Patch medicines

There are concerns about the small levels of drugs that may be found in surface water, such as rivers and lakes, and in drinking water supplies. The FDA and the U. Environmental Protection Agency take the concerns of flushing certain medicines in the environment seriously. Still, there has been no sign of environmental effects caused by flushing recommended drugs. In fact, the FDA published a paper to assess this concern, finding negligible risk of environmental effects caused by flushing recommended drugs.

For more information on what to do when you no longer need your medicines, visit this FDA page. Enter your email address to subscribe:. This article provides step-by-step instructions and graphics on how to apply and use a transdermal patch. You can use these instructions for applying a transdermal patch to your own body. Be sure to place the patch according to instructions from your doctor or the package.

This could lead to increased side effects or prevent the drug from working well. Your doctor may suggest that you rotate the locations where you apply your patch. This is because placing a new patch in the same place as the old one may irritate your skin.

When rotating patches, stay in the same area of the body. The entire sticky side needs to be in direct contact with your skin. In general, for a loose patch, you can use the palm of your hand to press the patch back onto the skin. If one edge of the patch becomes loose, use tape or a sticky adhesive film to secure the loose edge.

Throw it away and apply a patch at your next scheduled time. Page last reviewed: May 24, Content source: Smokefree. To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: Email Address. What's this. Related Links. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.

Patients applying their own patches need education about where to best apply patches. Patches are also available for some forms of anti-depressants, for testosterone , and some are looking at development of an insulin patch for diabetics.

Those medications that irritate the stomach when taken orally, such as Fosamax, which is used to treat those with osteoporosis , may be better in patch form. Medications in patch form are still a new market, and there are some issues.

Patients need to be taught where an how to place the patch. In addition, not all people absorb medication from patches equally.