If Tramadol is expired 2008 is it safe to take them?
Question posted by jeffaresbar on 31 Aug 2011
Last updated on 28 March 2018 by 57wink
5 Answers
Tramadol will have a long shelf life as long as it was in a closed bottle, not exposed to sunlight and moisture, example if it was kept in a glove compartment in a vehicle, the high and low temperatures, would shorten its shelf life, in a sealed bottle in a cabinet, it can have close to the same strength as when it was purchased at a pharmacy after several years, Antibiotics and nitroglycerin are different and more time sensitive, anytime you take medicine to a drop off site if it is an opiate you should put some glue, grease or paste etc in the bottle with the pills so they can't be resold, as has been known to happen.
For 2 days now I have been suffering from an extremely painful toothache while waiting for antibiotics to take control of the infection. I am taking Tramadol that expired 2 years ago to control my pain. It has been stored for over 3 years at room temperature. It is relieving my pain beautifully without any side effects. I am uninsured and cannot afford medications so I am very grateful that kept the expired Tramadol for without it I would not able to function enough to write this testimony.
PS. If you are not poor and desperate and can afford the cost of acquiring fresh medication then I am very happy for you.
Seriously??? U want to know if u can take expired medicine? And somebody else is saying its ok to take them?
The Tramadol should have an expiry date on the box, usually found on the back. I want to make it clear that the expiry date doesn't always mean the medication is no longer safe or useful. The expiry date on most medications is only a guarantee for the medications effectiveness. This means if a medication expired 1 year ago it would still have some effect but maybe not the full desired effect that the manufacturer guarantees for the medication within it's best before date. The expiry date only exists on medication because the organization that regulates such substances in your country decided it should be a requirement. Some medications if stored right can still have a full effect 10 years after its expiry date. The point I'm trying to make is that medication isn't like milk. It won't go sour and unhealthy to ingest after leaving it for a few weeks.
This isn't the case in all medications though, it strongly depends on the ingredients. Some medications could become more toxic over time where as others just lose effectiveness. I want to make it clear that I am in no way condoning or recommending the ingestion of medications that have passed the best before date. This could cause you to become very ill or in the worst case it could be fatal. If you find that the Tramadol has in fact expired I would suggest following maso4169's advice. Take it to your local pharmacy and they will safely dispose of it. I know the question has already been sufficiently answered, I just wanted to add more detail towards the expiry of medication in general. I hope my information has been helpful to you and anyone else that may happen to read it.
I see no valid reason to why my post was given a vote down. Before voting down a post you could at least prove what I have posted is incorrect. The information is posted is valid, infact there have been published papers on the subject from qualified and respected chemists. If the vote down happens to be from the person who answered after me then you must have been refering to my post when you said "somebody else is saying its ok to take them". If you read my post in full then you would see that I specifically stated that I personally would not condone nor recommend ingesting expired medication. It's actually amusing that someone would vote down a post for giving all of the information regarding the subject instead of sugar coating it and giving a straight yes or no response.
I would applaud you in future cases to have a healthy debate to why the information I post is worth a vote down instead of mindlessly disagreeing with a vote down purely based on a first glance opinion. Filtering out the facts because someone might make a wrong decision based on them is just idiotic and I believe in many countries it is considered censorship. If the person who voted my post down believes the individual who asked the original question isn't responsible enough to know the facts then they would certainly not be responsible enough to even be around a computer, book or a television in that matter. Knowledge is passed on for a reason and it should continue to be passed on so despite how ever many negative votes I may receive I'll continue to post all of the facts in my posts.
No they are not.
I suggest you take them to your local pharmacy so they can dispose of them safely.
Take care,
Related topics
Further information
- Tramadol uses and safety info
- Tramadol prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Tramadol (detailed)
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