Not preparing properly and/or having a poor understanding of their use is just tossing the dice. Just having a bunch of antibiotics is meaningless unless you store and maintain them to last.Īs a suggestion to everyone, these items can save your life. If you know a chemist or pharmacist, they can explain the nuisances of extended shelf life and proper storage. So, although you will read (and as an FYI those books actually got their information from SLEP a program of the evil United States Department of Defense) about shelf life and expiration dates, it's not always as simple as some make it sound. Additionally, all medications can have some binding compound that doesn't hold up if improperly stored. A relatively simple antibiotic can be dearly or have no potency when mixed or stored with another medication. This is the whole reason your pharmacist checks for drug interaction. Similarly, some medications can actually be altered in the presence of other medication. That's why if you take a prescription containing a compounded amoxicillin, you will get it in a regular bottle if under 30 day supply but in those foil pouches if over 30 days. You see this clearly when amoxicillian is a component of another antibiotic but will degrade significantly (in as little as 2 months) when exposed to oxygen. but that "shelf life" can be decreased with improper handling, contamination, formulation, and storage. Lets take amoxicillin which has a very long stable shelf life (10+ years) beyond the manufactures stated expiration date. Even same medication can have different "shelf life" depending on inert ingredients and/or manufacturing handling. The "shelf life" of various medications is highly dependent on the specific medication. Medication has a 10-15 year shelf life after the expiration date (per the Doom and Bloom Survival medicine handbook).
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