We hear this all the time at the Maryland Poison Center. And we do believe what happened. You may think you’re the first person to have done something worth calling the Poison Center about, but chances are our experts have heard it before. Here are some common calls we get:
“I can’t believe I just did this, but I wasn’t paying attention and used hemorrhoid cream as toothpaste!”
We’ve also received calls after people used hydrocortisone cream, antibiotic cream, or muscle rub by accident. These items are commonly stored near toothpaste and have a very similar tube size and shape. It’s easy to make this mistake when your mind is on other things, you’re still waking up, or tired from the day. Many creams aren’t harmful when ingested in small amounts, like what you would use on your toothbrush. It may not taste good or it may be irritating to your mouth like with muscle rub products. If you find yourself in this situation, the first thing to do is spit it out and rinse out your mouth. The next step is to rinse off your toothbrush and use your actual toothpaste to brush your teeth and tongue. Then call the Maryland Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 to make sure the product you accidentally used won’t cause more problems than just a bad taste in your mouth.
“I didn’t read the instructions before using this. My Boric Acid Suppository looked like a pill, and I took it by mouth instead of using it as a suppository!”
Poison specialists at the Maryland Poison Center hear this one a lot. Women may be told by a health care provider to use boric acid for several reasons. Boric acid suppositories are readily available over the counter and look just like capsules you would take by mouth, so it is easy to see how this error can be made. Most people tolerate taking one or two capsules by mouth just fine, though some stomach upset and vomiting might occur. Do not make yourself vomit, though. Drink some water, milk, or juice then call us at 1-800-222-1222 to make sure the product you made a mistake with is not going to cause further problems.
“I keep my medicines for the day in an empty pill bottle and grabbed the wrong bottle by mistake. I take them straight from the bottle, so I just took the rest of my prescription medicine supply instead of my morning medicines.”
People may store their morning or evening medicines in a spare bottle or vial rather than in their original containers. The error occurs when they grab the wrong bottle and take a large quantity of one medicine in the medication container, rather than one single dose of multiple medicines. This type of error can be harmful, and may need a trip to the hospital, depending on the medicines and amount involved. If the error just happened, call us at 1-800-222-1222 to determine if you need an emergency department evaluation or if it is an error that can be monitored at home. In some cases, our poison specialist may have you or someone you’re with drive you to the hospital. In other cases, the poison specialist may have you call 911, so the responding emergency medical technicians (EMTs) can begin treatment right away. They may give activated charcoal (not the capsules you can find in your health food or vitamin shop) to help bind some of the medicine so your body can’t absorb it. EMTs can also administer lifesaving medicines and perform lifesaving procedures. We do not recommend storing medicine in spare bottles because of this danger. Instead, keep medicines in their original labeled containers or use a daily pill minder.
For these or any other medicine errors, call the Maryland Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222. Our experts are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It’s a free call!
Becka Mestas, PharmD
Certified Specialist in Poison Information
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