Hydrochlorothiazide Half-life

What is the half-life of 12.5 mg HCTC (Hydrochlorothiazide)? How long can it be kept for?

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Hello, Buddy! How are you?

The half-life is not related to how long a medication can be stored, that refers to how long it takes for it to reach 50% of its maximum level in your body, which allows you to determine when it will be fully eliminated. For example, it takes 5 to 6 times the normal half-life, for a medication to be expelled. Thus one that has a half-life of 5 hours, would be fully expelled anywhere between 25 to 30 hours, give or a take a slight variation from person to person, as defined by the FDA, since we are all different.

Shelf life, however, is the maximum time that the manufacturer can guarantee that it will retain its full level of efficacy under average home storage conditions, as explained in various NIH articles. Once a medication has been placed in one of the usual bottles used by a pharmacy, it starts becoming exposed to the elements that can cause degradation, such as heat, light, and moisture. As this happens, the medication starts to lose efficacy. In most cases, when it comes to solid tablets, the expiration date is one year from the date it was dispensed to you and left pharmaceutical storage conditions.

In the original factory sealed containers, most solid medications are good for a period of 4 to 5 years, but once they are removed from that container, the clock starts ticking.

Many people still store their medications in bathroom medicine chests, which is the worst place in your home to store them, since that exposes them to all the elements I mentioned that affect their efficacy. The kitchen is the next worse choice.

The best place would be somewhere kept at moderate temperatures, which is dark, and dry, such as a dresser drawer, or specially designed medication storage unit.

Is there anything else I can help with?

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