# Expired propranolol - how effective/safe is it??



## tearac (Jul 9, 2008)

I have an upcoming event and found some old propranolol laying around. It's about 2 years past the expiration date. Is it safe to take and should I take a little more than usual since I read somewhere that it may lose some of its effectiveness past expiration?

I know I could get some more from my doc but I don't want to have to spend the $$ for an appointment for about $5 worth of pills. 

Anyone have any experience with taking propranolol past the expiration date?


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## Kon (Oct 21, 2010)

Is it 2 years past the expiration of your prescription or 2 years past the expiry date on the bottle?

If the latter don't use. If the former it might be okay because most of the bottles that prescriptions are filled from usually have ~2 year expiry date from the date the prescription is filled (at least where I worked).


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

Kon said:


> Is it 2 years past the expiration of your prescription or 2 years past the expiry date on the bottle?
> 
> If the latter don't use. If the former it might be okay because most of the bottles that prescriptions are filled from usually have ~2 year expiry date from the date the prescription is filled (at least where I worked).


Where I worked, the pharmacy's turn over rate was like 2-3 weeks MAX so it doesnt matter if its the pharmacy's expiration date or the date on the bottle.


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## Kon (Oct 21, 2010)

Dr House said:


> Where I worked, the pharmacy's turn over rate was like 2-3 weeks MAX so it doesnt matter if its the pharmacy's expiration date or the date on the bottle.


Sometimes you get patients/customers asking for the expiration date and we have to go back to the bottle where we filled the prescription from and tell them that date. Almost all the bottles I've seen usually have another ~ 1-2 years. We have to discard any bottles where the expiry date has passed. But I agree, with very high turnover drugs, they go so fast that expiry date issues rarely occur since we have to replace them with new stock bottles way before the expiration date.


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## tearac (Jul 9, 2008)

thanks for the quick replies. It's 2 years past the expiration date on the bottle. Is there a reason why I shouldn't take it apart from just being on the safe side of things?? I don't plan on taking it on a regular basis just maybe a few doses to get me through the event.


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## Kon (Oct 21, 2010)

It might be somewhat less effective. It might not matter (most likely). I've taken drugs past expiry date (narcotics) and they worked fine. I generally don't take drugs if I seen any change in appearance (colour, texture, etc). If no such changes, and dose isn't very crucial, I'd take it. But, that's me. I've never had any problems and drugs always seem to work fine.


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## tearac (Jul 9, 2008)

ok thanks. They look normal so maybe I'll take a test dose and measure my blood pressure to see if I need to take an additional dosage.


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## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

Most drugs are safe to take past the expiration date (the US army tested that). After years they may lose some potency. There are a few exceptions though: Tetracycline antibiotics can get toxic after the expiration date and taking them may lead to renal failure in worst case.


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