Can you help me figure this out?

Question

I have some 1 mg tablets of Lorazepam. The bottle says discard by 5/27/06. What will happen if I take some? Should I take twice as many as I would regularly take, since they're probably less effective now?

Answer 1

I FOUND ARTICLE ABOUT MEDS EXPIRATION..HOPES IT HELP YOU DECIDE:

Drug Expiration Dates - Do They Mean Anything?
With a splitting headache you reach into your medicine cabinet for some aspirin only to find the stamped expiration date on the bottle has passed - two years ago. So, do you take it or don't you? If you decide to take the aspirin will it be a fatal mistake or will you simply continue to suffer from the headache?

This is a dilemma many people face in some way or another. A column published in Pyschopharmacology Today offers some advice.

It turns out that the expiration date on a drug does stand for something, but probably not what you think it does. Since a law was passed in 1979, drug manufacturers are required to stamp an expiration date on their products. This is the date at which the manufacturer can still guarantee the full potency and safety of the drug.

Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from the study is 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date.

So the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. Medical authorities state expired drugs are safe to take, even those that expired years ago. A rare exception to this may be tetracycline, but the report on this is controversial among researchers. It's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, but much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date. Excluding nitroglycerin, insulin, and liquid antibiotics, most medications are as long-lasting as the ones tested by the military. Placing a medication in a cool place, such as a refrigerator, will help a drug remain potent for many years.

Is the expiration date a marketing ploy by drug manufacturers, to keep you restocking your medicine cabinet and their pockets regularly? You can look at it that way. Or you can also look at it this way: The expiration dates are very conservative to ensure you get everything you paid for. And, really, if a drug manufacturer had to do expiration-date testing for longer periods it would slow their ability to bring you new and improved formulations.

The next time you face the drug expiration date dilemma, consider what you've learned here. If the expiration date passed a few years ago and it's important that your drug is absolutely 100% effective, you might want to consider buying a new bottle. And if you have any questions about the safety or effectiveness of any drug, ask your pharmacist. He or she is a great resource when it comes to getting more information about your medications.

Answer 2

Is it the BOTTLE or the PRESCRIPTION LABEL that says discard? Rumor is, pills usually have a shelf life of about a year or more from the date prescribed. If it's the LABEL, check for an expiry imprinted in the bottle or box. (see link, btw)

I would NOT double up.

If you think the pills truly are expired, toss them. I accidentally took some expired pain pills once when I threw my back out, and ended up with heart arrhythmia and couldn't breathe - it sucked. On the other hand, I was so worried about surviving the night that I completely forgot about my back pain. :)

p.s. Another factor is whether the pills were stored in a cool, dark, dry place. A medicine cabinet beside the shower is a horrible place to keep medicine if you want it to keep its potency.

Answer 3

I have some of those too. It is better to ask a Pharmacist that question.. depends on where they were stored too. I wouldn't take more than .5mg over the orig dose. Take like 1.5 mg. Split one in half.

Answer 4

Hourglass is when the bust and hips are the same size and the waist is significantly smaller than the hips. Sounds like you may be more pear shaped. Examples: Hourglass: 36-26-36 Pear: 34-26-37

Answer 5

Maybe you shouldn't even take any...perhaps go get new tablets where the expiration date is far from today.

Answer 6

dude thats out by nearly a year. dont take it

Answer 7

call a pharmacist
they can answer this