Shelf life of Prednisone?

[Kritterkid]

Does Prednisone last longer than the expiration date on the bottle?

Thank you!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Probably - but some people have had problems with tablets that were only a short time out of date.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

I think there’s a bit of leeway - as with most things with dates on nowadays.

But maybe not as good as those in a foil pack.

After a few weeks or a couple of months they probably won’t have deteriorated that much - depends on how they have been stored as well.. but after that they may not work as well. So use common sense….some of us [slightly beyond their teens] still remember what that is.. 🤨

[SnazzyD]

Might be ok but if it is critical I wouldn’t bank on it, but it’s probably better than nothing if you are in a fix.

[Twopies]

a long time ago I read a journal article (sorry, can’t remember where) where they studied effectiveness of prednisone that was 2 years old. While they said it hadn’t lost any potency, they did not recommend using it.

[piglette]

Dr Ben Oldacre in Bad Medicine said that if some drugs were kept in the dark and in a cool place they could last for years. The trouble is that is not true of ALL drugs!! Things like antibiotics, biologics, injectable drugs, eye drops, insulin should NOT be used, but it seems many others last a lot longer than their sell by date.

[Polygolfer]

as with most things, yes, but strongly recommend you don’t take steroids unless under medical supervision.

[Gimme]

Personally, I would take them if it was an emergency, assuming that they were not too far out of date; i.e. if I had run out and was just waiting for the pharmacy to dispense my prescription, as it can be dangerous to suddenly stop taking pred. Though, it is not good practice to take out of date medicines and I would be reluctant to suggest to anyone else that they did the same.

However, if they belong to someone else, then I would not recommend taking them at all. Prednisolone should only be taken under medical supervision; i.e. if it has been prescribed for you.

p.s. that last paragraph is a general comment, not directed at you individually. I see from your bio that you have been back on pred since May 24.

[Kritterkid in reply to Gimme]

I should have lead with this but the reason I asked is because I was on pred for PMR from 2018-2020 and just found some in my Emergency Go Bag. I guess I should toss it, darn. Guess I should update my Go Bag more often, too!

Interestingly, our dog was just put on 5 mg Pred and has some left over. It is fresh & the same stuff as mine. I wonder if I can add it to mine. BTW, her's was more expensive than mine.....!!

[Eric48 in reply to Kritterkid]

The cost of drugs for animals makes me realise how lucky we are to have the NHS

[Karendeena]

My friend is a chemist and owns a pharmaceutical company. He tells me never to take medications past their expiry date as the can change form and could become dangerous.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Karendeena]

Hmmm - and so he can sell more ...

[Karendeena in reply to PMRpro]

Don't think so PMRpro, we are very close and I respect his knowledge. Don't think that came into it, he was more concerned with my health when I was going to take some antibiotics that were past their expiry date. He says expiry dates are there for a reason. In terms of food if it's best before no problem if it's use by then again they may change form so I never eat anything past it's use by date.He has lots of medical journals and recently showed me a report on the linkage between foods wrapped in vacuum packed plastics and cancer.....it makes you think 🤔

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Karendeena]

Abx aren't to be messed about with but with solid tablets it is also a matter of degree,

[Gimme in reply to Karendeena]

Well, he does have a strong point. One of two things can happen. Either the active ingredient can break down and becomes less potent, which can be critical for the control of certain medical conditions. For e.g., you would not want an anti biotic to become less effective, or indeed, a heart drug, the obvious examples that come to mind. The other main issue is that as the active ingredient degrades with time, some ingredients produce toxic degradation products. For e.g. I am aware that salbutamol can produce a degradation product that is broncho-constrictive, instead of broncho-dilatory, which you really don't want if you are in the middle of a severe asthma attack. I don't know much about how prednisolone behaves, though it has a long shelf life, and I would expect that it is fairly stable

Though, in general, a medicine isn't fine one day and then goes off the next, which is why I said that I might use an expired medicine if it was a short period and it was an emergency. The main exception would be an injectable. Never ever use an injectable after the expiry date as the preservative may no longer work and you don't want to be injecting something that could be biologically contaminated.

The expiry date reflects the data submitted by the manufacturer to support the safe shelf life and approved by the medicines authority (MHRA in the UK, FDA in US). Some companies generate stability data for longer, but don't apply to have the expiry date extended, so it doesn't necessarily mean that the medicine would cause harm. Different medicines break down differently with time. However, as patients, we don't know if that is the case and we don't have the knowledge to make that judgement call, so it is wise to respect expiry dates for our own safety. Your pharmacist is unlikely to have access to that information either, and besides it would be unethical to recommend taking an expired medicine. And, in fact, he could be making himself (or her) liable to being struck off the register by the Pharmaceutical Society. So that is the right advice from the pharmacist.

So in general, the advice has to be, respect expiry dates on medicines to be on the safe side.

[Karendeena in reply to Gimme]

💯 agree, the reason he said this to me was when I was going to take some amoxicillin antibiotics after the expiry date. I respect his knowledge and knowing that he would have my best interests at heart. He did use the words "may become harmful". I put on my response that he showed me an article on the linkage between plastic vacuum packed food and cancer....makes you think 🤔 🤔

[papadapadoo]

I recently had occasion to use prednisolone tablets that were six years old (blister pack) and they seemed to work just fine.

[Karendeena in reply to papadapadoo]

How long past their expiry date? Just my opinion but you were taking a risk there

[Joseph14612]

My Pharmacy says they are good for 1 year from pick up....but personally most say 2 years...

[Karendeena in reply to Joseph14612]

I am surprised pharmacists would say such a thing for fear of being sued if something went wrong! Are you in the UK? I know my pharmacist wouldn't say such a thing

[Joseph14612 in reply to Karendeena]

I am in the states... I called the pharmacy and asked,,,,one year is their expiration date. My opinion is 2 years....but I am not a pharmacist..I have heard of 3 years,,,but then lose potency... with Prednisone, I would be careful.

[Karendeena in reply to Joseph14612]

Do they not have expiry dates on the packages?

[Joseph14612 in reply to Karendeena]

No...it is a prescription bottle with date of purchase....they say it is 1 year.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Joseph14612]

I wonder how credible that is. I got some pred dispensed as an emergency supply from a pharmacy in the UK last week. There were some 1mg tablets and some 5mg tablets. The 5mg tablets have a year on the pack, the 1mg ones only a few months, It is common for tablets in the UK to be removed from the original pack and sometimes you will fail to find an expiry date. In Italy my medication is always dispensed in the original manufacturers package which has the expiry date on it. I wonder how consistently conscientious pharmacists are,

[Joseph14612 in reply to PMRpro]

Yes, makes you wonder...

[Karendeena in reply to Joseph14612]

Every medication you have in the UK has a packaging date and an expiry date

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Karendeena]

Not necessarily - you often get your prescription dispensed from a large loose-oacked batch into small tablet bottles or packs which may or may not have that info on them. I had a batch of 5mg enteric coated tablets that simply didn't work - the 2,5mgs dispensed the same day were fine, Neither bottle had a date of any sort so when I rang them to tell them the one lot seemed dodgy, they had no way of tracking them, A good pharmacist will include the info but last week I got an emergency prescription of a batch in blister packs and on some of the strips you couldn't even see the dose! They were labelled on the pack but you had to look carefully. In contrast EVERYTHING I get in Italy is in the original pack and is dispensed in pack sizes, not number of tablets as in the UJ=K.

[nuigini]

In Canada the expiry date on the bottle is the expiry date of the prescription. I consult with the pharmacy to get the actually expiry, best before date of the medication.I did some research years ago that indicated tablets, properly stored, can remain potent many years beyond the expiry date.

[Karendeena in reply to nuigini]

Potent, yes possibly, but dangerous is another matter, just my opinion from my knowledgeable friend

[Rostom]

An interesting discussion!

My pharmacist was, a few months ago, unable to source 1mg gastro resistant Prednisolone. I mentioned that I had some from a while back - at that time they were five months out of date. The pharmacist said that they were absolutely fine to take and I then asked 'how long out of date is fine?' and he replied 'six months is okay and probably longer'. I have managed to obtain a new stock but there were none available for several weeks.

Rightly or wrongly I do keep old pills 'just in case' there is a supply problem but have no idea 'how old is too old', despite expiry dates on packaging.

My experience with expiry dates on packs is that they are usually there from the manufacturer but the same pharmacist above occasionally re-packages tablets into a small carboard box (I have no idea why!). When I notice that there is an expiry date missing, I call him and ask what it should be, then write it on the box. I have wondered about his practices but overall he is a good chap!