"Controlled" medications at college/in dorm?

<p>Hi all. I was wondering if I should get a safe for my dorm to keep my medications in? I know a lot of campuses have students that recreationally use medications and whatnot. Some of my medications are considered "controlled substances", and I worry about them being stolen. </p>

<p>With that out of the way, I was wondering if anyone has experience with how to get your prescription meds at college. I know most college nurses probably can't prescribe much besides Motrin and most definitely can't prescribe controlled medications. Should I have my doctor write me a script for several months? Or should I transfer my medical records and prescriptions to the town I will be staying in?</p>

<p>My college is 1,225 miles from home, so it might be a bit difficult to drive back and forth to get prescriptions.</p>

<p>Contact your college’s health services about the situation. Answers may vary depending on the type of medication, school, how rural your college is, etc. </p>

<p>Also if you’re prescribed an ADHD or pain killing medication, don’t let any of your peers know what it’s for. If they ask, either make something up or just say it’s personal and I’d rather not discuss it. The reality is, Adderall use is rampant on college campuses, and pain killer abuse isn’t exactly unknown. If word gets out, some addict (and even the best colleges have students that struggle with adderall/ pain killer addiction) might try to break into your dorm. A friend who takes ADHD medication had this happen to her around finals time. To prevent this, a cheap, tiny safe might be a good idea, or you could do what my cousin does and just hide the pill bottle in socks.</p>

<p>Whenhen, thanks for the reply. My meds aren’t painkillers or for ADHD, but they are one of the meds I KNOW for a fact that people (and not just students) tend to abuse. I like your idea of not telling people, and its one I had planned to implement. A small safe that I can put in my footlocker may be a good idea as well.</p>

<p>Another thing, I may end up having to go on meds that are injectables. A safe would be good for keeping syringes away from other students, but do you think a refrigerator lock might be a good investment as well, if needed?</p>

<p>Yes, I would keep them locked up. Register your medicine with the health center. Get your health care provider to write prescription ahead of time and fill it as needed locally.</p>

<p>I would definitely recommend getting a small safe/lockbox to keep them in. It’s a good idea to have one of these anyway to store valuables in. If you’re going to have a foot locker, I would suggest a locking one…and then keep it inside of the footlocker in a smaller lockbox. To take an extra precaution, you could even fasten the lockbox to the footlocker(i.e. bolt it down) somehow. May be overkill, but it’s not that hard to grab a small safe/lockbox and take off with it. If someone could take the entire box, it’s not going to be too hard to get into it then.</p>

<p>Where do you get meds filled at home? My D that’s away at school gets her prescriptions filled at CVS…once in the system, you can refill anywhere. That works for home, school, summer job, etc. Most chains would be the same I think. Maybe see what is near your school and it there is same chain at home, then move prescriptions there.</p>

<p>Check with student health center about services they provide and advice on injectable medications. You won’t be the only student to have this as an issue.</p>

<p>One of my nieces got a private room because she required specialized medical equipment (some kind of medication pump) and the medication. The medication was delivered once a week, probably by a shipping company.</p>

<p>What drugs are you prescribed?</p>

<p>Anyways, I think the whole safe idea is overkill. There’s no reason why you need to get paranoid about it. Don’t advertise that you have pills to anyone. If your roommate is a trusty person, he/she won’t care. Actually, I’d make it a point to see if your roommate actually does end up stealing some of your pills…then call him out on it/report him if you want. I’d do that.</p>

<p>Back when I used to live in the dorms, my roommate could have easily taken my stuff if he really wanted to, but he didn’t because I recognized him early on as being a trusty individual, so I never felt a need to get a safe or a lock.</p>

<p>When I had sleeping pills (used them to get to bed early before game day), I took the approach of just not really telling people I had them and keeping the bottle tucked away in a drawer under/behind other random things.</p>

<p>What others have said are good ideas. Another option includes removing the label from the bottle and lying about what they are in addition to just generally not drawing attention to it.</p>

<p>You can get prescriptions from your campus health services as they should have MDs on staff during normal business hours.</p>

<p>Im guessing these are anxiety meds? Only controlled substance I can think of that isn’t a pain killer or ADHD that would come in an injectable form.</p>

<p>“My college is 1,225 miles from home, so it might be a bit difficult to drive back and forth to get prescriptions.” haha you’re cute</p>

<p>yeah, i would ask your RA or ask the housing office, and explain your situation very well.</p>

<p>If you get your prescriptions form a chain pharmacy they should be able to retrieve your information from any location. If you’re like me and at home you use a local pharmacy you can see if you can get a three month supply.
As for how to keep it: I wouldn’t get a safe, but a locking box (like a tool box with a lock ring) might be ok. I know what it’s like to have moderately controlled substances as a regular medication. You could (if it’s in pill form) get one of those weekly medicine containers (easily found at any pharmacy) and fill it in private on a set day of the week. Then hide your meds at the back of a drawer or in a suitcase.
As a last resort make sure you keep the labels hidden (putting your meds away is always a good idea anyway) and never tell anyone what you take should they ask.</p>

<p>My university’s health center has actual doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses that work there. I’ve never been to see one, but other friends have and they’ve been able to get prescriptions. We even have a woman’s health center.</p>

<p>My university also has a Pharmacy, but I don’t use it. I use CVS because there’s one close to my house in my hometown and one close to the dorms I lived at during the school year.</p>

<p>How long are your prescriptions for? If it’s for less than a year, then I would schedule to see your doctors before you leave for school, so that you can get a prescription that will last you during the school year and you won’t have to worry about seeing strange doctors who don’t know your case.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about your drugs getting stolen. Just put them in your closet or your dresser and be discreet about taking them and you should be fine.</p>

<p>If it were me, I wouldn’t worry about locking my meds away. I always have my computer, purses, silks, jewelry, and once in a while, sums of cash in my unlocked room. Even if my door is locked, it’s very easily broken into, as are all of the interior doors in my dorm. Many of my friends have all/some of these plus “popular” medications like Aderall and other attractive “party” items. During events where there are a great deal of visitors on campus, like Family Weekends and especially parties, I lock my door and trust that unfamiliar people won’t realize that they could easily break into my room. When it’s just other students, I trust that they’re, well, trustworthy. If the situation that you are in is somehow sketchy, first off, I’ll be sorry to hear that, and secondly, go ahead and get the safe. </p>

<p>I brought one perscrip to college with me and have filled others since. I pick my scrips up at the local CVS. The system is national, so as long as your home and college are in the US, there shouldn’t be a problem. If you don’t have a nearby CVS/Walgreens/whatever, you might be able to set up something with the school medical center; most girls I know who are on BC do that since it’s more convenient. It’s possible to get more than one refill at a time since I’ve done that for travel, but I think it required certain notifications to CVS on my part. I don’t think that’ll be necessary for you anyway.</p>

<p>I personally lock my meds, but I have a small safe for other stuff anyway. If I didn’t have that, then I’d just make sure they were hidden.</p>

<p>My college has a full medical center that you just transfer your prescriptions to. As others have said, check with your school.</p>