I have very mild asthma, and my inhalers are past the "best by date".?!


Question: Does this actually affect their efficacy or safety, or is it just regulations that they have to give them a shelf-life/best by date?


Answers: Does this actually affect their efficacy or safety, or is it just regulations that they have to give them a shelf-life/best by date?

The Inhalers, provided they are a Bronchodialator...used for immediate relief and not a Steroidal Inhaler..tis fine, yes remember they leak...especially in hot weather and best kept in the fridge!! You may use it...tis fine for approximately 5 years ..but remember the leaking of the propellant...use it and order a new one asap!! My Best to You...

Hi Janey, what's the date? Depends how long it's past it.

If you're in the middle of an attack, for goodness sake use whatever inhaler you have to hand. I suspect like food the 'best before' doesn't mean 'rotten after'. If they're long out of date, get to a doctor and get a new prescription, if you have a condition and are not taking it seriously you could end up in a worse state. It's your body, please take care of it.

if inhalers go bad, they simply lose their effectiveness, so if they still work I wouldn't worry about using them, if however they don't offer much in terms of relief you should get new ones

If it is less than a year it should be ok.

id go get a new one just in case

i have asthma, i havent used an inhaler for 7 years. if i have an attack i use breathing techniques which is far better than inhalers. yoga or any non strenuous exercise. please try it it saved me loads of money on prescriptions. i hope this helped.

You shouldn't go too far past this date but the quality is not going to suddenly deteriorate 1 or 2 days after, the inhalers I use have a number which reduces every time telling you how many puffs are left

sorry but they will be less efficient so I would advise you to bin them.

Don't worry.

The maximum date is regulated (it is not allowed to say 10 years, even when it really is good for that amount of time).
The law requires the manifacturer to stay way on the safe side.
The safe side would be the time it would still be all right if you stored it in a very humid environment with large temperature swings.

There is no built-in timer that destroys all the medicine after exactly one year.
Instead, it degrades only very slowly, even slower when it is inside a well sealed bottle like an inhaler.

So, if it is way over the date (like more than 2 years) and it has been stored very hot, some (some!) of the active ingredient might (might!) have degraded.
In that case you may notice it seems less effective; in which case you buy a new one.

The FDA is mandated to put dates on all food and drugs. This is a "best by" date by law, not by effectiveness.
If the date's a few months off, don't stress over it, just make a note to call your doctor for a new one tomorrow.
If it's a year or more, toss it immediately after you've bought a new inhaler. It's better to have one that's out of date than to not have one at all. Just remember that you may have to use several more puffs than you're used to in order for it to be effective.

yes, i'd think it more affects their efficacy but should not be unsafe. mild asthma but you have inhalers - pleural AND they're out of date... methinks you don't take your inhalers. go to your gp or nurse for a review of your mild asthma and peak flow this very day! (or soon)
www.asthma.org.uk





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