I was wondering, does birth control (specifically Orth Tri-Cyclen) ...expire?
Question:
Answers:
yes, all drugs have an expiration date - this should be imprinted on the foil package that contains your actual pills. However...don't be worried - most drugs have an expiration date of one to two years after production. As long as they've been stored properly (in a cool-ish, dry location), they can even go beyond that expiration date by a little. At the very worst, drugs that have expired will be less effective (which for BC is a big deal, but others not so much). They won't hurt you...just might not help you.
check the package to be sure, but a pack you picked up in April should be nowhere near it's expiration date.
Other Answers:
as long as they weren't opened an laying around they should be fine.
Look for the expiration date(s). If you still are uncertain, go ahead and call the doctor.
Not sure but the expiration date might be underneath the little dial thing, like if you take the round part with the pills in it out and look underneath, or if they gave it to you in the package still then it should be printed on the sides of that. If you got one of the generics then the pack is different from what i just explained, it will beon the edge of the pack or look on the back.
All birth control expires eventually WETHER OR NOT you have opened them already....dont know what that person was thinking that said that. Birth control takes about a month to totally get into your system and begins to work effectively, its not an automatic thing, so they wont "work" for another month.
If you got the brand name Ortho-Tri-Cyclen then chances are that the dating is not the best,meaning they will expire earlier....there has been generics of it for some time now and not many people use the brand anymore, so its been sitting around for a while in the pharmacy or doctors office if they gave you free ones. I've just thrown 2 boxes of the stuff into our expired drugs bin at the pharmacy i work at, i think we may have 1 person who gets it because some people have it in there head that the generics dont work the same.....it cant be released if its not the same or equivelent to the brand. They could very well be good still but if the pharmacy dispensed them to you in april and they saw the box said july for an expiration then they of course would not have said anything to you because they should be used up by now. Call the pharmacy and ask if they have taken any expired orto tri cyclen off the shelf since they gave it to you...they should have records of things that have expired because they get money back for returning expired drugs. Also look carefully at your pack (what the pills are actually in) sometimes the date isnt printed...i cant think of the word right now...but sometimes the date is carved in to the package making it hard to see.
Drugs all have expirations but USUALLY they are still good for up to 6 months after the expiration date, they just lose there potency....but i definately wouldnt take that risk with something like birth control,its way too risky.
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