Prednisolone expiry dates

[maria40]

This gave me reassurance about taking the out of date pred

health.harvard.edu/staying-....

[MrsNails]

Maybe, Maybe Not....

I wouldn’t do it, l always rotate my tablets putting the newest at the back.

A couple of years ago my Pharmacist gave me a Prescription & said use these first before any you have in stock as these have short expiry dates....

I have questioned several Pharmacist’s on this topic & they have without exception always said DON’T Take Out Of Date Meds....

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Well, I wouldn’t be taking out of date medication, or much else either.

There's a reason why things have best by/use by dates - apart from bottles of mineral water which have been in the ground for millions of years - and have a 2 year date on packaging!

Obviously in some cases it could be downright dangerous to use,

unlikely maybe in medication, but the quality and efficacy will have deteriorated - so what’s the sense in taking them.

[MrsNails in reply to DorsetLady]

That was always Terry Wogan’s question, why did water have a Sell By Date as soon as it was put in a bottle?......

I do miss Sir Terry 💚

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to MrsNails]

‘Elf & safety gone bananas as usual - and yes he’s missed!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to MrsNails]

Less of a problem with glass bottles - but stuff leaches out of plastic ...

[MrsNails in reply to PMRpro]

It was just his humour 🍀💚

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to MrsNails]

We listened him every morning with our tea

[MrsNails in reply to PMRpro]

I’d stay in the car in the car park until I’d heard the end of Janet & John 😂 it’d set me up for the day! 💚

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to MrsNails]

Very often I was driving to work - which was a bit dodgy at times!

[MrsNails in reply to DorsetLady]

If you were at the Traffic Lights & looked to your left or right you’d see other people laughing too 😂

We have a couple of Janet & John Children in Need CD’s & sometimes they pop up when we select Shuffle in the car, it can be quite surreal & still as funny......

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to MrsNails]

But probably wouldn’t be allowed on the Beeb nowadays! More’s the pity - we could do with a laugh.

Just been reading an article in today’s Times supplement by Gyles Brandreth and his favourite jokes. He’s got a book coming out later this month. Think I need to buy it! Unless we can get it on prescription through the NHS😂🤣😂

[MrsNails in reply to DorsetLady]

He very funny, met him several times when l worked at The Nuffield, he was Chester’s MP

[HeronNS]

Have read this article before and agree with it. That being said, I wouldn't go out of my way to use old meds. I believe six months to a year at the outside. I take my out of date otc aspirin and tylenol to the pharmacist for proper disposal and have always allowed six months leeway. Have no idea what pred expiry is, as it has been decanted into a bottle from the original packaging and have never noticed any difference as time goes by. Some people have complained that pred from a new supplier has caused them problems and I've thankfully not been exposed to that but it could be more significant issue than expiry date.

[maria40 in reply to HeronNS]

I agree and will only do it if there is a problem with supply which I have done in the past to no apparent ill effects. Perhaps there was less absorption - who knows? - we can only tell by how we feel.

I had a friend who used to work with a hospital in Sierra Leone and would take out of date (within reason) painkillers, etc with her when she went and they were very gratefully received as were out of date bandages and dressings.

[HeronNS in reply to maria40]

Probably these days expired masks would be acceptable.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

They were - in the UK at least they found large quantities of out of date stuff in a warehouse. They were retested and the labels changed ... Which I find less concerning than the arbitrary moving of the requirements for various procedures that fitted what they had to offer. Like plastic pinnies instead of full gowns ...

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

This article shows how badly Canada was prepared for the pandemic, and this is just the federal level; apparently Ontario was also in the process of discarding millions of expired masks without replacing:

cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatch...

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

I suppose at least the UK still had them!! But I couldn't believe that they didn't have a bring forward system so the older stock was used first and replaced with new continuously. After all, PPE of all sorts is used all the time even if not in such quantities. And N95 masks are used in other areas too - so there is an overlap. But they were complacent - it was going to be a flu ...

[Jackoh]

Yes I agree that for me taking pred from a different supplier is something I dislike to do as I have had problems before. With regards to out of date pred I’d be inclined not to take it and like Mrs Nails , I personally feel, that I need to get a life as I sort through the pred to make sure I use the oldest furst😜😂💐

[MrsNails in reply to Jackoh]

It just makes us very organised, my Meds Drawer looks like a very smart Meds Trolly 😉

[Jackoh in reply to MrsNails]

😂🤣x

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Jackoh]

I leave that to my pharmacy!!!!

[tangocharlie]

My GP says most out of date meds are OK, they don't become dangerous, just possibly slightly less effective, possibly. He says it's like Best before dates rather than Use by dates. This was in answer to a situation where I still had some meds left from a previous occasion. I guess it depends on how critical the dose is then.