Is expired cough medicine harmful?

Question

Id say i have about 1.5oz of Pathatussin DM. The expiration date is 11/01. Would i get sick if i drink it all?

Im not sick or anything, im just bored as all hell, and need something to pass the time.

and i know all about the half-half of active chemicals in medicine.

i took it, didnt really do much, i felt something when i smoked thou.

Answer 1

The expiration date helps you know when the chemical will lose its strength, but not because it becomes weaker, but because the exposure to light, air and many other factors causes it to breakdown or recombine with other elements forming a new substance. They warn you not to take expired medicine because many times poisons are formed that can harm you when ingested

Answer 2

Does Cough Syrup Expire

Answer 3

The reason medicines have expiration dates is that medicines lose their chemical stability over time and after that period of time, there could be higher concentrations of something else, which could be harmful to you than the medicine itself. If it's something 6 years old, I would just go buy another bottle of cough medicine. Pathatussin is really cheap too. A whole bottle might cost you $4 or $5. Just be safe and buy another bottle. Your health is worth more than a few bucks.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is expired cough medicine harmful?
Id say i have about 1.5oz of Pathatussin DM. The expiration date is 11/01. Would i get sick if i drink it all?

Answer 5

Not really but it's no use in taking it because the strength is gone. Some meds are harmful though if you do take it after expiration but for cough syrups, no effect on the cough. How about going the natural method and eat pure honey, that works?!

Answer 6

1.5 oz is equal about 44 ml, which is nearly 9 teaspoons, which is more than 4 times a typical dose.

For unexpired medicine, it's definitely an overdose, but it shouldn't grossly hurt you. 6 yrs is a bit long for expiration, so there's no guarantee that it hasn't deteriorated into something else, particularly if you don't know what the storage conditions were during the last 6 yrs.


Most drug expiration dates are set for absolute safety, i.e., they don't want drugs to go bad one day after expiration, so they set the dates for a wide margin.

Answer 7

Probably not. The expiration dates on medications tells you when the chemicals will stop working. All compounds decay overtime and become something else. So, it probably won't make you sick, but it won't do anything for your cough. You can only really keep medicine a month after the expiration date.

Answer 8

Old Cough Syrup

Answer 9

Mastrubating can also help kill time. Take some viagra and make yourself have a heart attack. I'm sure it's funner than being in a damn coma. Don't take that medicine. I'm pretty sure you'll get that euphoric feeling for about 4 hrs, but it's not worth it. All of those chemicals can make you test positive for a lot of things in a urine drug test.

Answer 10

DO NOT TAKE expired cough syrup! I took like 2 teaspoons yesterday and I ve been puking and shitting black syrup ever since. IT CAN POISON YOU "but because the exposure to light, air and many other factors causes it to breakdown or recombine with other elements forming a new substance"