Does Tramadol Expire (Top voted first)

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I pulled a muscle in my lower back and am in a lot of pain but am unemployed at the moment and can't afford to see a doctor and fill a new prescription. I found an old bottle of Tramadol HCL 50 MG with an expiration date of 3/22/2007. It has been stored in a cool, dark, dry cabinet all of this time. Does Tramadol HCL become unsafe or lose its potency after its expiration date, especially this long after?

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6

Tramadol is actually often prescribed for dogs. In fact, two of my dogs have both been prescribed Tramadol for pain relief: specifically, one 50mg tablet every 8 to 12 hours.

That being said, I don't recommend just giving it to your pet. See your vet and ask what he/she thinks first.

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4

Would tramadol be ok to give my dog if expiration 6/2012?

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7

tramadol is constantly prescribed for dogs, but the expiration date means it might not be as effective. since your dog cant talk it might not really accomplish much.

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1

Top Answer
Unsafe: No. Loss of potency: Yes (to a degree)!

In the original factory sealed bottles that your pharmacy receives, most medications are touted to only be good for 3 years. Once those are opened and they are placed in a bottle that exposed them to heat and light, they're subject to degrade faster and will lose potency.

On the contrary however, something to keep in mind is that according to Harvard University’s Medical Center, “Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from their study is that 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date. So, the expiration date doesn't really indicate a point at which the medication is no longer effective or has become unsafe to use. While it's true that the effectiveness of a drug may decrease over time, much of the original potency still remains even a decade after the expiration date.”

Ref: health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/drug-expiration-dates-do-they-mean-anything

Hope this info helps!
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8

Actually, two veterinarians have prescribed Tramadol - 50 mg for my dog. She gets 2 of them twice a day.

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9

The tramadol should still be effective,I have a heal that is really painful if I overdo it and I have tramadol that was dated 02/07 and it takes the throbbing and swelling right out. So use it and it will work for you. G of bless . hope this helps. Rocket666

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3

I've got 100x 50mg Tramadol capsules in foil blister packs, with an expiry date of Dec 2007.
I was prescribed them years back for extremely painful broken bones in my foot.
Last year I was knocked of my motorcycle and got a number of injuries that I'm still struggling with.

For a few months I was prescribed 60mg Codeine, but now I'm just on 1200mg ibuprofen and 4000mg paracetamol daily, but it's nowhere near as effective as the codeine was. Doc won't prescribe codeine again as it's addictive .....so, here I am, in constant pain and I've found my old unused box of tramadol. I'd really like some relief and respite from the constant hip and back pain I have, so do you think it would be ok to take some of the expired tramadol? 100mg at first I was thinking?
I was alright on it years back.

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12

Tramadol is used in dogs all the time but you MUST know the dosage for the weight of your dog!

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45

Nice derailment of the original topic here from loads of defensive, low IQ, pet owners. The question is about tramadol expiration and potency.

I couldn't care less about how you get your dogs high.

Information about effects of expired tramadol on humans would be useful.

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46

you really could've have said that any better. It's 4:22 am I haven't slept in the last 24 hours I'm in pain and all these feeds have been the same by getting off track and not providing helpful answers. I'ma say screw it and take this 6 year old pill and hope for the best. Worthless Internet....

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52

Good for pain, beware of the less talked about side effects. A good pharmacist can tell you how long you can keep tramadol after purchase. I was on it several years for pain, it really works for pain. But after years of devastating daily multiple hypoglycemia drops, we finally learned it was the tramadol causing my chronic life altering hypoglycemia drops. For those who might have this problem, be careful. Neither the pharmacist or my primary knew it was a problem with this med but in the UK it is known amongst the medical field. Same goes for dogs, it 'can' drop their blood sugars so low so quick that it can cause life altering seizures rendering the dog handicapped or death.

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16

As of August 18, 2014, Tramadol became a schedule IV medicine because people have started to abuse it. Practices are tightening up. Eventually everyone may have to get a new prescription every month.

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18

Fact! different meds from different pharmacies are really different in potency and duration of relief... to me, that is.

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39

I am aware of one dog that died after being put onto tramadol for osteoarthritis. Tramadol is not an effective analgesic for osteoarthritis in people and 80% of patients prescribed tramadol with/without paracetamol take themselves off treatment because of the unacceptable side-effects (See Cochrane Library Systematic Review) . Tramadol is much more short acting in dogs than it is in humans, there is hardly any evidence to show that it works in dogs- and its safety profile in this species is not known. We should not be using drugs until there is enough evidence that they work and are safe. Here is more info about Tramadol for dogs and Toxicity risk: golden-retriever-dog.com/veterinary-help/tramadol-for-dogs

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42

Y'all are hilarious, pharmaceutical companies are in the business of making money not helping people, the military had done and experiment on there stored meds and found most to be 90 percent potent after expiration date to a tune of up to 60 yes sixty Months .... If it crumbles, is discolored etc toss it but the meds found in testing to become bad first were antibiotics epi pens and rxs for heart and life threatening conditions.... give that a google

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48

I have a bottle of Tramadol Hcl 50mg The expiration date is November 2016 will they be strong enough till 2017 summer if I start them now! I hate to throw them away. I have kept them in a dark park!

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13

Tramadol is used on animals. Look it up on Pet Rx. My vet prescibes it. U need to know proper dosing. Take ur animal to the vet..

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2

Thanks for the reply Verwon. I decided to try just one and it did indeed lose its potency. I hardly felt any difference. One thing that I did notice though was a strange, very mild taste in my mouth shortly after taking it. It may have been my imagination but I thought it worth mentioning.

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11

Sorry, wrong thread!

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59

Re: Barbara W (# 14) Expand Referenced Message

This is so WRONG! I have been using tramadal for years and now my pain specialist titrated me from 600mg a day done to 300mg a day. Work has been very miserable but I am really trying. Now he wants to put me on Subutex to "detox" me. I just want to work and live a normal life. Is that asking too much?

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