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February 10

Pseudophedrine packaging

Question is about pill packaging, not medical per se. OTC seasonal allergy med. Does anyone know whether this stuff is sold as loose pills in a bottle? I've been getting it in those foil packs where each pill is sealed in plastic and it's a nuisance to do that, especially since I like to have a few pills on hand wherever, just in case. If the pills are sold in bottles then I guess it is safe to take them out of the foil packs, if I can't find a place to buy the bottles. Thanks. 2601:644:8581:75B0:0:0:0:2D6 (talk) 04:54, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Have you asked your pharmacist? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:06, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I see this. (They state they are "licensed to ship nationwide", but forgot to state which nation.) ‑‑Lambiam 09:36, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If purchasing without a prescription in the United States, the maximum quantity you can legally purchase is so low that it is not viable to use bottle-based packaging. (This describes why it isn't available.) If you have a prescription, you can get a 30-day supply at higher dose. However, none of the NDC codes currently in use for pseudophedrine that I examined indicate bottle-based packaging. All that I examined are box-based, which would include the foil-sided sheet of pills. I did find two liquid forms that do come in a bottle, but it appears you want pills, not liquid. There are 475 NDC listings and I did not examine all of them. Further, having an NDC code does not mean that the pill, in that packaging, is available without a prescription. You can search all available legal United States packagings here. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 13:17, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The question is not if it is sold OTC as bottle-packaged tablets, but whether it sold at all in this form. I also found this. ‑‑Lambiam 18:09, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That is a sample image. If you were to order it, it would likely be in a box. Amazon pharmacy doesn't list the distributor, packager, or medication source. Of course, I am limiting this to the United States. In the U.S., if you make a legal purchase, it will be tied to an NDC code. That is why I provided a link to the current list of every NDC code for every form of pseudophedrine you can purchase. It is true that someone could illegally sell pseudophedrine in a bottle or a baggie or a sock. I assumed the person wasn't asking about that situation. I also included a link to the reason why you can't purchase pseudophedrine in large enough quantities to warrant a bottle unless you have a prescription, which excludes OTC purchases. The link you supplied to Amazon Pharmacy is a prescription-required purchase, not OTC. One final note: I saw that the question mentioned buying the foil packs, but placing them in a pill bottle if you had one. Pill bottles are cheap and available from many sources, including Amazon. If you are concerned with the safety of the packaging, don't un-foil all of the pills imemediately. Only open how many you expect to use per allergy incident. You probably want a pill extractor to do that. It makes it much easier to get pills out of the foil sheets. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 18:31, 10 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You ignore the aspect that OTC-hood is not a factor. I also think the OP does not care whether pseudophedrine tablets are sold in bottles specifically in the United States. Images such as seen here show that at least one distributor has at some time sold them in bottle packaging. ‑‑Lambiam 06:56, 11 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I filtered the NDC list for only products from Major and they are all in box form now. I thought I made it clear that I have no intention of checking nearly 500 entries, but all that I have checked are in box form for good reason. Bottles are more effective packaging for large quantities of pills. Boxes are more effective for small quantities of pills. 68.187.174.155 (talk) 17:23, 12 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

My pill extractor came with six little bottles so after I pop all the pills out with the extractor, they fall right into the bottle. Then, I remove the bottle and put a lid on it. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 17:19, 11 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]