For those of us in GB. Watch out for the dates of expiry on the packets. I’ve just collected my latest prescription and found the 5mg expires September 2019. I have a couple of ‘spare’ packets they are dated October 2020. Not sure why ‘old’ stock is surfacing.
Pred expiry date: For those of us in GB. Watch out... - PMRGCAuk
Pred expiry date
Written by
Jean56
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40 Replies
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Hi Jean
This happened to me last year & the Chemist brought it to my attention, saying l might have ones ‘In Stock’ with a longer Expiry Date!
I think maybe some of the Suppliers have been having a sort out? But it is a good time to Remind Everyone to check their Expiry Dates & put them in order.
I did check with our local Pharmacist & he said NOT to take Out of Date Pred!
Thanks For letting Us Know.
MrsN 🌷
Yellowbluebell in reply to
You were ill because of your pred being out of date weren't you? Plus someo e else as well?!! Definitely take care.
in reply to Yellowbluebell
No, it was because l think l may have had a ‘dodgy’ pack!
Yellowbluebell in reply to
I knew there was something connected to pred!!
I have this happen to me quite often over the years. I will have some Sept 2019 then some for 2021. I did have some one time that would have gone over their sell by date by the time that I had got through them. I always check now just in case.
Very wise. I hesitate to say this but I was wondering if it had something to do with something that may, or may not happen, in this country, at the end of October. I’m don’t mention the actually word......
You are not wrong, my Pharmacist is going daft as they keep on running out of items and some supplies are being delayed now.
I want to know why my pred is now taking up to a week to arrive. I am very suspicious. I think Jean is probably right about the culprit.
I would not take any bet that she is wrong. Oops off piste again.
Totally NOT off piste! How we are affected is a perfect topic even if it's to do with "you know what"
'Piste off' too! 😏
in reply to Jean56
😉
I know! That concerns me, as I keep flare supplies. My pharmacy doesn’t understand my normal prescription, let alone that. I hope this was a fluke.
Where I live the pills are decanted into another container and I have no idea what the sell by date is. However I believe there is at least several months leeway between the "expiry" date and the date where the pills are truly not usable.
Believe it or not, Halloween is fast approaching, folks. Stock extra supplies of everything starting now.
Shall we blame it on Brexit? Didn’t they try to scare us that medicines would run out..
Who knows. Looking back to the start of the millennium all the planes were going to fall from the sky. It’s playing with peoples lives, scaremongering. We just have to try and keep a sense of proportion.... and keep taking the tablets!
You don't need Brexit. In Canada there are apparently hundreds of shortages every year already. Moreover it may get a lot worse as the 300+ million Americans have just been told by their wannabe emperor they are now allowed to import pharmaceuticals from Canada (with 1/10 th the population). As our drugs are cheaper this is a real concern.
As a (retired) pharmacist I would say there is no excuse for short dated prednisolone other than shoddy stock keeping.
Yes, very likely. My pharmacy is a very small and very busy establishment owned by one of the large companies, not Boots. They haven’t the room to carry very much stock so l presume it’s the supplier.
Silly question maybe...but if they were a couple of months out, would it be detrimental to us in any way?......
Not really, the drug manufacturers play it safe
Thank you...that,s reassuring....
Sure is! I have recently used up some 2.5's with last months expiry date on! I've been OK though thankfully.
And they really don't suddenly self-destruct when it gets to the date!
As I am down to 1.5mg I am thinking of cutting my 5mg into 4 to go down to1.25mg to use them up. What do you think?
Fair enough - and it is isn't perfect it doesn't matter, it is still less ...
How do you cut it into 4s? Mine crumbled at trying to cut in half. I threw the crappy pill cutter away (useless) and use a sharp knife but still.....
Use a brand new straight edged razor blade a making sure to apply equal and steady pressure firmly down. ( don’t let it wobble to one direction or the other for your safety’s Sake.)
I find this far more effective than a pill cutter and not crumbling the tablets.
Thanks for the tip.
PMRproAmbassador
It does happen every so often when a supplier realises there is a load left over. It doesn't usually matter to the patient - they get them for short courses to be taken immediately.
Recently my pharmacist owed me 13 x 5mg pills but was able to give me 17 at the time when I took in my prescription. I’ve just opened the box with the 17 pills in them and there’s 7 separate blister packs made up of 4 x 3 pills, 2 x 2 pills and 1 pill on it’s own! And not one of them has the expiry date on them, some are not even from the same manufacturer. So I’m using these up first in the hope that they are all ok! 😱
Is that in the UK? Doctors prescribe by numbers of pills, which don't match the numbers in the packs, so the pharmacists cut the excess off - heaven forefend you got a couple of pills extra!! Here we only ever get a multiple of whole packs.
I would express my ire at that - for us it matters that you know the expiry date as we mix stuff over months,
Yes, I’m in the UK. I think I’ll be ok with them as I’m using these first 😀
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