Is the bottle of Tylenol Cold and Flu in my medicine cabinet that expired in September 2007 still good? It seems to work, in that the scratchy sore throat, body pains and congestion kinda-sorta went away.... and by that I mean as much as they ever do.Yeah... I've got either a bad cold or the flu of unknown origin. But I've had a pretty good run, judging from the expiration date on that bottle of Tylenol. I'm thinking it's been three years or so since I've had a cold/flu that required medication.
I wouldn't take old medicine. Six months may not be much of an issue, but two years in a solution may be.
ReplyDeleteTylenol has some crazy effect on livers.
(I know, I know. Liver is bad and must be punished!)
Did you break the seal?
ReplyDeleteDarryl sez: Liver is bad and must be punished!
ReplyDeleteAh... the key to a good healthy liver is exercise, and I exercise mine daily by consuming small-to-moderate amounts of alcohol. And it thanks me for it, too. :D
Alison: Yep... the bottle was half-full and is nearly gone now. I see a re-supply run in my immediate future, so the point is moot.
Well, what ever you have is going around. I have a bit of the scratchy throat too and I feel like I have a fever but I don't, so rest this weekend should do it. Must be something in the internet that we are catching!!!
ReplyDeleteBT: Jimmy T sends.
There is a totally nasty cold making the rounds out here as well.
ReplyDeleteMe - I don't believe in the OTC stuff for colds. It's a virus and by definition will run its course no matter what you take. I take Advil for any aches and some nasal spray as needed. Otherwise - I just let nature do her thing.
Sucks though - being sick is just sucky. Sucks. Hope you are feeling better soon.
Jimmy: I just hope this is a cold and NOT the flu. BIG difference!
ReplyDeleteKris: There's nothing you can do to cure a virus, agreed. But you can relieve symptoms, and TC&F is about the best "all in one" elixir for doing so I've found.
They have expiration dates?
ReplyDeleteI do hope you get to feeling better.
Some medicines do degrade over time. OTC meds can, too. I suspect a company like J&J would calculate how long it would take for a med to become ineffective, and then set the expiration date at half that time.
ReplyDeleteIn some cases, the dates are just there to give store employees a clue toward rotating the stock.
But it's not going to transform itself into something harmful. If it worked, it worked, and you didn't waste the money.
Hope you feel better soon Buck. Whisky always helps I find ;)
ReplyDeleteLou: We're still under the WX, but it's just irritating, nothing more.
ReplyDeleteGordon: Thanks for the info. I find I have to go into my medicine cabinet every so often and purge OLD drugs... the last time I did that (about a year ago) I still had stuff I'd rat-holed from Michigan... which I left in '95.
Alison: Thank ya, Ma'am.