Question about prescription pills

[tardman]

I found some old pills that i wanna take but its past the "use by" date. Does that mean if I take em they wont work or could something possibly bad happen if i took them?

[Nullific]

That depends on what it is and when the expiration date was.

[faralos666]

they may be lethal, depends on what they are to begin with, be real careful painkillers usually just lose max effectiveness meth substitutes and such are real killers, though

[tardman]

Well unfortunately it is long expired(mid 2003) and the drug is ambien.

[WeBB15]

I wouldnt do it if i was you

[Nullific]

Doesn't seem all that risky to me.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05150/512789.stm

[rastabill89]

what happens to them when they get old?

[tardman]

Thanks for the article null, i think im gonna try em cause i mean theyve been sitting in the airtight bottle the whole time so i think they should be good. Worse thing that could happen is they dont work(I hope lol).

[Nullific]

Not much if the drug was stored properly. The article mentions, prescription drug expiration dates are usually just shortened from manufacturer expiration dates. Probably just used by the pharmacy as a 'sell-by' date. Most perscription drugs are quite stable and there is nothing I am finding to indicate Ambien is any kind of exception.
My sister is a pharmacy technician, I'll ask her about expiration dates tomorrow to try and confirm this.

[rastabill89]

ok man cool

[tardman]

well took 1 10mg pill 15 mins to go and its starting to kick in and i like it :)