Expired Medication (Valium/Diazepam)

[AquamarineSteph]

OP

First of all, I am so very sorry to hear what you're going through. It breaks your heart. I remember my experiences when my parents died, and I can only offer a virtual hug as far as that goes.

As far as the meds go, even if the actual date to expire was 2014, that doesn't mean the drug stops working the day after the expiration date. The expiration date is the last date that the manufacturer will guarantee that the drug works to full clinical potency.

There are some very specialized drugs that you should never take past their expiration date, but if it were me, I would feel okay taking this particular medication for one or two nights. Diazepam can also be split, so that if it's a 10mg tablet, you can find a sharp knife and divide it into two 5mg doses.

 

[MIGrandma]

Just don't stay on that type of med for very long. It's addictive. I think the law has changed and scripts for that type of med require a written script rather than being called in.

So sorry about your mother. Keeping your mom and you in my prayers.

I will only take it for the day of visitation and day of the funeral. The first time I took it was for 2 visits to the dentist when I had some extensive dental work done. He prescribed the 10mg for me and had me take one before going to bed, then another an hour before my appointment. So I did that twice. Worked great. The second time I took it was when I had skin cancer removed from my face, the doctor only prescribed 5mg so I just took two of them before the appointment since I had taken 10mg before.

No, my doctor didn't give me a written prescription before it, it was faxed in. It seems strange to me that after telling him I took 10mg on two separate occasions and it worked fine, that he would only prescribe 2mg. Seems like that will hardly do anything at all, so I think when I pick it up at the pharmacy I'll speak to the pharmacist about it and see what he says.

10 mg of valium is a pretty large dose of valium. If your looking to take the edge off 2mg should be fine.

I took 10mg twice for dental work, and once for skin cancer on my face. It worked great each time. I was not loopy or anything like that, just very, very calm. That is the effect I want for my Mom's visitation and funeral. To me, 2mg isn't going to be enough, so as I said I'm going to speak to the pharmacist about it when I pick up the prescription today.

OP

First of all, I am so very sorry to hear what you're going through. It breaks your heart. I remember my experiences when my parents died, and I can only offer a virtual hug as far as that goes.

As far as the meds go, even if the actual date to expire was 2014, that doesn't mean the drug stops working the day after the expiration date. The expiration date is the last date that the manufacturer will guarantee that the drug works to full clinical potency.

There are some very specialized drugs that you should never take past their expiration date, but if it were me, I would feel okay taking this particular medication for one or two nights. Diazepam can also be split, so that if it's a 10mg tablet, you can find a sharp knife and divide it into two 5mg doses.

Thanks for the virtual hug. Yeah, the consensus from what I've read it sounds like the diazepam may lose a bit of its potency but will still be fine to take. It sounds like liquid medications are mostly the ones you shouldn't take after expiration.

 

[DawnM]

I use expired meds. I grew up overseas where sometimes all we had was expired meds. The potency may be diluted but they are fine.

 

[DawnM]

I am sorry about your mom. My mom is in her final stages as well, although we have no real timeline. It could be weeks, it could even be months, but I doubt it will be an entire year.

 

[MIGrandma]

I am sorry about your mom. My mom is in her final stages as well, although we have no real timeline. It could be weeks, it could even be months, but I doubt it will be an entire year.

Thank you, and I'm sorry about your Mom as well. It's so hard to see our parents this way, isn't it? With my Dad he was fine at Christmas (had Alzheimer's, so he really wasn't "fine" but he wasn't sick otherwise) and he passed on January 7th (2008) so wasn't even sick two weeks. With Mom it's been over 2 months that she has been going downhill, maybe closer to 3. Every time my phone rings I wonder if it's "the call." I've actually started turning my phone off at night, because they did say even if it happens during the night they will call. What am I going to do about it at 2:00 a.m. but lose sleep? I'm not going to go up there at 2 in the morning, and I doubt they call the funeral home at that time of morning either. There would be nothing I could do, except then be awake, crying and feeling so sad. Then I would have a harder time getting through the next day with no sleep. I really don't see how she is still hanging on, the last I heard she was at 62 pounds but I'm sure she's less than that by now. I still take a milkshake to her every day when I visit, she takes a few sips but of course doesn't finish it. But she enjoys it and its the least I can do for her to make her happy at this point. She is ready to go, and for her sake and the rest of the family (her grandchildren and great-grandchildren) I hope it will be soon. So very hard though, especially since we have always been super close. It's like I'm losing my Mom and a wonderful, good, close Friend as well.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My mom who is an RN has told me in the past that generally speaking medications are good for a little while after they expire but not for years.
If you got that in 2014 then it "expired" one year later. That would be 2015. It's now 2017 I doubt the pills would have anywhere near the effect they should at this point.
I know it can be very frustrating when you know what works for you and your doctor does not seem to want to help. Its unfortunate but they are basically required by law now to treat everyone like they are an addict and give low dosages and low pill amounts.
I tell my doctor that when I fly xanax helps my RLS but I cannot get it until 1 week prior to flying and I have to make a special appt for it so half the time I just suffer because its BS in my opinion that he can't just send a prescription to the pharmacy when I go for my annual physical if I tell him I'll be flying in a couple months.

 

[cabanafrau]

My mom who is an RN has told me in the past that generally speaking medications are good for a little while after they expire but not for years.
If you got that in 2014 then it "expired" one year later. That would be 2015. It's now 2017 I doubt the pills would have anywhere near the effect they should at this point.
I know it can be very frustrating when you know what works for you and your doctor does not seem to want to help. Its unfortunate but they are basically required by law now to treat everyone like they are an addict and give low dosages and low pill amounts.
I tell my doctor that when I fly xanax helps my RLS but I cannot get it until 1 week prior to flying and I have to make a special appt for it so half the time I just suffer because its BS in my opinion that he can't just send a prescription to the pharmacy when I go for my annual physical if I tell him I'll be flying in a couple months.

It's because of the rampant epidemic of prescription med abuse and addiction. Doctors are under increased scrutiny for writing scrips for all of these meds -- and are audited on an increasing basis for doing so. What may seem like nonsense on the patient's end may mean avoiding time consuming (and expensive) answering for each and every scrip for meds in certain classes on the doctor's end.

 

[rwdavis2]

My wife, a CRNA, says expired medicines may not be as potent. They don't get toxic. So the expired pills may not work very well.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

It's because of the rampant epidemic of prescription med abuse and addiction. Doctors are under increased scrutiny for writing scrips for all of these meds -- and are audited on an increasing basis for doing so. What may seem like nonsense on the patient's end may mean avoiding time consuming (and expensive) answering for each and every scrip for meds in certain classes on the doctor's end.

Believe me I understand the reasoning. That's why I said they basically HAVE to treat everyone as an addict.
Its unfortunate that those that know themselves and know that they only need a small amount for a short amount of time have to jump through so many hoops to get it.
I know that I would never get hooked on a medication but everyone must be treated like they would.

 

[cabanafrau]

Believe me I understand the reasoning. That's why I said they basically HAVE to treat everyone as an addict.
Its unfortunate that those that know themselves and know that they only need a small amount for a short amount of time have to jump through so many hoops to get it.
I know that I would never get hooked on a medication but everyone must be treated like they would.

A good friend manages a doctor's practice that specializes in sports injuries and other types of injuries, so their patients require pain meds more often than not. Because their practice winds up writing such a high volume of these scrips they are essentially under constant audit. Long-term patients that require ongoing treatment and scrips of pain meds are now drug tested. It was apparently very eye opening to see how many and which patients fail the testing.

 

[robinb]

Sorry to hear about your mom {{hugs}}.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

A good friend manages a doctor's practice that specializes in sports injuries and other types of injuries, so their patients require pain meds more often than not. Because their practice winds up writing such a high volume of these scrips they are essentially under constant audit. Long-term patients that require ongoing treatment and scrips of pain meds are now drug tested. It was apparently very eye opening to see how many and which patients fail the testing.

Again I understand that its surprising at to who is a drug addict but I know myself. I'd rather have Advil over Hydros any day of the week for pain management. That is me. I'd also rather have a xanax once a couple times a year than a crazy RLS prescription.

 

[mom2rtk]

Again I understand that its surprising at to who is a drug addict but I know myself. I'd rather have Advil over Hydros any day of the week for pain management. That is me. I'd also rather have a xanax once a couple times a year than a crazy RLS prescription.

No doubt. Lots of people would prefer an OTC over a narcotic. I'm going to assume you've never dealt with chronic pain. It's not as easy as deciding you prefer Advil over Hydros. After you've taken Advil for years and it no longer gets the job done, you don't always have a lot of easy answers.

Thankfully the OP is dealing with a short term situation and hopefully her doctor can help her get what she needs to get through this difficult time.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

No doubt. Lots of people would prefer an OTC over a narcotic. I'm going to assume you've never dealt with chronic pain. It's not as easy as deciding you prefer Advil over Hydros. After you've taken Advil for years and it no longer gets the job done, you don't always have a lot of easy answers.

Thankfully the OP is dealing with a short term situation and hopefully her doctor can help her get what she needs to get through this difficult time.

And you know what assuming does...
I won't get into prior and current pain but I can assure you I've dealt with pain.

 

[cabanafrau]

Again I understand that its surprising at to who is a drug addict but I know myself. I'd rather have Advil over Hydros any day of the week for pain management. That is me. I'd also rather have a xanax once a couple times a year than a crazy RLS prescription.

Wasn't questioning your potential to become addicted to anything, as you said, you know you, I don't. Merely fleshing out what some people might find surprising if they haven't dealt with any need for pain meds or such in the last two years or so.