Out of date meds.

[*willow*]

Please excuse if this is posted in the wrong place, I wasn't sure where it should go but please move it if needs be.

I've been on 60mgs of Duloxetine for about 3 months but now they've stopped working so my doctor has swapped those for Reboxetine and I'm due to start those tomorrow, my problem is I'm very nervous about this but I have some Lorazepam so that's okay, or so I thought. When I looked the expiry date for those its April 2013, my question is will they still be okay, it is only 4 months out of date, or should I not take them and see if my doctor will give me some more(he's not all that happy about prescribing Lorazepam).

Thank you for reading.

Lynn.

[Tufty]

Hi Lynn,

The Lorazepam should be fine but may not be as effective. 4 months out of date is not long, I took some tablets that were 4 years out of date the other day and some spices in my cupboard are 8 years+ OOD I took Diazepam last year that was 3 years out of date and it didn't seem to work as well.

Medication does not go 'off' and cause illness, it just loses it's efficacy and the manufacturers cannot guarantee how much of the drug is still effective in the tablet after the stated date.

I am not a pharmacist or a doctor but assume that they will comply with health and safety directives and advise you to dispose of the out of date drugs and obtain some new ones. So to ensure you are getting the right dose of Lorazepam I would ask your GP for a new script (but keep the old ones until the new ones are safely in your hands)

Take care and good luck with the new drug
Sam

[*willow*]

Hi Tufty and thanks for replying. That's good to know, just in case.

I will try, and try being the operative word, to get a new prescription but my gp is very reluctant to prescribe these, but I don't ask often, so maybe it'll be okay.

Not taken the first dose of the Reboxetine yet, I chickened out this morning because I think I'm getting withdrawal sides from the Duloxetine now and feel pretty yuk, oh well, tomorrows another day.

Lynn.