JayWalker2009 wrote: True about the heat ruining the OTC meds far before an expiration date. If you have not left them in the unit year round in heat, pills are often still good past expiration. I have asked this of pharmacists and doctors. The longer they are expired, the more they are just going to lose efficacy. A few months past usually won't affect a thing. Now that is just for pills, not liquids. When you have this issue in the future, it would save you dollars to call up a local pharmacist and tell them what you have, how long it has been expired, and ask if it is likely still good. That way if it is you save time driving to a pharmacy and buying more.
Pretty close. Having worked in a pharmacy for a number of years as a pharmacy technician, I was often asked about the efficacy of expired OTCs and RXs. While it is generally the case that expired meds loose efficacy, some do not and will intensify the effect. I had to do research quite a few times on specific drugs. Nothing more enjoyable than consulting the PDR, Merck and other pharmacological resources.
So, indeed, if you are caught in a situation where you can't easily get replacement meds, call a pharmacy and describe the situation. The best course of action is to replace the meds with unexpired medications. The expiration dates are like speed limits: you can exceed them but there may be a price to pay. They're there for a reason, and not always will you know why.
In my kit, I carry primarily ibuprofen for fevers, headaches and general soreness, and a couple of naproxen (Aleve) for true muscle and joint soreness. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) for allergic reactions. Tums for upset stomach.
I carry a number of other things, but the above covers a decent set of symptoms for non-maintenance situations. Obviously, bring along anything that you use with some regularity.
And do not leave them out in the heat or moist environments. These will destroy medications very quickly. I had someone bring in some ibuprofen that they had sitting in their car during the summertime, and the coating was actually crystalizing. Not a good sign.
I take the few meds we need on each trip out of my household medicine cabinet.
we take the basics. some allergy/sinus headache meds, aspirin, neosporin/band aids, kid tylenol and a few other basics. I just pack what I usually might need in a small tub, close and put under sink.
when I get home I take out, put back in house and use as needed.
I used to leave it in the camper but it always expired and worried the heat was too much for it also.
My wife is also a retired Pharmacy Technician and keeps a close watch on our OTC meds, both for use in the home and in the coach. She has thrown out many bottles of pills that are out of date.
If any of you use a checklist, "Check expiration dates on meds" might be an item to include.
GM
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I won't list them all, but with the three kids we often need something. So we put ALL of our OTC medicine along with basic first aid stuff in a small lidded plastic container with a handle. When we take out the camper we just grab the entire box and have everything we need.
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Personally, I don't pay much attention to expiration dates on meds, except those that are critical: like prescription meds for infections or something, but by and large, those are supposed to be taken until they are all gone.
I've used prescription pain meds as much as five-six years old, and I can't see where there is any change in their effectiveness.
Grey Mountain wrote: My wife is also a retired Pharmacy Technician and keeps a close watch on our OTC meds, both for use in the home and in the coach. She has thrown out many bottles of pills that are out of date.
If any of you use a checklist, "Check expiration dates on meds" might be an item to include.GM
I'll just add always look at the expiration dates on EVERYTHING you buy at the CG stores! I've seen can goods and boxed foods be 4 years over the expiration date and OTC's that were 2 years over the expiration date. Not to mention that the colder states close their CG's and leave these staples in unheated stores and next season there they sit on the shelves ready for sale again! B
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us".
I am a chemist and managed chemical storerooms with hundreds of organic chemicals and none of them came with expiration dates. In thirty years no chemical ever caused problems in our experiments due to going bad over time.
All our Rx's come with a one year expiration date. The variety of chemicals that are represented in our Rx's cannot all degrade at the same rate. I have tried to find research based data for expiration dates and cannot. I have to admit I did not invest a lot of time in this.
There is no incentive for pharmaceutical companies to conduct research to justify expiration dates. The costs of such research will not increase, but rather decrease, their profit. There is an incentive for them to cause us to throw them out after a year because then we will buy replacement drugs. The physicians I have asked about this have all said that they know of no data to support expiration dates, with the exception of Tetracycline.
Often drugs that have expired are donated to poor countries but are rejected because of suspicions about them.
Most Rx's are meant to be taken in their entirety so most of us should not have Rx drugs lying around. I don't worry about OTC, or Rx drugs for that matter, that are a year or so out of date. I have a few Vicodin tabs that I keep for occasional pain that are several years out of date and work just fine when need them once a year or so.
Grey Mountain wrote: My wife is also a retired Pharmacy Technician and keeps a close watch on our OTC meds, both for use in the home and in the coach. She has thrown out many bottles of pills that are out of date.
If any of you use a checklist, "Check expiration dates on meds" might be an item to include.
GM
Then your wife should know that those dates on OTC drugs are for the most part arbitrary, and that most OTC meds are good way past the expiration date. Here's an article from Harvard medical school (just one of many articles on this subject from highly reputable sources):
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