10 must haves for your home medicine cabinet

I remember growing up in Lagos, my mom had a special drawer filled with all kinds of ‘drugs’ and ‘medicines’ that she would refer to anytime myself, my sister or one of the extended family members felt sick or unwell.

Looking back now, what was in mummy’s cabinet?

Now as a qualified medical professional, what do I think about mummy’s cabinet and what needs to be in it?

To fully appreciate a home cabinet and what needs to be in one, we must first ask the simple question, what common and simple things am I trying to manage at home? Once you know what it is you are trying to manage, you can work your way backward to figure out what you need. (“Begin with the end in mind” - Habit #2 of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

Our list is far from exhaustive but any list should include the following:

SO what should you stock up on?

Having personally suffered from an unfair share of ‘dyspepsia’ probably because of my vigorous love for spicy jollof rice, jalapenos & ofada stew, I now swear by OMEPRAZOLE. Ranitidine is not great – the way it acts on the tummy means that it is not very effective. Lansoprazole works best when taken 30 minutes before a meal (who remembers???). Usually, I have swallowed the first spoon and tasted the serious pepper before remembering to take my OMEPRAZOLE, which works like magic once I take it. I cannot recommend it enough.

METOCLOPRAMIDE & PROCHLORPERAZINE (BUCCASTEM) are two great anti-sickness drugs. I prefer BUCCASTEM to Metoclopramide because it is harder to take a tablet when you are feeling sick but with Buccastem, you can put it in the space between your top lip and gums where the drug can be absorbed into the blood without you having to swallow and risk vomiting again.