Does Amoxicillin Go Bad With Age? (Page 7)
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I bought 100 amoxicillin caps about 3 years ago and stored them in a dark place and I was curious if they would still be good to take.

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41

According to Harvard Medical School family health article, except in rare cases (i.e. tetracycline), there is little chance of danger due to taking medications even up to 15 years beyond their expiration date. This conclusion was based upon a study conducted at the request of the US military due to stockpiles of expensive drugs they could otherwise need to replace every few years. The conclusion was that 90% of those drugs remained effective 10 - 15 years after the expiration date.

But the question is whether the drug you have kept in your medicine cabinet happens to be one of these drugs from the study... (I have not seen the list of drugs used in this study)

Source: health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update1103a.shtml

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40

actually yogurt has penicilian in it; its not going to kill any one just wont be affective. I had an absess tooth; i ended up with about 4 days left on the antibiotic and my dentist told to stop the use since the absess was gone just needed to get back in to have that tooth removed. I of course didnt have insurance and no money so i ended up with another absess on the left side so im finish the antibiotic she gave me. Plus i have had an upper respirtory infection so the pills will help with that as well. Anything with penicillian in it is good because it clears up the bacteria infections. I would say Take the antibiotic at your own risk....risk it might not do anything and chance it will. I dont go to the doctor for every lil pitty thing and if i had an infection amoxicillan will clear it up.

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39

My son has to take them before teeth cleaning. The capsules I have expired 8/27/2011, are they still good to take?

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38

Very good advice!

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37

what does it mean when liquid amoxicillion turns yellow

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36

You are a very smart eleven year old keep it up

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35

Thank you! You're a smart cookie!

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34

You are a very smart 11 year old!

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33

Taking old medicine is risky. However I totally understand why no one would want to go through the hassle of seeing a doctor in the midst of sickness. Nor paying to see the doctor. I'm sick right now, I'm a full time grad student and have a full time job. I simply don't have time to see a doctor and get a prescription. I also don't have money, my school insurance only pays for half, and a doctors appointment is WAY too much. So, unfortunately my only option is to take 2 year old Amoxicillin and I'm not happy that it is my only option, but it is.

In Europe you can just go to the pharmacy and tell the nurse your problem, and you can acquire antibiotics this way much cheaper. Things need to be changed in the US, we are being charged too much for everything, especially pharmaceuticals. Can you imagine if you didn't have medical insurance??? Just getting a cold could cost you your whole savings. Sad state of affairs that must be changed!!!

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32

Everyone has the right to diagnose and treat themselves, as well as educate themselves about their bodies and various natural and synthetic medicines. Please take your disempowering advice somewhere else.

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31

KRISTEN: for one, its amoxicillin... a lot of people have it 'sitting around' its not oxycontin or something... its just a simple antibiotic. The user asked a questioned they didn't ask for you to argue with them. If that's all you have to say then no one wants to hear it.

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30

I wouldn't assume he'd be using his PC to ask for an answer after a hiking injury or natural disaster. :)

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29

has anyone stopped to consider that he might have taken the whole bottle he was prescribed, but that the doctor put an extra refill on it just in case?

Everytime I get an antibiotic scrip I tell the doctor to put an extra refill on it.

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28

I have a stockpile of various drugs stored properly. Every 5 years we try to replenish but still keep the older as it's better than nothing. If anything does happen, civil disturbance, etc. you won't be able to get it!

Better safe than sorry!

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27

LOL! Thanks, Rick and there's a reason I am here!

Anyone that wants to can do the research themselves and check my answer.

There is also more information about antibiotic resistance here:

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Antibiotic_resistance/­

Is there anything else I can help with?

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26

Bravo Bravo... Excellent answer.. and sounds like you know what your talking about but we can never know for sure... Thanks for answering though!!!

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25

Okay, the answer is, no Amoxicillin does not go bad/get dangerous with age, per se, however, it can lose efficacy and may not work as well as it did, when it was new.

This means that taking a standard dose may not effectively wipe out an infection and may actually cause the development of drug resistant bacteria.

Therefore, it is always wisest to see your doctor for a new prescription that isn't expired to have the most effective way of eradicating the bacteria.

So, say we go with Rick's scenario and there is some natural disaster and we all find ourselves in The Stand, without doctor's and new medications readily available, in this instance, you would be best served to increase the dosage, if it's expired, to more effectively treat the relevant infection.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Amoxicillin/­


However, there are some antibiotics in the Cycline class, which can be dangerous, after they expire, they can cause severe liver damage and failure, so they would have to be avoided.

Are there any other questions or comments?

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24

Your post was absolutely uncalled for... Marks question was valid and interesting. When a natural disaster strikes and you develop an infection and your only hope is some old amoxicillin.... then what will you do. Of course he should go see a doctor... but for the sake of argument.. Does it go bad? Obviously , you dont know...

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23

The originl post asked if amoxicillin goes bad. I think this was a valid question. Its unfortunate that there has not been one single scientfic answer. Any idiot can say, " dont take expired drugs" "All medicines should be threw away after use" Do you think the person who made this post didnt know that. I am interested to see a truly scientfic answer and not some smart remarks from people who are only repeating the most general rules regarding medicine. These people are going to be sorry when a disaster comes and they have a massive infection and have some old amoxicillin sitting around, Would someone with real knowledge on amoxcillin answer this please.... Dont let these haters get you down mark... You have a good question here...

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22

I have a very good reason for having these, think I'mma go with Nate and the 11 year old. Guess that's my best judgement.

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