Paracetamols

whistonian | 13:31 Tue 16th Mar 2021 | Body & Soul

15 Answers

Just come across a box of paracetamols with an expiry date of Nov 2020,will they be ok or should i destroy.

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Sqad

They will be fine.

Hopkirk

I would use them.

bhg481

It wouldn't worry me; I've just taken some ibuprofen I was prescribed about 20 years ago.

grumpy01

As they are past the use by date I would say the decision is obvious.

whistonian

Question Author

Thanks Squad.

davebro

you can take them but they do nothing for me!

barry1010

They'll be fine

AKMild

An industry insider (pharmaceutical chemist) told me that drugs like paracetamol and ibuprofen have a half-life of about 20 years, i.e. they gradually get less effective as time goes by but even after 20 years they'd still have at least 50% the effect they do now.

I would not be throwing these away, although they're cheap enough to buy new if that's your preference.

Maydup

I have a strip of paracetamol in my handbag, another in my holiday wash bag, used to have som in my drawer at work. Goodeness know how old they are as they have no boxes. Every so often, I mean every few years, I do a bit of stock rotation and swap them for some new ones out of the cupboard, but I dont throw the old ones away.

They just become a little less effective after many years, no other issues.

bednobs

"you can take them but they do nothing for me!"
I would have thought whistonian wasn't taking them to help your headache/fever, so I guess that's not a problem