4 ms·

You can just keep the pills. If you're really that strong about avoiding addiction why do you feel the need to throw them away?

Broken_Hippo 4y ago
I'm not sure where they said they got rid of them to avoid addiction: It is more that they have to convince medical staff that they aren't simply looking to get high but want health instead. But outside of that, getting rid of unused pills is good practice. These pills are going to expire. Once they do, you can no longer rely on them doing what you expect. Plus, a lot of folks don't like to keep stuff they aren't using around the house - it is always a bit of upkeep or storage. And that doesn't even get into it being safer around children. It is easier to prevent children from getting into such things if they aren't in the house. FYI: Check with your pharmacy about bringing unused medicine to them to dispose of properly instead of putting it in the trash.
- berberous 4y ago
  I am not a doctor or chemist so I do not want to speak definitively, but I highly doubt most common drugs (Xanax, Advil, etc) really lose much efficacy past their expiration date (at least within some reasonable time, like 10-15 years). Happy to be shown evidence otherwise. I wouldn’t rely on this for say, antibiotics to treat an infection, but I wouldn’t hesitate to take a 5 year old Xanax.
- csdvrx 4y ago
  > But outside of that, getting rid of unused pills is good practice. These pills are going to expire. Once they do, you can no longer rely on them doing what you expect. Evidence required. Expiration dates are put on many things as a CYA, but I don't expect dry chemicals destined for human (or animal!) use kept in an airtight container protected from the sunlight to degrade within 10 years. Should they degrade, the question is into what, and how much: 5% degradation into what the human body breaks the chemical into should have no consequence. > FYI: Check with your pharmacy about bringing unused medicine to them to dispose of properly instead of putting it in the trash. Or just keep it and use it as needed, solving both of your problems at once!
- bookofjoe 4y ago
  >But outside of that, getting rid of unused pills is good practice. These pills are going to expire. Once they do, you can no longer rely on them doing what you expect. Disagree completely. Source: retired neurosurgical anesthesiologist (38 years practice) Reasons: 1) When you need those pills you won't have them 2) Properly stored pills (dark shelf/cabinet) lose potency/efficacy VERY slowly: perhaps 10%/year. So 5-year-old pills will still work fine. Take one, see if does what it did originally; if not, take another. 3) If you're traveling and need that medication, good luck. You'll wish you'd saved them.
orbital223 4y ago
Most medicine has expiration dates. If he needs it only every 3-5 years, it's unlikely the pills will still be usable.
- csdvrx 4y ago
  > it's unlikely the pills will still be usable Pills (and chemicals) are not SSL certificates: they don't cease to work at the expiration date + 1 second.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    The US government tested a bunch of old World War II medication they found laying around, and it had something outrageous like 98% efficacy or whatever. Maybe a liquid medicine would go bad but I suspect pills are forever.
  - TylerE 4y ago
    And in the US at least, FDA requires a max expiration date or one year, despite many being shelf stable for probably decades. I know I read somewhere about morphine pills from WW2 medkits being found to still be useful 60+ years later - like say 30-50% of stated dose.
- ars 4y ago
  > it's unlikely the pills will still be usable. Yes it will. The pills don't actually expire. They will work unchanged for decades. See: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expirati...
amalcon 4y ago
For medication like this, the doctor will usually prescribe a specific number of pills at a specific dosage. The number will rarely exceed what you ask for, and asking for large numbers of pills is treated (not unreasonably) as a sign of drug seeking.
- Calavar 4y ago
  This is true in general, but as a doctor, I've never written a prescription for only 3 Xanax pills. Usually more like 10 to 30 depending on the situation. The only time I write for a single digit number of pills is for antibiotics, where I know ahead of time exactly how many pills they will need.
  - somehnguy 4y ago
    Anecdotally I’ve received a script for exactly 3 Xanax pills. The eye surgeon prescribed them for my LASIK surgery.
    - throwing_away 4y ago
      This is also common for dentists and other outpatient procedures.
- tux3 4y ago
  >and asking for large numbers of pills is treated (not unreasonably) as a sign of drug seeking. Something that keeps tripping me up with the label of drug seeking, is that in this situation the person is correctly drug seeking in a situation they've previously had a specific problem diagnosed and have had positive experiences with a therapeutic. They simply need to subject themselves to the ritual, follow doctor's orders, and not look like they are drug-seeking to successfully drug-seek the therapeutic. What bother me is the implicit confusion between seeking drugs to treat a specific problem, versus not. Confusion creates damage both ways, with an insufficiently individualized approach people subject to drug addictions may not be sufficiently protected (many are still successful finding someone who will fuel their addiction), while people not subject to drug addiction receive substandard care.

Broken_Hippo 4y ago

I'm not sure where they said they got rid of them to avoid addiction: It is more that they have to convince medical staff that they aren't simply looking to get high but want health instead. But outside of that, getting rid of unused pills is good practice. These pills are going to expire. Once they do, you can no longer rely on them doing what you expect. Plus, a lot of folks don't like to keep stuff they aren't using around the house - it is always a bit of upkeep or storage. And that doesn't even get into it being safer around children. It is easier to prevent children from getting into such things if they aren't in the house. FYI: Check with your pharmacy about bringing unused medicine to them to dispose of properly instead of putting it in the trash.

berberous 4y ago
I am not a doctor or chemist so I do not want to speak definitively, but I highly doubt most common drugs (Xanax, Advil, etc) really lose much efficacy past their expiration date (at least within some reasonable time, like 10-15 years). Happy to be shown evidence otherwise. I wouldn’t rely on this for say, antibiotics to treat an infection, but I wouldn’t hesitate to take a 5 year old Xanax.
csdvrx 4y ago
> But outside of that, getting rid of unused pills is good practice. These pills are going to expire. Once they do, you can no longer rely on them doing what you expect. Evidence required. Expiration dates are put on many things as a CYA, but I don't expect dry chemicals destined for human (or animal!) use kept in an airtight container protected from the sunlight to degrade within 10 years. Should they degrade, the question is into what, and how much: 5% degradation into what the human body breaks the chemical into should have no consequence. > FYI: Check with your pharmacy about bringing unused medicine to them to dispose of properly instead of putting it in the trash. Or just keep it and use it as needed, solving both of your problems at once!
bookofjoe 4y ago
>But outside of that, getting rid of unused pills is good practice. These pills are going to expire. Once they do, you can no longer rely on them doing what you expect. Disagree completely. Source: retired neurosurgical anesthesiologist (38 years practice) Reasons: 1) When you need those pills you won't have them 2) Properly stored pills (dark shelf/cabinet) lose potency/efficacy VERY slowly: perhaps 10%/year. So 5-year-old pills will still work fine. Take one, see if does what it did originally; if not, take another. 3) If you're traveling and need that medication, good luck. You'll wish you'd saved them.

orbital223 4y ago

Most medicine has expiration dates. If he needs it only every 3-5 years, it's unlikely the pills will still be usable.

csdvrx 4y ago
> it's unlikely the pills will still be usable Pills (and chemicals) are not SSL certificates: they don't cease to work at the expiration date + 1 second.
- bombcar 4y ago
  The US government tested a bunch of old World War II medication they found laying around, and it had something outrageous like 98% efficacy or whatever. Maybe a liquid medicine would go bad but I suspect pills are forever.
- TylerE 4y ago
  And in the US at least, FDA requires a max expiration date or one year, despite many being shelf stable for probably decades. I know I read somewhere about morphine pills from WW2 medkits being found to still be useful 60+ years later - like say 30-50% of stated dose.
ars 4y ago
> it's unlikely the pills will still be usable. Yes it will. The pills don't actually expire. They will work unchanged for decades. See: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expirati...

amalcon 4y ago

For medication like this, the doctor will usually prescribe a specific number of pills at a specific dosage. The number will rarely exceed what you ask for, and asking for large numbers of pills is treated (not unreasonably) as a sign of drug seeking.

Calavar 4y ago
This is true in general, but as a doctor, I've never written a prescription for only 3 Xanax pills. Usually more like 10 to 30 depending on the situation. The only time I write for a single digit number of pills is for antibiotics, where I know ahead of time exactly how many pills they will need.
- somehnguy 4y ago
  Anecdotally I’ve received a script for exactly 3 Xanax pills. The eye surgeon prescribed them for my LASIK surgery.
  - throwing_away 4y ago
    This is also common for dentists and other outpatient procedures.
tux3 4y ago
>and asking for large numbers of pills is treated (not unreasonably) as a sign of drug seeking. Something that keeps tripping me up with the label of drug seeking, is that in this situation the person is correctly drug seeking in a situation they've previously had a specific problem diagnosed and have had positive experiences with a therapeutic. They simply need to subject themselves to the ritual, follow doctor's orders, and not look like they are drug-seeking to successfully drug-seek the therapeutic. What bother me is the implicit confusion between seeking drugs to treat a specific problem, versus not. Confusion creates damage both ways, with an insufficiently individualized approach people subject to drug addictions may not be sufficiently protected (many are still successful finding someone who will fuel their addiction), while people not subject to drug addiction receive substandard care.