Does Meclizine expire? 

Does Meclizine expire? 

Yes, Meclizine does expire. It doesn’t necessarily start to go bad once the expiration date has passed. Meclizine slowly becomes less and less effective and it will not give any therapeutic response if the drug has expired for quite a while. 

However, it is recommended by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to avoid using expired medications as there’s not much research data available to guarantee the safety and efficacy of meds once they are past the expiration date (1). Meclizine is no exception. 

What are the dangers associated with the use of expired Meclizine?

Using expired Meclizine may affect you by not doing anything to make your allergy symptoms go away. This is because Meclizine loses its potency with time. 

It may take a while and the drug will most likely outlive its expiry date, but it’s still a risk. There’s no way to tell what chemical changes may start to occur as physical and storage factors can also determine the rate of drug degradation. 

If it has been a few months (1-6 months), Meclizine is probably good to take. However, if more time has passed, it’s best to get a new one. 

What to do if you have taken expired Meclizine?

You don’t need to do much if you have taken expired Meclizine as the drug does not cause any toxicity in your body after it has expired. However, it will not make your symptoms go away. Make sure you check the expiry date before you take the medication. 

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References

1.-

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Don’t Be Tempted to Use Expired Medicines [Internet]. Silver Spring (MD): U.S. Food and Drug Administration; 2021 [cited 2022 Oct 18]. Available from: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/special-features/dont-be-tempted-use-expired-medicines.