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This is your ping to the All Things Prepping, Simple Living, Back to the Basics [Survival Today, an on going thread]

This week's topic is Storing Medication at Post #1676

I need everyone's input on how best to store not only fish antibiotics but any other medication, for the best way to have it last past the expiration date.

There was a great thread that TIK posted us to recently about fish antibiotics. Or rather just the need for storing any antibiotics, no matter what the source. (and thank you to TIK for his long-term dedication and pinging us to many many relevant articles over the years).

I have just been storing the small amount I had in the original bottles in our basement. At the very least I think I could have put them in mylar with an oxygen absorber! But is there a method that is tried and true that is better?

I have read to always keep them in the freezer. And then to never keep them in the freezer. The refrigerator is mentioned often. But then a dry place is also recommended! I have no clue what to do!

I've read that freezers are good as long as they have a consistent temperature. So that leaves off any freezers with a defrost cycle. I get serum tears for my eyes that are frozen and need to be kept at a constant temperature. The best I could figure was to put them in a box with ice cubes and then put that in the freezer. Maybe when the temperature fluctuates during the defrost cycle the extra ice with my serum tears will keep them colder.

I also read if storing them in the refrigerator to remove the cotton packing in the bottle, if there is any - those would absorb moisture.

I just thought I would pass on those extra tidbits,.

But I would appreciate any information or even opinions on how to store medication.

If you want off/on this list, just let me know.

A suggested topic for the next thread is generators.

There’s a mention made about them on this thread. What with the power grid issues we are looking at and whatever natural disasters might throw at us, it seems like a need that would be good to address for next time.

Supply Chain Shortages Making Hurricane Season Even Scarier-(ccp transformers lack off)
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4087567/posts

I’d like to be pinged as well. Thanks!

Please keep me on this list, CB. Thanks!

Interesting,,,
Thanks!

CottonBall :" I've read that freezers are good as long as they have a consistent temperature.
So that leaves off any freezers with a defrost cycle.
I get serum tears for my eyes that are frozen and need to be kept at a constant temperature."

Defrost cycles in a freezer are designed to prevent 'ice-up' on the cooling tubes; the ice on the tubes result in increased need for electric energy.
This increased need for more electrical power during ice build up is offset by the intermittent defrost cycle which dumps into an external pan for ambient evaporation.
As I recall, it was FReeper 'Greeneyes' wh made the observation that frozen meats lasted longer, with no 'Frost Burn' in an older freezer that had no "Defrost Cycle".
However, that situation would necessitate periodic, or semi-annual, manual defrost of that freezer to minimize power consumption.

https://www.primalsurvivor.net/fish-antibiotics-humans/

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-drug-expiry-date-a-necessary-safety-measure-or-yet-another-big-pharma-conspiracy/

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ajaz-Hussain-2/publication/7060597_Stability_profiles_of_drug_products_extended_beyond_labeled_expiration_dates/links/6109d044169a1a0103dae375/Stability-profiles-of-drug-products-extended-beyond-labeled-expiration-dates.pdf

In general, 1-5 years after expiration date if unopened. “Ideal conditions” are mentioned but not explained. I would think cool, dark and dry.

While bearing the above points in mind, it is useful to look at the results of the SLEP program to help us make our own decisions about the drugs in our cabinet. Each batch of each drug in the SLEP program is tested separately, and the shelf life extended for each batch individually. The following table summarizes the expiration date assessment results for some of these drugs that have been published so far.

Each batch of each drug in the SLEP program is tested separately, and the shelf life extended for each batch individually. So, for example, for Ampicillin capsules the range is listed as 22 to 64 months, which means the shortest batch was extended by 22 months, and the longest by 64 months. So the mean, or average, extension across all the batches tested by the program was 49 months.

Category	Drug	Expiration Date Extension (months)
Category	Drug	Mean	Range
Antibiotics	Ampicillin capsules	49	22 – 64
	Amoxicillin tablets	23	22 – 23
	Cephalexin capsules	57	28 – 135
	Ciprofloxacin tablets	55	12 – 142
	Doxycycline capsules	50	37 – 66
	Doxycycline hyclate tablets *	27	15 – 91 *
	Tetracycline HCl capsules *	50	17 – 133 *

Anti-parasite	Mebendazole tablets	58	28 – 89

Pain relief / Anti-inflammatories	Acetaminophen pseudophedrine capsules	24	24 – 24
	Codeine sulphate tablets *	89	16 – 144 *
	Naproxen tablets	52	46 – 62

Heart drugs	Enalapril maleate tablets *	34	27 – 42 *

Stomach drugs	Cimetidine tablets	67	59 – 75

Respiratory drugs	Albuterol inhalant**	–	–
Respiratory drugs	Guaifenesin ER tablets	85	39 – 122

Emergency drugs	Atropine sulfate autoinjector*	57	12 – 135 *
Emergency drugs	Diazepam autoinjector*	63	12 – 100 *

Eye ointments	Sulfacetamide eye cream *	39	35 – 44 *
Eye ointments	Neomycin, polymixin B, bacitracin eye cream*	79	21 – 115 *

Skin medication	Aluminium acetate tablets*	52	16 – 70 *
Skin medication	Povidone-iodine ointment	65	35 – 134

Table adapted from Lyon et al. 2006

* Some batches (<50%) failed and could not be extended, or failed on repeat testing. Reasons for failure included failing chemical analysis, and changes in texture or appearance.

** No batches of this drug could have their shelf life extended.

These expiration date extensions make a big difference to the usable time of a drug. To take Ciprofloxacin as an example: the licensed shelf life is 3 years, and as a result of the SLEP program the shelf life was extended by an average of 4 years, giving a total shelf life of 7 years. Even the batches that were granted the shortest extension still received an additional year on top of the licensed shelf life.

https://www.askaprepper.com/the-real-expiration-date-of-common-drugs-in-your-cabinet/

https://www.askaprepper.com/how-to-store-your-drugs-for-an-extended-shelf-life/

Both articles above play it pretty safe but that's not a bad thing. Looks like antiotics are all pretty safe for 3-5 years in a cool, dark, dry place. Second article mentions a 'medicine box' with dessicant used. I would think an ammo box would be ideal. Since an ammo box has seals and you's ideally be using dessicant, a nice cool basement should work. Maybe bring the box upstairs once a year on a day with low humidity and put fresh dessicant in it and then bring it back down to the basement.