Topic: What Are the REAL Expiration Dates?

[Ellie_Jean]

I know the bottles say to discard after one year, but that's not necessarily an expiration date. I want to stockpile my HRT tablets in a climate-controlled room. I need to know what the ACTUAL expiration dates are though; the ones the pharmaceutical companies don't like to tell consumers lol. How do I find that out??? 🤔

[Margrit]

Hi Ellie_Jean

I don't think that's a clever idea.
I would never take the risk that perhaps medication no longer works exactly as it should.

Best wishes
Margrit

[Battle Goddess]

I know the bottles say to discard after one year, but that's not necessarily an expiration date. I want to stockpile my HRT tablets in a climate-controlled room. I need to know what the ACTUAL expiration dates are though; the ones the pharmaceutical companies don't like to tell consumers lol. How do I find that out???

Hey, EJ!

One reason the companies put a "discard by" date on meds is that they can be reasonably confident that with proper care, the meds should perform as expected (within an acceptable tolerance) up until then. They're not making any guarantees after that.

Make of that what you will. I've had elderly aspirin that worked just fine, but aspirin is generally fairly low-risk when you only take a little bit once in a while.

For daily maintenance meds? You choose, but I like mine fresh and dependable.

[AnonyMs]

For many drugs it’s decades or more. There’s a number of articles and papers in it, for example.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7040264/

How long for these particular ones I don’t know, but I’d guess it’s very long. And longer if you keep them refrigerated.

The ones that tend have problems are liquids and and certain classes of drugs I can’t remember.

If you try it and die could you please update this post.

[ChrissyRyan]

@Rakel can likely give you the information for medicine tablets.

I think that full potency may fade as the pills age but they are likely good for quite awhile.
A pharmacist should be able to inform you for your specific medicines.

Chrissy

[Devlyn]

My HRT has an expiration date, it doesn't say anything about discarding after a year. The ones I'm taking now expire in 11/25

[pamelatransuk]

I am in UK like Devlyn and have no Discard Date but do have Expiration Dates of 10/24. I obtained these from pharmacy in December 2021 and  hence conclude almost 3 years.

Hugs

Pamela xx

[AnonyMs]

A pharmacist won’t be able to tell you anything except what’s on the expiration date. No one tests it any longer than they have to, and even if they did it would be internal confidential info of the manufacturer. You’d never be able to find out, their lawyers would make sure of that.

[Margrit]

Hi Ellie_Jean

Why do you think you will need such an extremely large stock?
May be your pharmaceutical form has to be to changed or your whole product needs to exchanged.
So what? -Destroy the whole supply? -
That would be an enormous waste of money, medicine, space etc.
In addition, it would certainly be hazardous waste, so no ecological pleasure ...
As i said, before in my other post, I don't think that's a clever idea. From my point of view it makes no sense but of corse you need to do what you have to. its absolutely your choice.

Best wishes
Margit

[Rakel]

Okay, drug expiration dates. Here we go again.

There is much misinformation about drug expiration dates. In the US, we have a law that requires manufacturers to print a lot number and expiration date on every bottle. The maximum shelf life is 5 years, mainly because the manufacturer must prove stability up to that date and data beyond 5 years is not readily available.

When a drug is dispensed from a pharmacy, they put a maximum one year expiration, mainly because many people do not store their medications in a cool, dark and dry enviorment, which is ideal for long term stability. The type of container that is holding the medication has a big effect on stability. Heat, moisture and ultraviolet light are the enemies of drug stability. As others have already said, liquids decompose faster than dry medications.

What we have here are many factors that are not the same for everybody, so we cannot give a simple one statement answer.

I have some concerns with the articles mentioned by AnonyMs. The first one is NOT from a reputable medical journal and should be deleted or disregarded by everyone. The second article is more reasonable and has proper credentials. They mention $800 million in wasted drugs every year. This is about $2 per year per person in the US. What seems like a huge waste is in reality a pittance, but their point is true, drugs are many times still good to use after their expiration dates. The problem is how do you know if any particular drug was stored as it should be and it is still good to use?

Consider the source for everything you read on the internet. 

[pamelatransuk]

Rakel

I am aware that Ellie Jean referred to bottles and you refer to bottles also.

I assume that many tablets in US are despatched in small boxes from pharmacy to patient as here in UK? Just out of interest, does the US one year expiration date also apply to small boxes of medication please? As Devlyn and I have exemplified, it appears to be 3 or 4 years here! Thanks

Hugs

Pamela xx

[Devlyn]

Rakel

I am aware that Ellie Jean referred to bottles and you refer to bottles also.

I assume that many tablets in US are despatched in small boxes from pharmacy to patient as here in UK? Just out of interest, does the US one year expiration date also apply to small boxes of medication please? As Devlyn and I have exemplified, it appears to be 3 or 4 years here! Thanks

Hugs

Pamela xx

In the US pills are usually dispensed in small plastic "pill bottles" filled from bigger bottles in the pharmacy inventory.

[Devlyn]

I know the bottles say to discard after one year, but that's not necessarily an expiration date. I want to stockpile my HRT tablets in a climate-controlled room. I need to know what the ACTUAL expiration dates are though; the ones the pharmaceutical companies don't like to tell consumers lol. How do I find that out??? 🤔

A couple of observations:

1. The pharmacy stockpiles your medication in a climate-controlled room for you.

2. To stockpile your medication, you need to be not taking your medication.

3. With Walmart prescriptions costing $4 per month, or $40 a year, it seems better to stockpile your money instead of spending it on a climate controlled medication room.

[pamelatransuk]

In the US pills are usually dispensed in small plastic "pill bottles" filled from bigger bottles in the pharmacy inventory.

Well, you learn something every day! Thank you Devlyn.

Hugs

Pamela xx

[Rakel]

Again, I cannot make an accurate blanket statement. Once a medication is out of the dispensed bottle, who knows?

I will make one exception to what I just said. Some medications are dispensed in a blister pack. This is a sheet of plastic with a pocket for each tablet and then covered with a strip of foil. This type of medication pack is stable until the printed expiration date on the blister pack assuming that the foil above the unused tablets is not disturbed and the entire packet is stored as printed on the packet outer box. Again, lots of variables here.

[pamelatransuk]

Thank you Rakel. It is customarily the Blister Pack system here in UK.

Hugs

Pamela  xx

[RandiL]

I don't take any pills, but I have IM estradiol valerate in 5ml vials. For awhile last year you couldn't get it. So when I found a pharmacy that had it I stocked up as my prescription allowed (their systems for calculating allowed refills are very imperfect on injectables I guess). The manufacturer prints an expiration on the box. I got mine in September 2021 and it is good to April 2023. I'd guess it has a 2 year shelf life. Now my doc has cut my dose in half so I have nearly a years supply! I keep it in a cool, dark, dry place (a closet).

My smartphone thinks it's smarter than me. It's probably right.

[mako9802]

Use its till is gone.  Thats what I am going to do.  If the <not allowed> hits the fan I would rather have expired medicine than no medicine at all.  Its still going to have some effect even if not the full effect.  I only want enough testosterone to function no more no less.  I NEED MY ESTRADIOL!

[Rakel]

Injectable medications are different from all other medications in terms of safety and stability.

Injectables medications are sterile because they are injected directly in to the body. Any microbial contamination can and sometimes do cause a serious infection if injected into a person. The safest injectable to use are the single dose products. Multi dose products that must be punctured time and again, risk the possibility of contamination each time a dose is withdrawn from the container. We try to minimize the possibility of contamination by using good technique, wash hands, wipe top of vial with alcohol, wipe injection site with alcohol.

It is true that multi dose vials contain a preservative, which does, most times, prevent microbial contamination from growing in the vial, but this is not 100% complete protection. Hospitals in the USA all limit the maximum stability of an injectable medication to 30 days, if kept refrigerated. The refrigeration almost completely stops the microbial growth, but the maximum limit is still 30 days after the vial is first punctured. You will see a date on each punctured multi dose vial, which is the date of the first puncture. If there is no date, it is assumed to be contaminated and discarded. Additionally, not all medications can be refrigerated.

For an injectable medication used at home, the manufacturer will print a package insert that will specifically spell out how long a punctured vial is good for and under what storage conditions. Read that package insert and take the recommendations as factual.

As always, consider the source of any recommendations.

[Battle Goddess]

Thanks, Rakel. That's very good to know. You're aces in my book.