Beware! Never Take THESE 5 Expired Medicines; Can Pose Serious Health Risks

Always check your labels and take them seriously!

Taking expired medications does not always feel like a big deal, but according to experts, some can do serious damage to your health. It is a common practice to keep antibiotics, painkillers, energy pills, and even digestion medication in your medicine drawer, and without regularly discarding or checking most people pop them.

Plenty of people have also time and again popped a Combiflam or Ibuprofen past the use-by date on the label without any negative side effects. According to doctors, even a few antihistamines are relatively safe to consume after their expiration dates. While there is no risk of toxicity in these for s there is loss of potency, so they won’t be as effective.

However, there are serious implications of taking a few other medicines way past their expiration dates.

According to doctors, antibiotics should never be taken without a prescription. Also, make sure to always check their expiry dates before popping a pill, because a few of them degrade to the point that they can cause irreversible kidney damage.

Also, if the antibiotics become obsolete, losing their effectiveness, they may not wipe out the bacteria in your body, leading to a worse infection. Doctors say the case is especially with liquid antibiotics, which become contaminated once the expiration date has passed.

So, never keep a huge stash of antibiotics at home, and buy only when recommended by a registered health professional, according to your diagnosis of a disease.

Insulin is a life-saving drug for those with high blood sugar levels and diabetes.

Manufacturers always print the insulation printing dates clearly on the product. This is the date that the insulin pen or vial, so long as it is kept refrigerated within the approved temperatures, is assured by the manufacturer to be usable. Also, there is the amount of time from which the pen or vial is first opened for use. Typically, insulin is effective for 28 days after opening, with a few types lasting up to 40 days. Using it after that can be downright dangerous, as it may lead to hyperglycemia or dangerously high blood sugar levels.

An EpiPen is an auto-injector used to treat life-threatening, allergic emergencies in those who are at risk for or have a history of serious allergic emergencies.

According to experts, it is extremely important to always check the expiration dates of an Epipen, particularly ones for treating an emergency. While most retain at least 90 per cent of epinephrine up to 24 months after the expiration date, always check for discolouration or particles in the solution.

Doctors say since epinephrine is not chemically stable, it is not known whether an expired EpiPen can stop anaphylaxis, hence, it is not advisable to use the drug past its expiration date.

In some cases, if an EpiPen is past its expiration date, it may show signs of decay, which include:

• Discoloration, such as pinkish or yellowish hues
• Cloudiness
• The presence of particles

Inhalers

An albuterol sulfate or salbutamol inhaler relieves asthma symptoms and attacks. Most people do not use reliever inhalers every day, as they are mostly used for emergency situations.

And so, it is important to know that while it is safe to use inhalers, not all medications are safe or effective after their expiration dates pass. The main risk of using an expired inhaler is that it may not control asthma symptoms as effectively as a new inhaler, as the active ingredients break down over time.

Doctors say as the medication’s effectiveness reduces over time, it may lead to additional health risks, especially involving your lungs.

Taking expired anticoagulants is highly risky as they become less effective or even harmful, potentially leading to increased bleeding risk or even the formation of blood clots.

According to experts, it is crucial to always check the expiration date and discard expired medications. Among the possible harm they cause, expired anticoagulants increase the chances of excessive bleeding, degrade into toxic compounds, and may even cause blood clot formation—leading to stroke, heart attack, or other life-threatening complications.

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