Storing RX Drugs

[Foreigner]

So in the past year I have accumulated a lot of RX drugs due to various health problems. All kinds. I know that general wisdom is that RX drugs expire in one year, or at least that's what pharmacists say. Is there a way to preserve them so that they last longer? I think it could be useful to have some of these in a doomsday scenario, especially the antibiotics and analgesics.

Could vacuum packing and freezing work? There must be some way to extend shelf life.

 

[JessFR]

The shelf life is bullshit. Chances are they'll last way longer than the shelf life. It's just that some of them might lose some patency. But by and large the shelf life is a very conservative estimate.

Id just keep them in dry conditions under 75 f and they'll probably last potentially years beyond the shelf life depending on the drug.

 

[Foreigner]

Good to know.

I live in the pacific northwest so it's damp AF here... so keeping things dry is hard. I would literally have to vacuum seal stuff with a desiccant to avoid moisture, or bottle everything in mason jars during the dry season.

Could freezing extend shelf life indefinitely?

Again, I'm mostly talking about analgesics (opiates, etc.) and various antibiotics. But I also have anxiolytics, benzos, corticosteroids, anti-epileptics/anti-convulsants. The list goes on. It's been a rough year, sigh.

 

[JessFR]

Sorry to hear that it's been a difficult year

I'm not really sure what freezing is likely to do. I'd imagine it depends on the substance.

Antibiotics are probably one of the trickier drugs as far as keeping beyond their shelf life. Because while most probably are still safe long after expiration. They might lose their potency. Which can be very bad with bacterial infections because they need to be wiped out or they can become harder to treat. It's the kinda thing I wouldn't recommend unless the world falls apart and no other options remain.

Analgesics and benzos will likely remain generally effective and useful years after expiration.

 

[femaletrouble]

I have tramadol which is powder in a capsule does powder lose its potency quicker than solid pill form medicine?

 

[checktest]

Manufacturers limit dates for liability, stocking, and some theoretical efficacy under some conditions.

Some old military studies showed many drugs lasting quite a while at reasonable levels.


Since you mentioned antibiotics, there was a question of the cyclines, e.g. doxycycline, tetracycline, having the possibility of forming some toxic metabolite over time. Even that is controversial, though.

Oh, and some liquid forms for potency/degradation.

I probably wouldn't trust say an epinephrine injector for some reactions at full bore, but I'd take it if there was nothing else available.

Will be curious about some biologics and other agents.

EDIT: see the Shelf-Life Extension Program . Paper for a lot of drugs is pretty available.


As for the Pacific Northwest, yeah that can be a battle. Had family at OHSU. Their lab used a variety of control methods (dehumidifier x3, bulk silica w CaCl2 or other Ca salts zeo mol sieves, bunch of specialty ones) but did very sensitive work.

Freeze / thaw can mess with some things but depends, usually on larger molecular scale or precipitation of some suspension, excessive ice formation and problems from the phase change. (I had wondered about say vanco suspension. Biologics like an enbrel though probably not good to freeze.)




An example guideline from pubchem

Ciprofloxacin

Ciprofloxacin | C17H18FN3O3 | CID 2764 - structure, chemical names, physical and chemical properties, classification, patents, literature, biological activities, safety/hazards/toxicity information, supplier lists, and more.

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Cool, dark, and pretty dry should do ok.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Jess, while I agree with you in large part, I feel that comments like "The shelf life is bullshit..." are unnecessarily inflammatory and kind of misleading. We don't know about the specific drug, who made it, where it is being stored. We don't know very much. I agree with you on the matter that drugs will often maintain potency past the shelf-date indicated on the lot or the personal pill bottle, but we have these guidelines for a reason. I just want to keep things as scientific as possible, but I get what you are saying completely.