ran out of meds, can i take old lexapro?

[bluesunset]

ive been really sick with a cold, got no sleep last night, woke up super late and forgot to run to the pharmacy to get my refill before it closed. i have 0 pills of my newer prescription left, i usually take 15 mg every night. however, i did find an old bottle of 5mg lexapro pills from august 2016, abt 8 months ago, in my drawer. there's no expiration date, just the date it was filled (8/4/16).

i called my doctor's office and the receptionist told me it should be fine, or that i could just skip a dose and wait until tomorrow. i dont want to skip a dose BUT im also anxious about taking old pills. has anyone done this before? is it ok if i go ahead and take old pills? would they make me sick?

[panic_down_under]

i called my doctor's office and the receptionist told me it should be fine, or that i could just skip a dose and wait until tomorrow. i dont want to skip a dose BUT im also anxious about taking old pills. has anyone done this before? is it ok if i go ahead and take old pills? would they make me sick?

Citalopram has a shelf-life of 4 years (https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/23026#SHELF_LIFE) and they don't immediately go bad so unless you live in a one horse town remote from civilization where the pharmacy has little turnover the pills are almost certainly okay.

BTW 1: Use-by-dates are often stamped into one of the blister strip ends.

BTW 2: citalopram has a fairly long half-life, about 35 hours, so one missed dose is unlikely to cause any issues.