[hamster-bamster]

Usually, I peel off the label (the identifying part of it) before recycling empty bottles that contained Lithium pills, because Lithium is a giveway bipolar drug and I do not want my neighbors - in a huge apartment complex - to know I have it.

With Synthroid bottles, I do not bother, since it is not a psychiatric drug. That I take it to compensate for the damage done by Lithium and not due to an organic hypothyroidism is too much for a neighbor to suspect.

I had a little experiment looking for a simpler way to preserve confidentiality - I took a black Sharpie and tried to cover all the confidential information on my medication bottles. It did NOT work!

So I wrote the post (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Livin...70022196607489) and am pasting it below. If somebody has an easier way than mine (peeling off labels is annoying), please share. Thanks!

Stigma is alive and well, so protecting the privacy of your medical information is key.

Before recycling or otherwise disposing of empty medication bottles, peel off the paper label and shred it. Note that even taking a Sharpie to go over your name, the name of the prescribing doctor, and the pharmacy information is not sufficient - the identifying info might still be visible because the marks left by a Sharpie are semi-transparent.

If you do not have a shredder, look for shredding events in your community, which are more often than not free.

Every paper record that is connected with your taking psychiatric medications or seeing a mental health professional MUST BE SHREDDED if you do not need it - that includes leaflets that often come with prescription drugs.

[hamster-bamster]

I am now thinking that the best way is to take the bottles to the pharmacy and they dispose of them professionally. But that would only work well for people who get their meds at a brick-and-mortar pharmacy - you drop off the old bottle for proper disposal and pick up a new bottle.

i get the medications in the mail, so for me it would be an extra trip... still, something to think about (maybe combined with grocery shopping). Also, the community mental health clinic I go to has a mailbox-like receptacle for disposing of old/unneeded medications. I guess it can be used for empty bottles, too.
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[~Christina]

Any Pharmacy anywhere will accept your old pill bottles regardless of where you get your meds from.

Or super simple solution at home .. Wave a BIC lighter over your name a few times and noone will be able to read it you can easily just toss it in along with your daily trash

[Hellion]

I just don't see why one would go through my trash to see what meds I take...lol, that said I usually peel off the label as I might use them for other things...I actually have lots of prescription pill bottles that are empty and some with left overs of meds that didn't work(not sure how to dispose of them properly so just have it in a box.

But if a sharpie isn't sufficient what about ink or something, I don't know aside from that since it can be hard to get the whole sticker off I just scratch off any obvious info on it. Also though the labels are usually stickers not so sure if most paper shredders would be effected by the sticky bit or not. Or maybe one could just burn it till no letters are clear, but not sure never tried that....it might burn the plastic which would smell nasty.