What's in your medicine chest?

Will the Tylenol that expired in December take care of your headache? Should you throw away the antibiotics you didn't finish? Is your bathroom medicine cabinet in a good place?

When it comes to home medicine cabinets, the answers are sometimes more complicated than you might think. We sought out the advice of two experts: Pharmacists Stacey Mader and Donald Bennett.

The bare minimum

Mader says these items should be in every medicine cabinet:

— The National Poison Control Hotline number: 800- 222-1222. You'll be connected with the closest poison center.

— Sunscreen.

— Insect repellent.

— Regular-strength chewable aspirin, "in case you or someone you know has a heart attack or stroke." Chew it while you're waiting for emergency crews to arrive.

— A thermometer.

— A simple first aid kit. You can put one together yourself or buy a prepackaged one.

— Your favorite pain reliever: acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

The extras

What else you should stock depends on you.

If you frequently have colds, heartburn, upset stomach or similar complaints, have on hand medication to relieve it.

"I like to keep sore throat lozenges on hand," Mader says, because sore throats may develop in the middle of the night, when you want to go back to sleep rather than to the store. And lozenges don't expire quickly.

Tums, for an upset stomach or heartburn, also have a long shelf life, she says.

If you have diabetes and use syringes, you'll need a "sharps" container or some other sealed container to dispose of needles.

What not to keep

Syrup of ipecac and activated charcoal are no longer recommended for poisoning. Ipecac can cause too much vomiting. And it has the potential for abuse among people with eating disorders. Chronic use can cause heart damage.