Can I still use Amoxicillin that expired 2 months ago?
Found a blister of Amoxicillin 500 mg in the medicine cabinet, expired in May of this year. The tablets look fine, they're not crumbling. Do I need to throw them out or will they still work?
2 answers
★ Best answer
I wouldn't recommend risking it with an expired antibiotic. Even if the pills look fine, their effectiveness is only guaranteed until the expiration date - over time the active ingredient degrades, and the medicine might not work or work weakly. At best you'll waste your time, at worst the infection won't clear up properly. Better to buy a fresh drug from the pharmacy, and the doctor can tell you the right course of treatment while you're at it.
I agree with the previous answer - you shouldn't take the risk. I'm a carpenter, not a doctor, but even I know you don't mess around with antibiotics. Amoxicillin isn't like vitamins that just become less effective. The active ingredient really does break down over time, and two months past the expiration date the concentration is already unpredictable. A tablet might look perfect, but that guarantees nothing - degradation happens inside.
The main problem is that a weak antibiotic is worse than no antibiotic at all. If you take a tablet with an insufficient dose of active ingredient, the infection might not be fully cured, and the bacteria will develop resistance. That's dangerous for you and for everyone else too. So if you need amoxicillin - it's better to buy a fresh one at the pharmacy.
And that blister pack you found is better disposed of properly: lots of pharmacies take expired medication for disposal, don't just throw it in regular trash. If you happen to get sick - see a doctor, especially since you need the right diagnosis for an antibiotic. Me for example, if I need to fix something urgently, I don't just grab a tool from the shelf - I check it's in good shape first. Same deal with medicine.
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