cider I bought. I saw what time it was and the day, knowing around this time my mom is usually in my area so I hit her up real quick. she looked so bad ass! I gave her a grippy thingy to help, she waved it off. still having her cig in her mouth, she opened that bottle with ease. lol
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u/AppropriateCap8891 Jun 22 '26
The next time you need it or any other filled, tell the pharmacist you have no kids and need it without child proofing.
Pretty much all pharmacies have containers or caps like that available, you just have to ask for them.
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
User name definitely checks out!
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u/denialofcervix Jun 22 '26
Holy shit no kidding. It's actually more GOATed because of how random it is.
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u/AppropriateCap8891 Jun 22 '26
Honestly, after about 10 minutes of trying to select a name that was rejected for being in use, I said hell with it and let it pick one for me.
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
Thanks! Will do. It's a new condition for me so I didn't think to ask nor did I expect the cap to be so tight.
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u/notwhoyouthinkmaybe Jun 22 '26
You got the rheumatoid?
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
I don't think so. The report just says arthritis of CMC.
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u/notwhoyouthinkmaybe Jun 22 '26
Either way, it sucks. Meloxicam is good after a bit.
I did not know about the non safety cap thing either, so I'm glad I saw this post.
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u/im_not_quiet Jun 22 '26
If either of you didn't get a warning, meloxicam is not to be taken with ibuprofen. Bad things happen.
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u/AzureRaven2 Jun 22 '26
Same class of medications. Same reason you dont take Ibuprofen and Aleve together. Doubling up will make the side effects much worse and can cause damage.
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep Jun 22 '26
Most pharmacies will also fill it into a multi week pill dispenser, if OP (or anyone else) is taking multiple meds.
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u/Sad_snek_Janus Jun 22 '26
Reminds me of the video that has this old lady with arthritis, showing that she can’t open her medication, and after she hands it off screen, it comes back open.. you know who was on the other end of the screen? A BABY!!!
It’s literally not childproof- those lids have never worked to keep me out of medication, i was usually the one opening it for my mother when she was doing something and needed her meds…
It never made sense to me how they were supposed to be childproof.. maybe animal proof, but not child.. not unless it’s a 2 year old that’s left alone with it for less than a couple of seconds..
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u/colorblind-and Jun 22 '26
I freaked out my parents when I was like three because I figured out how to open the child proof caps and much preferred pills to liquid medicine.
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
I OD'ed on Flintstones vitamins when I was 3. Lol the child-proof cap was not!
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u/sleepysheepy8 Jun 22 '26
When my dog was still a 10 lb little puppy, she stole a pill bottle and crunched it open with her teeth. Not animal proof, either.
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u/AdventurousAsh19 Jun 22 '26
My dog has happily ripped open one of those bottles (thankfully it was empty). Definitely not dog proof either. It might have slowed him down a bit.
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u/breezyhoneybee Jun 22 '26
Your pharmacy can switch the lid for you! They make non child proof lids!
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u/ConnaaaR69 Jun 22 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Ginger hammock acorn cobblestone pebble glove wander
This post was anonymized with Redact.dev
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
I had no idea! Sadly this doesn't seem to be the case.
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u/Perimentalpause Jun 22 '26
Yeah, a lot of 'childsafe' lids have just screw lids under them. If I were you and that one doesn't have it? Get an older bottle or some other container to keep them in. Keep the bottle for the label if you need it, but there's no actual reason you have to keep your pills in the bottle they came in.
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u/ledow Jun 22 '26
This is why people have those compartmented pill "calendar" things.
Just break the bottle open and dose each day's compartment as necessary.
(but also, yes, ask for easy-open bottles).
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u/EatingGilbertsGrape Jun 22 '26
This isn't going to help you right now, but last time I got medication, the top of the lid doubled as a non-child safe screw on lid. All pill bottles for people over 40 should include them lol. Something like this:
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
💯 they should default to this!
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u/EatingGilbertsGrape Jun 22 '26
Absolutely. We didn't get flying cars, the least they can do is this
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u/welktickler Jun 22 '26
The child proof locks on medication meant my mother couldn't open her medication so from the age of about 5 i was opening then for her. Not very child proof but really bad for disabled people
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u/LittleSoftTail Jun 22 '26
Damn, guess they're following the same logic as scissor packaging. Sometimes, I wonder if the people behind designs like these do this on purpose to troll or if they're just really fucking stupid.
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Jun 22 '26
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u/Impossible_Ad_7367 Jun 22 '26
Yes, lots of packaging is difficult to open, but it is especially difficult when you buy scissors or a knife, because it is likely you don’t have one, hence the purchase.
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u/DefinitionOfAsleep Jun 22 '26
My Dad got recommended to take a specific vitamin to pre-empt a potential issue with one of his prescription meds. No issue with the actual prescription med, but the actual vitamin bottle?! I got the lid off (not easy) and I used scissors to stab the air seal.
I'm a physically fit person, and the air seal deflected me stabbing it three times.
They aren't dangerous vitamins (like A, D or E) or anything, I'm pretty sure it was a B-12 and something else where you could down the pack.
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u/Old-Egg-1231 Jun 22 '26
Unless you have children or pets that could potentially get into the meds, I’d just leave the lid off once your husband takes it off so you don’t have to wait on him again.
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u/Brave_Explorer5988 Jun 22 '26
Ugh, no. But they could transfer it into a different recipient that's easier to open.
I wouldn't leave it off due to moisture and humidity in the air which will quickly ruin the meds.
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u/miuyao Jun 22 '26
But please label the new container
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u/Sierra-117- Jun 22 '26
As long as you don’t have dementia, that shouldn’t be an issue. If you forget which drug it is, you can look up the shape/stamp/color of the pill and find out what it is
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u/facelessvoid13 Jun 22 '26
Leaving the top off always leads to me spilling my pills
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u/Objective_Brief_1953 Jun 22 '26
That or put it in an easier to open container if you want to keep it sealed and dry.
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u/glhfbruno Jun 22 '26
Like one of those weekly charter ones?
im not in any specific meds, but i did have at somepoint but do medicines get any sideeffects if left on the sun or exposed to light etc... air humidity etc...
Some liuids i guess but normal pills?
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u/WorriedWrangler4748 Jun 22 '26
Yes they do. General and very easy rule is to just keep it in a room temperature and dry place. Kitchen drawer is usually perfect. A lot of people leave medicine in their bathrooms and I’m not sure why that’s so common as most people take hot shower so that environment is neither room temp or dry.
To add, if a drug itself is sensitive to light it’ll come in a different container.
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u/MilesNiles Jun 22 '26
Your pharmacy is able to give you easy open caps and can put a note in their system to only give you easy open caps.
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u/EntireAdvance6393 Jun 22 '26
Sounds like when I can’t get myself to go to the store to get my ADHD medication because I have ADHD. 😂
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u/soup1286 Jun 22 '26
me not able to get an assessment for adhd because NEARLY 5 YEARS LATER I still can't fill out all the forms for them😭
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u/Key-Philosophy-5446 Jun 22 '26
My mother has cerebral palsy and this sort of things was basically a daily struggle. Until a few months ago our pharmacy got new lids that if press real hard on top they work like a normal screw on cap
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u/KorporalKarnage Jun 22 '26
This is almost as bad as my bank's ATM. They had a sticker saying they have braille options. On a regular plain flat sticker....
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u/Away-Paramedic-8406 Jun 22 '26
I once had to ask my then 4 year old to open my Rx with a child proof cap. My hands couldn't. Obviously I stored that Rx far away from her.
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u/coverslide Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
The first episode of SNL had a sketch about an arthritis drug called "Triopenin". The gag was the bottle was too hard to open if someone had arthritis. You'd watch a pair of hands try to open a bottle and eventually smash it on the ground.
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u/Inner-Confidence99 Jun 22 '26
Just letting you know —— from my experience over the last 3 years.
Be very careful of this medication. My husband is on it and his doctor told him take only when needed due to it damaging the kidneys. Since it’s a Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory medication. It harms the kidneys badly but it’s the only thing besides steroids to help his arthritis.
Just trying to help people stay safe.
Most pharmacy stores will put on an easy cap if you just ask.
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u/RainSurname Jun 22 '26
Easier to hold, larger print, drug info on a pull out label, different color rings for different meds and/or different family members to reduce mistakes.
Superior in every way, so much so that it won a Design of the Decade award and was featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art.
They should be the standard everywhere, but they cost a tiny bit more, so they're gone.
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
Wth. That's better in every way. My mom had taken my meds by accident before because the bottles are identical.
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u/RainSurname Jun 22 '26
The designer's grandmother accidentally took her husband's. She was Helene, he was Herman, so the bottles both said H. Adler. She survived the Holocaust, but almost didn't survive the kind of mistake that kills thousands of Americans every year.
You can't see it in this picture, but the name of the medication is in large letters across the top. They even made little clear magnifier cards for the visually impaired, that could be slipped in with the pull-out label.
After CVS took over Target's pharmacies and they switched back to standard bottles, a lot of people just poured their meds into old ones that they'd saved.
The patent expired last year, so they actually could be the new standard, making the lives of everyone who takes medication better. But that would require the pharmacies to spend money on new printers and new robots, and their bottom line is much more important than our lives.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Cod7512 Jun 22 '26
You can pop off the safety cap if you can get someone to help. Put the bottom edge of the cap against the edge of a counter and apply upward pressure and it will leave a smaller, non safety top.
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u/DeeplyFlawed Jun 22 '26
I had second degree burns on my hand & couldn"t open my medication. I got desperate & cut it open with a knife.
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u/seraphimseptimus Jun 22 '26
As someone who used to work in pharmacy, next time you fill your script, ask if they have alternative caps that can be inverted into the mouth of the bottle (they pop off instead of screw off). You will lose the child-proofing element, if this matters in your situation, but hopefully it will be easier on your joints.
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u/millenialismistical Jun 22 '26
Duuude similar complaints here I broke my left arm and they gave me my pain meds in this type of bottle and it is so difficult to open with one functioning hand! I ended up turning the bottle upside down then putting it on a rubber mat (like a coaster but for bowls or pots) and pushing down while turning. But then I have to hold the lid against the bottle while I flip the whole thing right side up without spilling all the pills. What a sick joke.
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u/Kdoesntcare Jun 22 '26
Let the pharmacy know, they should have different kinds of bottles they can give you.
Something like this guy which has that little tab you pull instead of pushing on the entire cap. It's just a bottle from a Walmart pharmacy, no label because I've been using it to set up my daily pills because the blue cap makes it stand out.
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u/Leverkaas2516 Jun 22 '26
Modern packaging is a nightmare. But I fight back using the tools in my garage. Some of the most useful are designed for working with metal: hacksaw, tin snips, bench vise, and so on.
Tools that are intended to cut mild steel work great on plastic. I used to feel kind of dumb going to the workbench and using channel-lock pliers just to get the top off a bottle but then I realized I'm not the dumb one. What's dumb is making a package impenetrable in the first place.
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u/MrSnowden Jun 22 '26
My favorite memory of my (now deceased) dad was when I was about 8. I was awakened in the middle of the night by a ruckus downstairs. I found my dad in the kitchen, wearing only his underwear, beat red all over. shaking with rage and furious anger, holding a giant kitchen knife and a child-proof bottle that had cut marks all over it, but somehow still evaded him.
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u/BarryAllensMom Jun 22 '26
Question - do you have your meds shipped to your home or pick up at a pharmacy? You can just tell the pharmacy to use the non safety caps.
If they are shipped home, I suggest calling your pharmacy benefit manager - that’s the company that runs your RX claims through your insurance. They can ship you easy open caps. If they state the drug comes from the manufacturer, then they can ship the cap separately but you’ll have to swap them out.
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u/serena_violette Jun 22 '26
You can go into the pharmacy and just ask to switch it out and they’ll put it on your profile to give you the non-safety caps in the future! I believe sometimes you need to fill out a form. I had this happen a lot because one of my coworkers just didn’t pay attention to the cap preference, so I had to change out caps a few times lol
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u/PlayedWithMatches Jun 23 '26
I was just saying the other day that they should make seniors med bottles like pez dispensers
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u/They_See_MeTrolling Jun 23 '26
This is similar to the warnings on medications that say "do not take triopenin if you are allergic to triopenin." How will I know I'm allergic to it unless I take it?
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u/drunky_crowette Jun 22 '26
You can take it back to the pharmacy and tell them you need a different container, or you can be like my old neighbor Milosh and knock on someone's (my) door every month, say "my friend, big problem, bad joints, can't open joint medicine! You help?" and then leave the cap off all month.
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u/NeverCallMeFifi Jun 22 '26
I had surgery on my hand and will be in a cast for three months. All five of my post-surgery scripts are like this. I literally had my 10-year-old neighbor open one of them for me.
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u/psysny Jun 22 '26
When I had hand surgery I got really good at holding jars and bottles between my feet to open them one handed.
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u/SquidleyBoDiddley Jun 22 '26
I feel your pain. Took meloxicam for several years before being switched to celebrex (less interaction with acid reflux)
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u/ScaredAndImpaired Jun 22 '26
I know the feeling. I couldn't get treatment for my anxiety for many years because I was too anxious to go and see a doctor...
Doesn't seem very well thought out if you ask me...
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u/Miserable_88 I don't like people Jun 22 '26
My chinchilla takes this in liquid form for teeth pain! I hope you get it open and put it in a different container!
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u/biest229 Jun 22 '26
This is no fun! Also my cat takes this for when she gets anxious peeing. I was very confused for a minute
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u/QuickSquirrelchaser Jun 22 '26
"Get wrecked you finger hurting no grip strength suffering arthritis haver!!"
Sincerely the bottle manufacturer...(probably!)
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u/honey_rainbow Jun 22 '26
You do know you can specifically request the rhr pharmacy not fill your scripts with child resistant caps? I know this because I just took and passed my PTCE (Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam) and this was a question I had on my test.
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u/Medical_Arrival2243 Jun 22 '26
My cat gets the same stuff, they have it in liquid form too. At least for cats
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u/PlantyPenPerson Jun 22 '26
Please ask the pharmacist for easy to open lids. Most pharmacies have them for this situation.
Just make sure they are kept secure from young children, if there are any.
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u/GrapefruitFriendly30 Jun 23 '26
Unrelated to what you are infuriated with. How do you like that medication? I have been on it for months and feel like it doesn't help with my arthritis (yes I know mention to my doctor) I am just curious on how you feel about it.
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u/actualhumannotspider Jun 22 '26
Yeah, that sounds frustrating as hell.
Meloxicam is once a day, right? (As in, not multiple times per day as needed.) You could have him open the container once and then put the pills in a pill organizer.
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u/astercalendula Jun 22 '26
Yep. I'm still new to this and I don't always need it daily. Which is why I don't have a routine for it yet.
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u/Lady_Penrhyn1 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
They aren't kidding when they say take it with food btw. Stomach ulcers suck. Always take it with food and not just yoghurt or something light. You do not want a stomach ulcer from this shit.
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u/Falstaffe >It was my privilege Jun 22 '26
Yeah, that sucks. I get mine in boxed blister packs. Easier.
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u/williamjamesmurrayVI Jun 22 '26
meloxicam is an absolute lifesaver though. I don't know how I would deal with life without it.
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u/GarmieTurtel Jun 22 '26
They know it is an arthritis med. They can see the age of their recipient. Seems like common sense to at least offer the non-childproof lid.
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u/PhotoFenix Jun 22 '26
I'd also like to say I had one of those blue cubes, I was very sad when it broke
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u/RadicalNBSpaceQueer Jun 22 '26
Shit, that reminds me I still have to take mine for the night! Thanks lol
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u/Choice_Scar9035 Jun 22 '26
I feel your pain. I also have Dupuytrens disease so my left hand is basically useless. I can't open shit and have to wait until my husband is home.
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u/CakePhool Jun 22 '26
Oh, I never understood these orange bottles. In Sweden you can ask for having your daily meds in a small plastic bag, they comes with day and dates on them and you can get whole roll.
My neighbour has that, easier than a pill organizer or bottle, how ever she cant open the box it comes with, so that is what I or my other neighbours does for her.
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u/ADHDK Jun 22 '26
If you don’t have children around ask someone to open them quickly and forcefully, breaking the child safe cap.
I do this to all my child safe things around the house.
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u/rehabbingfish Jun 22 '26
Hate pills, but Meloxicam does wonders and where I live is 5 dollars for month supply without prescription.
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u/visionsofzimmerman Jun 22 '26
Your arthiritis medication is the same as my cat's painkiller. Interesting
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u/randomusername1919 Jun 22 '26
That’s as bad as Target stocking the backache pills on the very bottom shelf. Like, if I could bend down and get that I wouldn’t need it!
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u/gwangjuguy Jun 22 '26
You should have told the pharmacist. They actually have different pill bottles for this issue.
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u/RidethatSeahorse Jun 22 '26
That’s frustrating!! Not quite the same… but bought some face serum for ‘mature skin’ can’t read the label even either my glasses on!
Have you tried Daily dispenser packs? I find they are easier snd then I know what I taken.
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u/thatgirlkla Jun 22 '26
Once you (or your husband) gets the cap off, look underneath it. There might be another cap under it and if so, you can pop off the childproof cap.
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u/I_Heart_Sleeping_ Jun 22 '26
Never thought I’d see this medication on Reddit. I’m also on this but for a pretty severe herniated disc in my back. They give me this and Tramadol.
Next time you go into the pharmacy you can ask them if they offer other bottles that are easier to open. My local CVS has them but one a few miles out does not so mileage may very.
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u/KathrynSpencer Jun 22 '26
You can pull that safety cap off to unveil a disabled cap under it that does the real sealing job, but you might need a better set of hands to do it.
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u/Plastic_Flan_2529 Jun 22 '26
Some pharmacies use a clever cap that is child safe on one side and easy if one flips it; I just switched to CVS and they didn’t get the memo
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u/siggiseid Jun 22 '26
Tried to find my proof. I also have rheumatoid arthritis, I couldn’t open a pill bottle and it made me so pissed off that I cut the bottle open with a bread knife. Oh my god it’s so infuriating.
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u/IntrepidMaybe8579 Jun 22 '26
Which pharmacy?? Try walgreens they give me a bottle which doesnt need to be squeeze at all or pushed down, its locked by a small plastic tab built into the bottle wich you gently push down with your thumb and it twists off, or you could even just push the bottle sideways into a counter on the tab it its unlocked
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u/Practical-Work1268 Jun 22 '26
Side note: be careful with that crap I have been on it for two years but the last few month I slowed down to as needed with my other meds. This stuff caused a ton of heart issues, bleeding, etc.
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u/Crowe3717 Jun 22 '26
Doesn't help you in the moment, but just because they give it to you in a child-friendly bottle doesn't mean you have to keep it in a child friendly bottle. First thing I do is put them into cooler containers
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u/omgitskae Jun 22 '26
I like that Publix pharmacy caps are both safety and non safety in one. They give it to you with the safety side fastened, but you can flip it and thread it without the safety feature.
I hate everything else about Publix though and their bottles have that stupid lip that makes it hard to get your medicine out.
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u/PublicAppearance Jun 22 '26
Interesting, they come in a completely different kind of packaging where I am
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u/77th_Bat Jun 22 '26
a lot of caps you can turn them upside down and they become non-safety caps. This does not appear to be one of those. This is dumb.
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u/cripplinganxietylmao Jun 22 '26
Press down on it with your palm while picking up the bottle. Rotate the bottle instead of the cap.
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u/DevilsAssCrack The turd doesn't fall far from the butthole, after all. Jun 22 '26
This is like when you buy scissors in a pack you need scissors to open
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u/stoptye Jun 22 '26
You obviously have lots of responses already but when I had this problem I specifically pushed the lid against my palm to hold it and turned the bottle rather than trying to turn the lid because the bottle was easier and bigger to grip. In case that helps anyway. I still think it's silly to not be standard that arthritis medications not be put in these bottles lmao.
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u/Krojack76 Jun 22 '26
I have had full blown Rheumatoid Arthritis since 4 years old in every single joint. I'm going to be 50 soon and luckily I can still open bottles just fine. I fear someday I won't though. I also live alone.
But as others have said, when you get these filled tell them your situation and you want a non-safety cap.
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u/Markuz1989 Jun 22 '26
Does Meloxicam actually help with your arthritis? It did nothing for me unfortunately.
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u/isanyusernameopen Jun 22 '26
Yep. I experienced the same thing when I broke my thumb. Was given a bunch of medication’s, went to go pick them up and couldn’t open any of them with one hand available. My thumb and my hand that was on my broken thumb side was weak and in a cast, and I couldn’t open it. I had to go ask someone else to open my drugs
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u/Disastrous-Capybara Jun 22 '26
Last year I got operated on my left wrist, got a cast all the way up over the elbow. Got a nerve-block thing up on the shoulder, so the arm was completely numb. Picked up the morphine from the pharmacy on the way home from the surgery.
Next day when the arm was no longer completely numb but still very unusable and the pain started, I needed painkillers urgently. I could not open the bottle and was panicking.
Had to knock on my neighbours door and ask if they could open it for me... She was a grumpy lady from the east, she opened it for me but she looked really bothered. 🤣
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u/mosschiefmayhap Jun 22 '26
NGL I have used a hammer with the pill bottle in a plastic bag before and then put it in something easier. Now I try to check before I leave the pharmacy for the easy open tops
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u/Large-Treacle-8328 Jun 22 '26
Old enough to have arthritis but not wise enough to request non-safety caps on medication
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u/Natural_Task9025 Jun 22 '26
I didn’t know they used this medication for people , we use it loads for dogs and cats !
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u/Diosabella789 Jun 22 '26
I feel your pain. I have wrist issues and I can’t manage the push and twist movement. I’m not married and I live with my even more elderly mother. Fortunately, I have a really sweet mail carrier who will happily open my bottle for me.
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u/Iconclast1 Jun 22 '26
good thing it will only be hard once!
sorry, its the internet. expect jokes.
get well soon
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u/PurrBeasties Jun 22 '26
SNL did a skit about this many years ago. The medicine was called Tryopenen
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u/rubiedoobieunicorn Jun 22 '26
Take it in to the pharmacy and tell them you want a non safety cap. They’ll add your request to your profile, but if they forget you can remind them and they’ll swap it.