Use by date of Levothyroxine

[PixieElv]

Hello Lovely Christmas People

I’ve just discovered that since of my Levo will expire at the end this year. Is it save/effective to use beyond the date in January?

thank you

[RedApple Administrator]

It will be fine PixieElv. Eventually, it might lose a little potency, but that won't happen for months, maybe even years

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

As RedApple says. Just to illustrate the point, I'm currently using some T3 with an expiry date of January 2020, so 23 months past it's expiry date and it hasn't lost it's potency.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

The answers emphasise why it is a good idea to be careful with storage of tablets such as levothyroxine.

The expiry date means that, so long as they have been stored adequately, they will remain potent at least to the expiry date. (In the UK, for levothyroxine, that is 90 to 105% of what the label says.) If you can be a bit more careful than that, they will maintain potency even longer.

Cool (not refrigerated). Dry. Dark. And, if in bottles or pots, sealed.

[Wired123]

I agree with what others say but I had issues with a batch of T3 which was brand new. For some reason potency wasn’t quite right and I felt really tired and sluggish, blood tests confirmed something was wrong. Next batch put me right and bloods also recovered.

If you find yourself going backwards then the tablets are potentially an issue so be mindful.

[janeroar in reply to Wired123]

I agree with this. I had a batch of T3 that was only a month or two out of date and i felt under medicated. Switched to a fresh batch and I was fine. So if you feel ok, continue but be mindful it might lose potency

[Wired123 in reply to janeroar]

Mine was a new batch, sealed bottle of 90 tablets which I go through in 45 days. Something must have happened that damaged the tablets and they lost potency.