Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

Original poster

How far out of date would medicine/tablets be before you chuck them ?

24 replies

bizzey · 27/02/2023 16:45

Sorting out the lovely cupboard in the kitchen!

I have items with expirery date going back to 2021 .

Just paracetamol/ ibuprofen/ insect creams. Sort of thing .

Will they still work ...?

OP posts:

Original poster

bizzey · 27/02/2023 16:47

Just found expired..2018 !
That feels like yesterday!!

OP posts:

ToffeeForEveryone · 27/02/2023 16:49

Do not take expired medicines! Why do you even have to ask this, paracetamol is like 50p just bin them.

WinterMusings · 27/02/2023 16:51

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General health

WallaceandGrommit · 27/02/2023 16:53

Do not take expired medicine. It’s a safety thing. Over time (and under certain storage conditions) medicines can degrade and their breakdown products can be potentially harmful. Just don’t risk it.

Take the expired medicines to your local pharmacy. They should be able to dispose of them properly. Please don’t bin them or flush them down the loo as I’ve seen some people do.

WrongSideOfLife · 27/02/2023 16:54

A pharmacist posted on here about this once. Said tablets are likely fine but anything liquid/cream dispose of because they would lose efficacy quicker than solid tablets.

DoctorMartin · 27/02/2023 16:55

I never chuck medicine out. Just in case there is a Zombie apocalypse or something similar!

Maybe I've been watching too much of the Last of Us!

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 27/02/2023 18:21

I'd probably use them up to 6 months after the use by date

YouLiveAndLearn · 27/02/2023 18:27

I took an omeprazole that expired in 2016 a few months ago (I was desperate). It didn't help but it didn't harm me either.

Borridge · 27/02/2023 18:30

Also depends on the shelf life of the medication: if it is something that spoils within 2 months of purchase I bring it back to the pharmacy.
a paracetamol 2 years out of date I would still take.

AlwaysLatte · 27/02/2023 18:34

Never, I'm really strict about this (I will eat some foods past their date, but not meds).

MrsMoastyToasty · 27/02/2023 18:34

Prescription medicines I would chuck out. Over the counter medicines, particularly tablets or powders rather than liquids, I would use well beyond their use by date as they don't tend to have active ingredients.

percypercypercy · 27/02/2023 18:44

I couldn't eat out of date food never mind take out of date medication.

notea · 27/02/2023 18:55

Paracetamol, yes I would

Tablets that degrade dangerously are rare - doxycycline (an antimalarial) is one; I've needed to be very careful disposing of it. But I knew about the issue when I was first given it.

Cherrysoup · 27/02/2023 19:14

A pharmacist (family m) told me years for tablets.

Musicaltheatremum · 27/02/2023 19:18

bizzey · 27/02/2023 16:47

Just found expired..2018 !
That feels like yesterday!!

Isn't it just yesterday though? 🤣🤣😁😁. I met my husband in 2018 and it feels like yesterday.
People born in 1986( the year I graduated) are 10 aren't they?!
Time is a funny thing but the last 10 years have been weird.

lljkk · 27/02/2023 19:22

I'd take all meds OP listed. Probably have to be 20 yrs out b4 I didn't.

Wallywobbles · 27/02/2023 20:18

A decade at least. I have some arnica cream from the 90's.

soleilblue · 27/02/2023 20:19

Never

Cookerhood · 27/02/2023 20:23

MrsMoastyToasty · 27/02/2023 18:34

Of course they have active ingredients! Paracetamol, ibuprofen, omeprazole, Viagra. The list goes on.
I would use out of date medication. Probably up to a couple of years. The percentage degradation will be miniscule.

Jules912 · 27/02/2023 20:24

I accidentally had some lemsip that was 2 months out of date and it doesn't seem to have done any harm. Not sure I'd risk 2 years, though I believe paracetamol is just unlikely to work rather than being dangerous.

BevMarsh · 27/02/2023 20:24

Up to 6 months I'd take them if I had no alternative and after I'd consulted Dr. Google and found evidence they likely wouldn't kill me.

hettiethehare · 27/02/2023 20:25

I don’t think I have ever even checked the expiry date on a packet of paracetamol …

JaninaDuszejko · 27/02/2023 20:28

WrongSideOfLife · 27/02/2023 16:54

A pharmacist posted on here about this once. Said tablets are likely fine but anything liquid/cream dispose of because they would lose efficacy quicker than solid tablets.

This. The 'use by' date is well within the actual degradation timescale of the medicines to allow for the general public not checking expiry dates before using. Anything liquid or cream the biggest issue with an open back is bacterial contamination.

AffIt · 27/02/2023 20:43

I have a decidedly laissez-faire attitude towards food (I ate a yoghurt that was six weeks OOD the other day, I'm fine), but not with medication.

Maybe six months at a push with OTC tablets if I was totally desperate, but anything liquid (medicines / ointment), no - from what I understand, it's not that they're dangerous as such, but they lose their effectiveness.

Wouldn't even go that far with prescribed meds.

Don't chuck it in the bin, though (especially not antibiotics): pharmacists are normally happy to take OOD medication and dispose of it safely for you.

Flip