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Using expired medicine?


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Does anyone do this? My mother says it's fine, and you know how it is, "mother is always right," or so she insists. Doesn't mean I'm just like "phew, that's a relief."

 

I got pink eye and have expired eye medicine for it from 2 years ago. I can't go to the Drs and she won't take me-- It's too hard to get to by myself, I have no idea how to navigate through all that, and I need the insurance card and $20 down payment to see my Dr so she's just like "use the stuff we've got!"

 

She said she'd take me there if it didn't work but I don't want this longer than I need it for. I'm thinking of exaggerating tomorrow and being like "it burns!"

 

I know this is probably such a stupid question, but I'm always seeing little medical related questions so I figured this is at least less serious... kind of.

 

I also thought it would be kind of funny to hear who's mom insists it still works.

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Have you used the eye medicine before, meaning was it opened? If it was opened, I would advise NOT using it since medication, esp when opened, can go bad rather quickly. Still, even it is sealed, I would not advise using the medication because meds have a shelf life before they start changing in their structure, or breaking down. That means the medication might not be as effective.

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Martha

 

Is it just the erythromycin eye ointment?

 

Go ahead and use it- that stuff lasts for-bloody-ever!

 

(seriously, it's not harmful, the worst thing that could happen is it is not potent anymore and you still have pinkeye in 3 days and have to go to the doctor anyway- but that ointment rarely goes bad unless it's like 10 years old.)

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Yup, that's it, the erythromycin. The expiration date was 05/04.

Have you done this before with using it after the expiration date?

I'm wondering if I have in the past... she's always kind of had us use what we had, but when we were younger we always got it (my siblings and I) This tube was from my sibling... taken care of, never touching their eye as my mother did it for them, just opened. I lasted a while without getting it.

 

ugh.. I can't believe I got pink eye. I'm so careful to never touch my eyes but it's going around on campus. I passed it off as contact lens irritation for a couple of days now because I never touch my eyes unless they are washed so thoroughly. I didn't get any other signs except redness in one area but it's certainly it without a doubt at this point

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I would throw out the contacts you were wearing when you got it, wear your glasses and go ahead and use the ointment- it's likely fine. I have used expired erythromycin opthalmic ointment before and it's worked with no problem- those ointments typically last longer than the expiration date.

 

Just be sure to wash your hands frequently, don't touch your eyes and toss your contacts out and wait until the pink eye is well cleared up (a week to 10 days or so) before putting in a new pair of contacts. (this is assuming that you wear disposables).

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Yeah I tossed my contacts, but fortunately they were at least halfway. I have the monthly ones. I'll probably wait until next weekend until I put them in again I think.

Thanks!

 

I'm glad to hear it works so at least maybe I won't wake up with it worse in the morning. I was really worried about that and wanted to see what people though because even if she was going to take me, I wouldn't have been brought there today and it's been 3 days I've shrugged it off as nothing.

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I think you should go to the doctor. Seriously, you are 20 years old, a grown woman, time to take charge of your own health and life.

 

Now, I know it is just pink eye, but I don't believe in taking chances with your body, especially your eyes. I work with a blind man, he does extremely well, but seriously, you don't want to risk losing your vision.

 

If hope says it's fine to take, do so. But I still think you should start taking yourself to the doctor if you feel you need to go.

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Well, as I already explained in the very beginning of this post, it's really hard for me to find my way into the big city, no direction, and I have $0 right now, and any money is coming from my parents. I don't have the insurance card, that comes from them, too.

 

I know there's natural solutions for pink eye, but if it can be gone sooner and not by holding presses it would be nice but it's not really up to me. I don't think I'll lose my vision over it. But it would be nice to know if this is doing anything to help tonight even if it's expired.

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No, there's nothing like that on there. If there is, it's probably for people living on campus but I've never heard of one. We only have a therapist and I think that's as doctor as we get there unfortunately. It would be nice because then I would have just gone there and done something.

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It's just a small private college with about 300 students. I am almost positive there's nothing like that there. I've been there almost 3 years and never heard of it, there's no office for it, but I just know other colleges probably do. I think people living on campus just go to a hospital in surrounding cities somewhere if they need to for something. I'm not sure how they handle it as that's just a guess.

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*sigh* that's too bad. Well, I'm glad they at least have a therapist!

 

I went to a large school for my undergrad and now I'm at an even bigger school for my grad work. I really like that there is everything I could ever want just a few blocks away.

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My mother ended up taking me. I tried remembering the rout there but no way no how can I do that. I'm going to get a new Dr soon anyway, hopefully out of the city but I don't know about that.

 

Anyway I think that ointment really does still work expired because it helped-- I'm relieved of that because I just didn't want to wake up with pure red eyes or something. I was worried I should have pushed getting there yesterday, but it turned out okay. I worry about little things so I was curious and started this thread.

 

I ended up getting these drops, though. They make this nasty pink eye so much more manageable... I love the drops. Never tried them before. I'm actually really happy about them and that's the whole point of this comment is to 'advertise' the drops, haha. They're really nice. No goopie-ness, no dewy looking eyes, no runny-ness... if anyone ever gets pink eye, get the drops!

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  • 3 years later...
I was just wondering maybe it mite still be effective but you mite have to just use more of it what do you guys think

This thread is 3 years old and has nothing to do with animals- please start your own thread if you are looking for information about your own situation.

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