Whether to throw or keep the desiccant after opening the tablet bottle

Tablet medicine bottles are commonly used packages for storing various tablets, capsules or pills. In order to ensure the dryness of drugs, desiccants are usually placed inside the bottles to absorb moisture. But if the drugs are unsealed, will the desiccants be thrown away or retained?

Generally, medicine bottles have certain hygroscopicity. When the environmental humidity is high, tablets, capsules, pills, etc. may absorb moisture in the air, causing deliquescence, deterioration, etc. of drugs, thus affecting the stability of drugs. In order to avoid deliquescence and keep the medicine dry, desiccant is often put in the tablet bottle. The commonly used medical desiccants are mainly silica gel, which is a transparent or milky white granular solid, has an open porous structure, strong adsorption, and can adsorb a variety of substances.

When the tablet bottle is opened, the medicine in the bottle will directly contact with the outside air. If the ambient humidity is high, the medicine is likely to absorb a lot of water vapor and deliquescence will occur. Silica gel desiccant has good water absorption capacity. For the purpose of moisture-proof, it is generally unnecessary to discard it immediately after opening, and it can be retained until most drugs are taken. However, once the silica gel bag is seriously hygroscopic, it should be discarded immediately. This is because the desiccant has reached the saturation state. If it is not taken out, the stability of the tablet will be affected.

To sum up, the absorption status of the desiccant should be checked in time after the tablet bottle is opened. If it is found that the weight gain is large and the residual water is obvious, it should be discarded in time. After the medicine is opened and taken, the lid should be tightened in time and placed away from light.