POZ Community Forums
Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Questions About Treatment & Side Effects => Topic started by: mdpoz06 on July 19, 2012, 02:45:39 pm
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Hi all....
Not sure where to post this, but I have a question about med expiration dates:
What is the true shelf life of these meds??
If anyone knows or has a link, pls share...
The labels on my prescriptions always have an expiration date.. It is usually within one month of the date I get them... I've heard that the pharm. companies do this to cover themselves in case of a lawsuit and because of regulatory requirements, but I just wonder....
I was laid off from my job about a year ago, and it me awhile to find another one with insurance. I had to drop COBRA after a few months because I couldn't afford the premiums. Anyway, I have a couple of months of Kaletra and Trizivir stockpiled, but the scripts are from late last year. I've been off all meds since Dec., 2011. I'm going back on them next week. I ran out of Viread before the others, so stopped them all, which is what I was instructed to do. I'd like to use up what I have rather than just tossing them out, but I want to make sure they are still good.. My ID doc told me a few years ago that many of them have much longer shelf lives than their printed exp. dates, but I don't remember exactly how long...
I've talked a couple of friends about this and they say the same thing. Btw, my regimen is:
Kaletra
Trizivir
Viread
Diagnosed POZ 1/17/86
Most recent labs from 1/12:
CD4 - 34%/1035
UD ->48
Other labs were normal except for high triglycerides
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On mine the refill date is in a month, the expiration date is in a year.
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Kaletra
Trizivir
Viread
Why? It's a weird, and certainly less than optimum, combo.
If you have some of these out of date the hard tablets are active for ages more than the label says.
- matt
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Kaletra
Trizivir
Viread
Why? It's a weird, and certainly less than optimum, combo.
If you have some of these out of date the hard tablets are active for ages more than the label says.
- matt
I was thinking the same thing. Why four NRTIs?
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On mine the refill date is in a month, the expiration date is in a year.
mdpoz06 - check out what Miss P said - are you mistaking refill for expiration. Expiration is usually in small print on the original label from the manufacturer. Mine are usually 2 YEARS in the future.
There is something terribly wrong if you are getting medicine 1 month from expiration!
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Typically the pharmacy will put an expiration of 1 year from the date it was filled but if you peel off the pharmacy label the manufacturer's expiration will be somewhere on the bottle and it will most likely be much further out than 1 year.
On top of that, a few years ago the US military did a study of the efficacy of expired drugs. It seems they throw away millions of dollars of "expired" meds each year. They found with very few exceptions (insulin, nitroglycerin and liquid antibiotics) that meds were OK far past the manufacturers expiration date.
If it came down to taking an expired med or not taking one at all, I'd take the expired med.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/04/02/drug-expiration-part-one.aspx
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http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/04/02/drug-expiration-part-one.aspx
Thanks! Great article and timely for me as well. Earlier today I was contemplating going through my box of extra meds (not hiv meds) and tossing anything out that was near or past its expiry date. I'm not going to now. I've always kept this box in the coolest, driest closet in my house so they should all be ok for some time now. I hate wasting meds, because it means wasting NHS funds (or my own funds when they're OTC meds).
I've never kept any meds in the bathroom (too much condensation) and only keep meds that I'll be taking in the next few weeks in the kitchen (in a med tray), and they are kept in a drawer away from sunlight, heat and moisture. Anything else is stored in the aforementioned, closeted (lol) box.
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I am not on the meds that you are on, but I just opened my Epzicom and Viramune from March of 2012. ( I have a little bit of stash)
Anyway, the Epzicom has an expiration date of October 2014 ( Received it 3/2012
The Viramune has an expiration date of August 2014. ( received it 3/2012 )
Ray
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Kaletra
Trizivir
Viread
Why? It's a weird, and certainly less than optimum, combo.
If you have some of these out of date the hard tablets are active for ages more than the label says.
- matt
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I was thinking the same thing. Why four NRTIs?
Sorry it took this long to reply. Been busy....
First, thank you for the input. Appreciated.
Second, In answer to your 'why' question: Because they worked. They kept my CD4 counts high, and my VL undetectable for 7 years with only 2 side effects: High Tri's and irregular bowel movements, which a daily probiotic takes care of.
If it ain't broke, I don't need/want to fix it. My ID doc agrees.
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Kaletra
Trizivir
Viread
Why? It's a weird, and certainly less than optimum, combo.
If you have some of these out of date the hard tablets are active for ages more than the label says.
- matt
Sorry it took this long to reply. Been busy....
First, thank you for the input. Appreciated.
Second, In answer to your 'why' question: Because they worked. They kept my CD4 counts high, and my VL undetectable for 7 years with only 2 side effects: High Tri's and irregular bowel movements, which a daily probiotic takes care of.
If it ain't broke, I don't need/want to fix it. My ID doc agrees.
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With an NRTI, especially four, you don't know it's broke with something like lipoatrophy until it's too late to fix it. This is one of the primary reasons I dislike that slogan. But it's your body, not mine.
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If it ain't broke, I don't need/want to fix it. My ID doc agrees.
Alternatively, upgrade/simplify.
It's too many drugs. 3 of these will keep you undetectable, and you do not need the extra risk of heart attack from the AZT in Trizivir. Cos if your heart breaks that's pretty much the end often.
- matt
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Thanks, but no thanks. I've only been on 3 regimens (meaning 2 changes) since 1992 when I first started on AZT (which I would still be taking if it still worked). I'm fortunate in that one regimen keeps working for a good number of years without too many unbearable side effects. For that, I'm grateful.
As long as my current combo keeps my vl ud and my cd4 counts up, I'm just fine w/that. If I keep changing regimens every year just because they're 'trendy', like the younger ones do, I may become resistant to several of the drugs and therefore run out of options in just a few years. there aren't that many new breakthroughs in ARV/HAART in the pipeline. Big pharma as moved on to other, more lucrative projects other than developing new HIV treatments. I have no desire to jump right onto to the latest greatest new cocktail like it was a mobile device upgrade. That's one of the things that annoys me about the younger ones who haven't been poz all that long. They think they know everything. I was very active in support groups and a participant in informational workshops when most of you were in middle school.
If it ain't broke, I ain't fixin it. Period. My body, my t-cells..
PS - Diagnosed POZ 1/17/1986
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on AZT (which I would still be taking if it still worked).
You are still taking it, it's in Trizivir.
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Thanks, but no thanks. I've only been on 3 regimens (meaning 2 changes) since 1992 when I first started on AZT (which I would still be taking if it still worked). I'm fortunate in that one regimen keeps working for a good number of years without too many unbearable side effects. For that, I'm grateful.
As long as my current combo keeps my vl ud and my cd4 counts up, I'm just fine w/that. If I keep changing regimens every year just because they're 'trendy', like the younger ones do, I may become resistant to several of the drugs and therefore run out of options in just a few years. there aren't that many new breakthroughs in ARV/HAART in the pipeline. Big pharma as moved on to other, more lucrative projects other than developing new HIV treatments. I have no desire to jump right onto to the latest greatest new cocktail like it was a mobile device upgrade. That's one of the things that annoys me about the younger ones who haven't been poz all that long. They think they know everything. I was very active in support groups and a participant in informational workshops when most of you were in middle school.
If it ain't broke, I ain't fixin it. Period. My body, my t-cells..
PS - Diagnosed POZ 1/17/1986
I'm 3 years younger than you, and I've been on HIV meds for 19 years. Frankly your post above shows that you don't know what you're talking about.
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I was very active in support groups and a participant in informational workshops when most of you were in middle school.
PS - Diagnosed POZ 1/17/1986
All that training didn't teach you how to read a prescription label? Not sure why this thread suddenly got bitter. I saw nothing but well informed, genuine comments. But hey, your thread, your entitlement.
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If I keep changing regimens every year just because they're 'trendy', like the younger ones do, I may become resistant to several of the drugs and therefore run out of options in just a few years. there aren't that many new breakthroughs in ARV/HAART in the pipeline. Big pharma as moved on to other, more lucrative projects other than developing new HIV treatments. I have no desire to jump right onto to the latest greatest new cocktail like it was a mobile device upgrade.
I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing. For the most part those who have changed regimens "frequently" have usually been us who have been taking meds for the last 2 decades. We have changed from monotherapy to HAART (by the way, you were changed off AZT as monotherapy, which you were taking in 1992, because monotherapy simply isn't enough to stop HIV) and then have changed from regimens of 28 pills to way fewer pills as the meds have been combined and dosages have been improved. There's really no sense in staying on an out-dated regimen that doesn't work as well (more long term side effects and/or being less effective).
I doubt too that any doctor would ever prescribe HIV meds allowing someone to willy-nilly change regimens every year. Doctors are usually pretty concerned about people having options in the future. Perhaps you have simply misunderstood why others have changed regimens.
Besides there just aren't enough regimens to change every year anyway. ;)