Does Gabapentin Expire

I've heard that gabapentin has a shelf life of five years after expiration. Most pharmacists have to put a earlier expiration date on them however. And even if gabapentin is expired they pose no risk. Maybe they'll lose some of their effectiveness, but that's it.

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Hello, Cindy! How are you?

Yes, that information is correct and no, they do not become toxic. Once the pharmacy breaks the seal on the original factory bottle, they are required, by the FDA, to put a one year expiration date on the dispensing bottle, because that is the longest time the manufacturers can guarantee their full efficacy under average storage conditions, in someone's home.

The 4 to 5 years is under ideal storage conditions, where they aren't exposed to the elements that can cause degradation, such as heat, light, and moisture. But, given that most people store them in a bathroom medicine cabinet, which doesn't eliminate all of those, or in a kitchen cabinet, which also doesn't eliminate them, there's no way to be sure how bad they will degrade after that first year.

Thus, if you store your medications somewhere else, such as on a shelf in your bedroom, like my husband and I do, or in a chest of drawers in her bedroom, as my mother-in-law does, they will not likely experience as much degradation. Only your doctor can advise you if you can still take them, I can only lay out the facts.

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To add to the previous post concerning Gabapentin's shelf-life, According to Harvard University's medical school, “Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from their study is that 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date. So, the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. While it's true the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date.”

Ref: health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything

You can make of that what you will, but I wanted to share this information to open up the idea that Gabapentin (when stored properly) may last well beyond the anticipated 5 year mark.

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