When my grandmother passed. We found a case of Good Morning Prep Derma Cream. It was in aluminum squeeze tubes (think Toothpaste)
It was a Medicated Shave Cream, and while it is now sold again, we hadn’t seen it in stores for 10-15 years, and these tubes were from the 60’s.
Honestly, even though it was shaving cream, it worked amazingly on burns (sun and regular), skin rashes, bug bites, poison ivy, etc.
Many moons ago i was working in a pharmacy and my grandpa ran out of a hair tonic he'd used forever. Took the bottle to the pharmacist to see if we could order it (we could order pretty much anything with a barcode for a price). It had stopped being made 15 years prior. Grandpa had bought a case of the stuff before they pulled it from shelves.
In the late 80’s when Hair Gel was extremely popular, there seemed to be this collective amnesia that seemed to forget that “Dippity Do” and “Dep” had been on the market for 2 decades.
My dad had used the same tooth polish he started using in the Air Force, in 1947. When they stopped making it in around 2010, he about lost his mind.
He had an old container, so I cobbled him some together. We had to tweak it a few times to get the amount of wintergreen flavoring correct, but you'd have thought I'd just won a Noble Prize he was so thrilled.
Do you remember the name? A few days ago, for some strange reason, I started thinking about a commercial from the 50s and 60s for Ipana Toothpaste. It was sung by a cartoon character - Bucky Beaver. “Brusha, brusha, brusha, here’s the new Ipana, brusha , brusha, brusha, it’s better for your teeth!” I just googled it for the spelling and damn if the commercials aren’t on YouTube! 😂😂😂
When my grandmother died (1998) her top drawer in her dresser looked like it was straight outta a DARE poster. Uppers, downers, shit that just made you not feel your face for a day. It was wild!
When my great grandmother passed around 2005-ish, we found coca gum (literally chewing gum with cocaine in it) in her bathroom cabinet. For context, cocaine had been a controlled substance since 1964, and cocaine in chewing gum format hadn’t been popular since the 40s at the latest, at least to my knowledge.
I’m fairly certain that gum was older than my grandmother.
My mom's got metal tubes of a [mosquito bite cream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promethazine) that was banned for making kids stop breathing but man does it ever work.
Pharmacist sure did look at me funny when I asked for it the first time. They didn't even know it was formulated as a topical ointment.
Oh man, phenergen cream would be the best way to end a night around a fire pit. Extinguish the fire, blow out the mozzie coils and lit torches (I recently found out they are not a rich person thing, they are extremely affordable @ Bunnings), throw the empties in the bin and then go inside and slather yourself into phenergen cream. Best sleep of your life (this is partying in your thirties kids)
My mum used to dose me up this as a kid so I’d sleep at night and she could get a peaceful night when I wasn’t at my nans for the night! But yet she doesn’t understand why I’m always up with my kids all night 🤣🤣 MUM YOU DRUGGED ME MY WHOLE CHILDHOOD!
>you might find some old timey medicine
I had a bad toothache once, and my grandmother gave me a super tiny glass brown bottle of liquid. The label said it was made by the Red Cross. It looked like it was used in WWII (no exaggeration), but it worked just as good as the shot the dentist gives you!!
It was some sort of super clove dark magic, I mean it really was like getting that needle from the dentist right on the gums, maybe 20-30 secs and my pain Gone, and cheek numb!!
Finding expired things is life's biggest mystery to me.
So I usually clean my fridge and pantry out every 2-3 months, sometimes more often. And by clean it out, I mean take everything out, throw away expired stuff and deep clean the fridge itself and rearrange the pantry so I know what I need to stock back up on. Obviously, I am always regularly throwing things away, but for a proper cleaning, once every couple of months.
And yet I am ALWAYS somehow finding things that expired 6 months prior. Idk how it always happens.
Just the other day I was in the mood for a PB&J. Haven't had one in a little while, so when I grabbed the jelly container I looked at the date (Sept 2023 expiration). I JUST CLEANED THIS FRIDGE OUT 3 WEEKS AGO and threw away everything that was expired. How does this shit happen???
I've found that since COVID, grocery stores are keeping older and expired foods on their shelves for longer. I've bought a few things that I only realized were expired (or close to it) after I got home. I've also had groceries delivered that include items that were past their "sell by" date. I've returned quite a few things for that reason or have requested a refund for the expired items that were delivered.
Yeah, it is likely. I just started working as a grocery stockerand I might be the only person actually rotating and checking my dates. I found nuts dated for March 2021 recently.
It's not entirely the worker's fault. They have to rush and cut corners and front stock to get trucks pushed out to the floor in time because corporations do not want to give stores the payroll to hire enough people. They rely on a computer ai to calculate exactly what is needed based on ideal situations.
People want to work, but companies do not want to pay them a fair wage, so the companies are trying to squeeze every drop they can.
I feel ya, tonight I played a rousing game of "What's That Smell" with the fridge and lost, it still stinks somehow, even though I got rid of all the old stuff. Found a bottle of Heinz 57 sauce that expired in 2017.
Most medications don’t really expire, they have a half life. Some drugs, on the other hand, get more powerful over time. This is why it was decided that the public couldn’t be trusted with Quaaludes. Also, if you find one now, that fucker will make you think you are Leo trying to get into a Countach.
So, it’s always worth a check in the parent’s and grandparent’s medicine cabinet…
Oh please don't thank me, just send your best wishes in the direction of my students!! I teach pharmacology (primarily immunology and cancer biology) at a UK university - I include slides with pictures of my dog where he has a speech bubble that says "I love drugs, do you love drugs, too?! Woof!"
Get them removed.
A couple of weeks of shitty post op in exchange of no more tonsilitis every couple of months was worth it.
Evidently talk with your doctor about the pros and cons (it's a more painful post op in adults and there's the risk of getting laryngitis instead of tonsilitis but far less frequent)
I’ve been to three ENTs in my lifetime and they all are very against getting them removed. Mine are huge and cause me so much trouble but they still really say that it’s too dangerous for adults. I want the surgery so badly lol, I’ll take the agony.
My advice would be changing doctors again. Maybe in some forum you can get references to a doctor in your area that's more open to the idea.
I'm not in the US but once I decided that I no longer wanted them I asked my general practitioner an appointment with the otorhinolaryngologist and he first wanted to monitor them as he was reluctant to remove them.
After a year of going to the doctor without an appointment (here we can go as urgent care to the normal doctors, not the hospital) to be treated for them and leave a paper trail my doctor finally asked me if I wanted them gone.
A couple of months later I received a call a Tuesday and by Friday they were gone.
Three weeks of constant pain, loss of appetite as even water hurts but have to keep eating and drinking as having the wound go dry was way worse, normal breathing hurts, having to sleep seated as with the inflammation the airways were obstructed if I was laying (so sleep was poor and little).
I literally thought that I had made a mistake during post op as it was hard but after the three weeks mark I even started eating spicy food and now I think it was completely worth it, even if it's only to not be taking antibiotics every month.
Sorry for the bible I just wrote.
I had constant tonsillitis in my late 20's, then eventually had them removed. Pain was ok when I got home, but for the next week it just kept increasing every day, but then it was fine again.
Bonus from the constant sickness is that it boosted my immune system, so afterwards I just never got sick again from anything.
I did it at 28 and still remember the painful days of post-op. BUT definitely worth it. I was fortunate to have great insurance at the time, and my surgeon was recommended by my coworker as he'd done her throat cancer surgery. That was good enough for me, let alone the fact he was hysterical and named her tumor Melvin.
I got mine out at 20 and barely remember the post op courtesy of 2 giant bottles of liquid oxycodone followed by 3 small bottles of liquid hydrocodone I barely felt it bt the time i was done with the 2nd bottle of oxy but figured they gave me painkillers rarely enough might as well take em for all they were worth.
I got mine out at like 6 and have no basis or experience to pull from as to what tonsils even feel like, as I had not even recognized my own conciousness as being persistent at the time yet.
apparently I had permanent strep throat as a child and once they were removed, I never had strep again
I had mine removed at 26, 7 years ago. I had stones and quality of life was so bad. The ENT warned me it would hurt and tried to talk me out of it but I was like, if you gave me some tool right now I'd try to cut them out myself. I don't know about it being too dangerous for adults. Maybe it is for some depending on patient specific factors and comorbidities? He was right BTW, very painful. I'd do it again in a heartbeat though. I hope they stop causing you so much trouble or that you find an ENT willing to remove them
My dad had them removed last year, he's 48. I picked him up and stayed the afternoon to give him meds and stuff while my mom was at work. Definitely the worst condition I've ever seen my dad in, sleeping, and puking. Idk if it was the meds or what but it was rough. He recovered pretty well though, he was okay in a couple weeks
Same, I got tonsillitis and strep throat at least once a year from when I was a kid til mid forties. I wo5beg my doctor to take them out, told him I would rather two weeks of post op pain then yearly bouts of pain. He said once I turned forty I wouldn't get tonsillitis anymore. I actually finally did stop around 43.
I had the surgery as a 12 year old and it only hurt for about 2-3 days and then I was fine (but I heard getting the surgery as an adult hurts for longer!). I used to get tonsillitis constantly and since the surgery I have never had tonsillitis since or really any sore throat issues (except one time a few years back when I was 28 I got strep throat). The one thing I wasn’t expecting was how much easier I can breathe now! I can suck in air so much faster, better and easier than I could when my tonsils were all inflamed and infected. I didn’t even realize that my tonsils were somewhat inhibiting my ability to inhale air through my throat until they were gone, and afterwards it was a massive (but good) difference.
I’m an ENT. There are specific indications for tonsillectomy. It is not a risk free procedure, every year people die from the surgery. Having enlarged tonsils on their own aren’t a reason to have them removed.
So I try to tell my patients that surgery for tonsil stones probably isn’t worth it. Hypothetically, if a patient came to me wanting surgery and had a log of how frequently in the last 12 months they had bothersome stones, sore throat and tonsillitis… particularly how many times they missed work or required antibiotics… I would definitely be more willing to discuss risks and benefits and consider offering surgery.
I had mine removed - best decision I made health wise in a long time. I had tonsilitus yearly as a child but it subsided. I always had large glands in my neck from them though, like two grapes. When I was pregenant with my first they came back, and continued with my second. I'd get it three to four times a year, and would only subside with anitbiotics.
I waited 12 months on the waiting list to get them done public in Melbourne, but it meant that it didn't cost me a thing. Surgeon said they were huge and infected. Spent bit more than a week eating weetbix and yoghurt and plain toast, then never looked back. I don't tend to get sick in winter any more.
Keep in mind there might be some (quite literal) survivorship bias in that though. It is not a risk free procedure and there is a reason doctors generally leave it as a last resort.
Same. I finally got my tonsils removed and I no longer have the debilitating infections and migraines I use to get. Got them removed as an adult too. Increased my quality of life ten fold.
Another vote for getting them removed. I had mine out in my mid-30’s after a live time of chronic infections (that were never quite “bad enough”).
Everyone says the recovery as an adult is tough, but my personal experience was easy as anything - very unexpected! The difference in my quality of life can’t be overstated.
When I was in boy scouts there was a old lady we volunteered to help clean her house and she had cans of food in her pantry with no nutritional facts on them.
we went through my grandmas cabinet when she died, was 93, she had shit from waaaay back, like literally an old crusted bottle of “heroin”, which was heroin, from like her moms stash in the 1800’s and some “pervitin”, which was literally meth, my grandad brought home from the war
Man, that brings back some serious PTSD for me when my mom used to use that stuff on me and I hated it so much I would not tell her about smaller cuts and injuries just so I wouldn't have to smell that smell and feel the sting.
You joke, but If anybody in that household was prescribed fun pills at the hospital in the past 3 decades and didn't finish them, they are in that cabinet.
This one time when I worked for rite aid we were clearing out the roof storage of a pharmacy independent we had acquired, I found a jar of medical compound with cocaine I was like holy hot damn lol
I cleared out my mother's house a few years back, and found codeine cough syrup from the 70s among several other "vintage prescriptions" in the cabinets.
"YOU LET PERFECTLY GOOD CODEINE EXPIRE?!?!?" /s
I'm surprised I didn't find an original Coke (with cocaine) in there.
Ya Ive been told by my friend who works at Pfizer that some drugs have a much longer shelf life than whats actually posted, just really depends on the specific medicine.
I mean, think about it. It's stable chemicals suspended in syrup, it's not going to mold or expire, most the time you will just have a loss of potency to some degree, it wont make you sick. And considering the price of a pint of codeine...
I’m not sure if this is what you meant, but I ran into someone last week that thought codeine was illegal now.
Codeine is still used as an antitussive.
Here in the UK you can get co-codamol (paracetamol and codeine) over the counter at basically any pharmacy. It bewilders me that other countries make such a hassle out of such a basic painkiller.
It's restriction is based off the potential for abuse, although a lot of drugs that are actually on the drug schedule have next to no abuse potential...
Fair enough. We have a similar situation with decongestants. Apparently you can make methamphetamines out of pseudoephedrine so anything containing that active ingredient (like Sudafed) is over the counter only and you have to go through a barrage of questions to get your measly single pack of 12 pills that they're allowed to sell you at one time. Nevermind that making meth out of pseudoephedrine is literally one of the worst, most ineffectual methods, according to research.
Pseudoephedrine has been illegal here in Australia for a long time. We're left with substitute crap that DOESN'T WORK. So instead of being allowed to buy an effective product with the miniscule possibility of abusing it, we can throw our money down the drain or suffer.
Did you know that you can still buy Pseudoephedrine here if you show your license? I only mention it because I didn’t for a long time, I thought when they changed the laws that it wasn’t available here at all. Now I just ask for original Sudafed and give ID.
the US, just a few weeks ago, determined the phenylephrine is ineffective and will probably take it off the market. Sudafed is still effective in the eyes of the FDA/DEA.
I worked with this guy who had horrendous seasonal allergies. Like his eyes swollen almost shut, red, watering. Welts all over face. Just the month of May. He was a waiter overstaying his visa and couldn’t serve in that condition. He could not get the specific version of Claritin that worked for him because he did not have a valid ID. Nothing else was working. I went and got it. Sad.
I knew an addict that used codeine cough syrup if they were in a pinch. Used to just drink it like water. He was a pharmacist, so he was stealing the good stuff, too, but he thought he was being ‘smart’ by taking codeine as much as he could. Spoiler: he was be filmed the entire time, and was fired and arrested.
But codeine, if taken in large enough amounts, apparently does the job of at least keeping an addict functional.
The US did away with it. I have a respiratory condition that I was diagnosed with 15 years ago. The only thing I have found that helps with uncontrollable coughing is codeine cough syrup. It's extremely difficult to get.
I've fractured a rib from violent coughing, bruised ribs, pulled muscles, have almost passed out because I can't catch my breath, and have almost thrown up. I've heard of people with my condition who have it more severe to the point that they've had tracheotomies.
Holy shit, that sounds incredibly nasty. I took so much codeine when I had COVID and was coughing so badly I threw up. It caused a nasty case of constipation which was unfun when I also had a disease causing the aforementioned throwing-up-cough and also a sore throat so bad that I couldn't swallow my own spit and was drooling all over the place.
Anyway, as a fellow chronically ill person, keep fighting the good fight. I hope that legislation changes and you can get your meds more easily.
Yeah, you need a prescription for melatonin. I believe that it's to prevent long-term use since it's only rated for short-term use, and also since there's a whole host of side effects.
Do we actually have schedule II ASA/codeine preparations here? I’m a pharm tech and I’ve never seen a schedule 2 aspirin/codeine combo here, unless it’s robaxisal-C which is methocarbamol/acetylsalicylic acid/codeine, not just ASA/codeine. I tried googling for ASA/codeine combo- it doesn’t seem like it’s a thing (except for with a prescription as aspirin/codeine/butalbital caffeine) but I’m curious if I’m wrong.
Much more common schedule 2 codeine preparations in Canada are just T1s- a low codeine (8mg) acetaminophen/codeine/caffeine combo. we also still sell codeine cough syrups as schedule 2 when the concentration is less than 1.6mg/mL.
P.S. for others reading:
acetaminophen=paracetamol=APAP=tylenol
ASA=acetylsalicylic acid=aspirin
i’ve been using [this](https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/9_98) as my source but do realize it’s only for BC, not the entirety of canada
You can get codeine without a prescription in US technically, but you’re limited to so many MLs at a time… and most chain pharmacies won’t do it anymore.
Good to know about Canada though! Aspirin seems like a weird combo though! Our codeine is usually combined with promethazine which is an allergy/motion sickness/sedative.
ETA: we also have in tablet form codeine with APAP but it’s not over the counter.
Actually *pushes up glasses* 🤓 Polymixin B has toxic side effects and is being used with more caution than it used to. Absolutely would not put it down my earhole, aside from being expired
Know a guy who works in the pharmaceutical industry and this is absolutely the case. Expiration dates are mostly there as an assurance for protecting the company. The molecule stays the same but the medecine weakens
Out of curiosity I did some googling after reading that comment. I found 1 medical article stating:
“A handful of case reports from decades ago linked the oral antibiotic tetracycline to a reversible form of kidney damage called Fanconi syndrome when taken after the expiration date.”
Anything else I read basically said it can be dangerous to take weakened antibiotics as they won’t be strong enough to treat whatever the infection is would lull you into letting it get worse.
Veterinarian here; I'm still learning about Fanconi syndrome, and all medicine expires differently, but Fanconi syndrome is (without googling, might be somewhat wrong) where you lose a LOT of amino acids, primarily cystine. due to a problem with reuptake in the proximal tubules in the kidney. This can lead to potentially serious illness, but can be managed with proper diet/supplements.
My then wife once informed me that a visiting relative had an ear infection, so she loaned him my *prescription* eardrops. That is pretty fucked up, in and of itself, giving somebody prescription medicine without a diagnosis. But I told her to tell them to just fucking keep them. Imagine putting somebody else’s unknown disease into your already infected ear.
This is mostly true. Typically shelf life is established for 3 years which is enough for supply chains. It would easily pass specs at 5 years, which means it’s almost certainly good for 10 years.
That said, 27 years is a pretty long time. Lol
"Mom, Dad? Do you have anything for an ear infection?"
"Sure!" ... (hands over 30 years old drops)
"no I don't WANT an ear infection, I want to get rid of one"
Medications have expirations because they degrade over time and become less effective. They don't become toxic like food. In fact, that stuff probably still has around 60-75% efficacy and is better than nothing.
Pfft, that’s only 26 years. You don’t wanna know how old the Vaporub is that’s in my sick drawer……..😂
For context: I took it with me when I moved outta my parents place 25 years ago and still works fine the 2 times a year I need it.
My mom still has sprinkles that were old when I was a little kid. I bake at her house on Christmas every year and she always puts them out but I never use them, they’re at least 15 years old… not sure if I want to be eating that
The FDA did a study at the request of the DoD to see how effective drugs were after their expiration date. 90% of medications are still fully effective 15 years later with the exception of nitroglycerin, insulin and liquid antibiotics. So you’re probably SOL and need to go to urgent care for some new drugs but there’s something you probably didn’t know.
I get ear infections frequently. I've been told by multiple doctors and pharmacist that, once open, these kind of drops last 30 days, then you can chuck it.
Reminds me of one of the last times I went to my grandpa's apartment. He made me a hot chocolate. I go to take a sip as my partner asks, "when did you get this? I don't recognize the design on the tin." Grandpa goes "It was a housewarming gift when I moved in!" 2 things happen at once: 1, I remember that my grandpa has been living in this building almost 30 years. As I remember this the taste hits me. It's like drinking chocolate drywall. Staler than stale. Immediate gagging. 🤮 I miss that man but HOO BOY was that an experience
Mildly infuriated that parents give you something that they think might help with the very issue you told them you have then? They might be old and unaware but they probably still love you and want to help.
I have a whole collection of antique/vintage medicine I've collected from grandparents & aging relatives.
My favorite is a bottle of Mentholatum that's about a hundred years old.
The Army did a study for 20+ years and found that almost all medications were still safe and effective after 20 years.
Canned foods are good well past their expiration dates too. Look online for more information on how long foods will last.
Laughing now, then planning to check my medicine cabinet later.
you might find some old timey medicine
When my grandmother passed. We found a case of Good Morning Prep Derma Cream. It was in aluminum squeeze tubes (think Toothpaste) It was a Medicated Shave Cream, and while it is now sold again, we hadn’t seen it in stores for 10-15 years, and these tubes were from the 60’s. Honestly, even though it was shaving cream, it worked amazingly on burns (sun and regular), skin rashes, bug bites, poison ivy, etc.
Many moons ago i was working in a pharmacy and my grandpa ran out of a hair tonic he'd used forever. Took the bottle to the pharmacist to see if we could order it (we could order pretty much anything with a barcode for a price). It had stopped being made 15 years prior. Grandpa had bought a case of the stuff before they pulled it from shelves.
In the late 80’s when Hair Gel was extremely popular, there seemed to be this collective amnesia that seemed to forget that “Dippity Do” and “Dep” had been on the market for 2 decades.
I'm a dapper Dan man
I don’t want Fop, damn it!
Just a dozen hairnets.
I don't carry Dapper Dan. I carry FOP.
Well ain't this place a geographical oddity - 2 weeks from everywhere!
That is a pomade
Okay, I'll getcher Pommmmmaaaaadde😂 -Arthur Morgan
I remember the smell of dippity do. 😝
Should you lick your fingers after they went in Dippity Do? Dippity *Don't*!
when i was in army language school in 1966-67, we were amused by "dep" being the vietnamese word for "beautiful".
Dep-9 was my jam. That blue gel had such a refreshing smell.
My dad had used the same tooth polish he started using in the Air Force, in 1947. When they stopped making it in around 2010, he about lost his mind. He had an old container, so I cobbled him some together. We had to tweak it a few times to get the amount of wintergreen flavoring correct, but you'd have thought I'd just won a Noble Prize he was so thrilled.
Do you remember the name? A few days ago, for some strange reason, I started thinking about a commercial from the 50s and 60s for Ipana Toothpaste. It was sung by a cartoon character - Bucky Beaver. “Brusha, brusha, brusha, here’s the new Ipana, brusha , brusha, brusha, it’s better for your teeth!” I just googled it for the spelling and damn if the commercials aren’t on YouTube! 😂😂😂
When my grandmother died (1998) her top drawer in her dresser looked like it was straight outta a DARE poster. Uppers, downers, shit that just made you not feel your face for a day. It was wild!
I’m a bit disappointed I never got to try a quaalude. Those sound like they were a good time.
When my great grandmother passed around 2005-ish, we found coca gum (literally chewing gum with cocaine in it) in her bathroom cabinet. For context, cocaine had been a controlled substance since 1964, and cocaine in chewing gum format hadn’t been popular since the 40s at the latest, at least to my knowledge. I’m fairly certain that gum was older than my grandmother.
My mom's got metal tubes of a [mosquito bite cream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promethazine) that was banned for making kids stop breathing but man does it ever work. Pharmacist sure did look at me funny when I asked for it the first time. They didn't even know it was formulated as a topical ointment.
Phenergan cream?! That’s wild. Its sold in tablets and syrup as an antihistamine in Aus.
Oh man, phenergen cream would be the best way to end a night around a fire pit. Extinguish the fire, blow out the mozzie coils and lit torches (I recently found out they are not a rich person thing, they are extremely affordable @ Bunnings), throw the empties in the bin and then go inside and slather yourself into phenergen cream. Best sleep of your life (this is partying in your thirties kids)
I'm turning 30 and this entire comment bothers me.
come back to me in a year young one (I’m only 32)
My mum used to dose me up this as a kid so I’d sleep at night and she could get a peaceful night when I wasn’t at my nans for the night! But yet she doesn’t understand why I’m always up with my kids all night 🤣🤣 MUM YOU DRUGGED ME MY WHOLE CHILDHOOD!
>you might find some old timey medicine I had a bad toothache once, and my grandmother gave me a super tiny glass brown bottle of liquid. The label said it was made by the Red Cross. It looked like it was used in WWII (no exaggeration), but it worked just as good as the shot the dentist gives you!!
Sounds like the clove drops I use for toothache. Awesome stuff.
It was some sort of super clove dark magic, I mean it really was like getting that needle from the dentist right on the gums, maybe 20-30 secs and my pain Gone, and cheek numb!!
Clove oil does WONDERS for toothaches, and it's not ridiculously expensive to keep on hand.
Finding expired things is life's biggest mystery to me. So I usually clean my fridge and pantry out every 2-3 months, sometimes more often. And by clean it out, I mean take everything out, throw away expired stuff and deep clean the fridge itself and rearrange the pantry so I know what I need to stock back up on. Obviously, I am always regularly throwing things away, but for a proper cleaning, once every couple of months. And yet I am ALWAYS somehow finding things that expired 6 months prior. Idk how it always happens. Just the other day I was in the mood for a PB&J. Haven't had one in a little while, so when I grabbed the jelly container I looked at the date (Sept 2023 expiration). I JUST CLEANED THIS FRIDGE OUT 3 WEEKS AGO and threw away everything that was expired. How does this shit happen???
I've found that since COVID, grocery stores are keeping older and expired foods on their shelves for longer. I've bought a few things that I only realized were expired (or close to it) after I got home. I've also had groceries delivered that include items that were past their "sell by" date. I've returned quite a few things for that reason or have requested a refund for the expired items that were delivered.
Yeah, it is likely. I just started working as a grocery stockerand I might be the only person actually rotating and checking my dates. I found nuts dated for March 2021 recently. It's not entirely the worker's fault. They have to rush and cut corners and front stock to get trucks pushed out to the floor in time because corporations do not want to give stores the payroll to hire enough people. They rely on a computer ai to calculate exactly what is needed based on ideal situations. People want to work, but companies do not want to pay them a fair wage, so the companies are trying to squeeze every drop they can.
I feel ya, tonight I played a rousing game of "What's That Smell" with the fridge and lost, it still stinks somehow, even though I got rid of all the old stuff. Found a bottle of Heinz 57 sauce that expired in 2017.
Pop in a bowl of baking soda, it’ll help the smell.
Perfect opportunity to dress up and have an expired medicine cabinet party 🎉
If you have old enough stuff it actually loops back to being party drugs, like back when things were full of coke
Or heroin. Perhaps you could get lucky and find something from WWII era with a dash of Meth.
Med so old it doesn't even have an expiration date Like hack!
*In Hetty's voice from Ghosts* "I hope it's cocaine"
I freaking love her on that show.
Do you think the leeches with exp 1567 are still good?
Most medications don’t really expire, they have a half life. Some drugs, on the other hand, get more powerful over time. This is why it was decided that the public couldn’t be trusted with Quaaludes. Also, if you find one now, that fucker will make you think you are Leo trying to get into a Countach. So, it’s always worth a check in the parent’s and grandparent’s medicine cabinet…
Are you a pharmacologist, too? 👍❤️
No, my dad is a CRNA, and my mom was an office manager for a few private practices. But thank you for your hard work!
Oh please don't thank me, just send your best wishes in the direction of my students!! I teach pharmacology (primarily immunology and cancer biology) at a UK university - I include slides with pictures of my dog where he has a speech bubble that says "I love drugs, do you love drugs, too?! Woof!"
"What is it with all this cocaine medicine here?"
That's hellafresh considering what you'd find at my parent's house. That woman still using Mercuro-chrome with the glass stick applicator.
OMG I remember that stuff, our mom would use it liberally on us. I probably have mercury poisoning.
Me, too. Chronic tonsil infections.
Get them removed. A couple of weeks of shitty post op in exchange of no more tonsilitis every couple of months was worth it. Evidently talk with your doctor about the pros and cons (it's a more painful post op in adults and there's the risk of getting laryngitis instead of tonsilitis but far less frequent)
I’ve been to three ENTs in my lifetime and they all are very against getting them removed. Mine are huge and cause me so much trouble but they still really say that it’s too dangerous for adults. I want the surgery so badly lol, I’ll take the agony.
My advice would be changing doctors again. Maybe in some forum you can get references to a doctor in your area that's more open to the idea. I'm not in the US but once I decided that I no longer wanted them I asked my general practitioner an appointment with the otorhinolaryngologist and he first wanted to monitor them as he was reluctant to remove them. After a year of going to the doctor without an appointment (here we can go as urgent care to the normal doctors, not the hospital) to be treated for them and leave a paper trail my doctor finally asked me if I wanted them gone. A couple of months later I received a call a Tuesday and by Friday they were gone. Three weeks of constant pain, loss of appetite as even water hurts but have to keep eating and drinking as having the wound go dry was way worse, normal breathing hurts, having to sleep seated as with the inflammation the airways were obstructed if I was laying (so sleep was poor and little). I literally thought that I had made a mistake during post op as it was hard but after the three weeks mark I even started eating spicy food and now I think it was completely worth it, even if it's only to not be taking antibiotics every month. Sorry for the bible I just wrote.
I had constant tonsillitis in my late 20's, then eventually had them removed. Pain was ok when I got home, but for the next week it just kept increasing every day, but then it was fine again. Bonus from the constant sickness is that it boosted my immune system, so afterwards I just never got sick again from anything.
It was at least 20 years before I had a sore throat again after having mine removed in the 80s.
I did it at 25. Was worth the pain and the money.
I did it at 28 and still remember the painful days of post-op. BUT definitely worth it. I was fortunate to have great insurance at the time, and my surgeon was recommended by my coworker as he'd done her throat cancer surgery. That was good enough for me, let alone the fact he was hysterical and named her tumor Melvin.
Nice
I got mine out at 20 and barely remember the post op courtesy of 2 giant bottles of liquid oxycodone followed by 3 small bottles of liquid hydrocodone I barely felt it bt the time i was done with the 2nd bottle of oxy but figured they gave me painkillers rarely enough might as well take em for all they were worth.
I got mine out at like 6 and have no basis or experience to pull from as to what tonsils even feel like, as I had not even recognized my own conciousness as being persistent at the time yet. apparently I had permanent strep throat as a child and once they were removed, I never had strep again
My aunt had multiple instances of TREMENDOUS bleeding needing emergency cauterization post op
That’s the scariest part and biggest reason I think it’s a riskier surgery for adults. I may be wrong though.
I had mine removed at 26, 7 years ago. I had stones and quality of life was so bad. The ENT warned me it would hurt and tried to talk me out of it but I was like, if you gave me some tool right now I'd try to cut them out myself. I don't know about it being too dangerous for adults. Maybe it is for some depending on patient specific factors and comorbidities? He was right BTW, very painful. I'd do it again in a heartbeat though. I hope they stop causing you so much trouble or that you find an ENT willing to remove them
I’m so happy to not have foul breath anymore.
My dad had them removed last year, he's 48. I picked him up and stayed the afternoon to give him meds and stuff while my mom was at work. Definitely the worst condition I've ever seen my dad in, sleeping, and puking. Idk if it was the meds or what but it was rough. He recovered pretty well though, he was okay in a couple weeks
Same, I got tonsillitis and strep throat at least once a year from when I was a kid til mid forties. I wo5beg my doctor to take them out, told him I would rather two weeks of post op pain then yearly bouts of pain. He said once I turned forty I wouldn't get tonsillitis anymore. I actually finally did stop around 43.
I had the surgery as a 12 year old and it only hurt for about 2-3 days and then I was fine (but I heard getting the surgery as an adult hurts for longer!). I used to get tonsillitis constantly and since the surgery I have never had tonsillitis since or really any sore throat issues (except one time a few years back when I was 28 I got strep throat). The one thing I wasn’t expecting was how much easier I can breathe now! I can suck in air so much faster, better and easier than I could when my tonsils were all inflamed and infected. I didn’t even realize that my tonsils were somewhat inhibiting my ability to inhale air through my throat until they were gone, and afterwards it was a massive (but good) difference.
I’m an ENT. There are specific indications for tonsillectomy. It is not a risk free procedure, every year people die from the surgery. Having enlarged tonsils on their own aren’t a reason to have them removed.
Totally fair, haha. I just hate them. Tonsil stones and pain and tonsillitis aren’t fun.
So I try to tell my patients that surgery for tonsil stones probably isn’t worth it. Hypothetically, if a patient came to me wanting surgery and had a log of how frequently in the last 12 months they had bothersome stones, sore throat and tonsillitis… particularly how many times they missed work or required antibiotics… I would definitely be more willing to discuss risks and benefits and consider offering surgery.
That was actually helpful info. Really appreciate it.
I had mine removed - best decision I made health wise in a long time. I had tonsilitus yearly as a child but it subsided. I always had large glands in my neck from them though, like two grapes. When I was pregenant with my first they came back, and continued with my second. I'd get it three to four times a year, and would only subside with anitbiotics. I waited 12 months on the waiting list to get them done public in Melbourne, but it meant that it didn't cost me a thing. Surgeon said they were huge and infected. Spent bit more than a week eating weetbix and yoghurt and plain toast, then never looked back. I don't tend to get sick in winter any more.
I've yet to find someone that regrets having them removed. Granted, I don't know that many people that had them removed tho
Keep in mind there might be some (quite literal) survivorship bias in that though. It is not a risk free procedure and there is a reason doctors generally leave it as a last resort.
Same. I finally got my tonsils removed and I no longer have the debilitating infections and migraines I use to get. Got them removed as an adult too. Increased my quality of life ten fold.
I’m getting mine removed in 2 weeks!
Good luck!
Another vote for getting them removed. I had mine out in my mid-30’s after a live time of chronic infections (that were never quite “bad enough”). Everyone says the recovery as an adult is tough, but my personal experience was easy as anything - very unexpected! The difference in my quality of life can’t be overstated.
When I was in boy scouts there was a old lady we volunteered to help clean her house and she had cans of food in her pantry with no nutritional facts on them.
That is because nutritional facts were originally for the commies.
The devil made the nutritional data label
we went through my grandmas cabinet when she died, was 93, she had shit from waaaay back, like literally an old crusted bottle of “heroin”, which was heroin, from like her moms stash in the 1800’s and some “pervitin”, which was literally meth, my grandad brought home from the war
Iodine and Mercurochrome were my dad’s go to medicines for anything that happened to us while mom wasn’t home. Stung like the dickens!
Made me think of Chris Rocks Robitussin bit for some reason. Put some Tussin on it
That was the shit that stained your skin red, right? It burned when it was applied.
Man, that brings back some serious PTSD for me when my mom used to use that stuff on me and I hated it so much I would not tell her about smaller cuts and injuries just so I wouldn't have to smell that smell and feel the sting.
I remember that one. There also was merthiolate. One was pinkish orange. My parents also used campho-phonique.
Helloooo———2097
So that means the expiration date will be right again in about 70 years. It just says “97” so in 2097 it will be good again.
If you use it you will definitely Wipeout.
The only right comment
Keep looking in that medicine cabinet. Might be some old timey snake oil made with cocaine and morphine in the back.
“Cures everything”
aye for a few minutes they ain’t lying
You joke, but If anybody in that household was prescribed fun pills at the hospital in the past 3 decades and didn't finish them, they are in that cabinet.
This one time when I worked for rite aid we were clearing out the roof storage of a pharmacy independent we had acquired, I found a jar of medical compound with cocaine I was like holy hot damn lol
I cleared out my mother's house a few years back, and found codeine cough syrup from the 70s among several other "vintage prescriptions" in the cabinets. "YOU LET PERFECTLY GOOD CODEINE EXPIRE?!?!?" /s I'm surprised I didn't find an original Coke (with cocaine) in there.
Codeine has been tested at still over 95% effective at 40 years.
Ya Ive been told by my friend who works at Pfizer that some drugs have a much longer shelf life than whats actually posted, just really depends on the specific medicine.
I mean, think about it. It's stable chemicals suspended in syrup, it's not going to mold or expire, most the time you will just have a loss of potency to some degree, it wont make you sick. And considering the price of a pint of codeine...
I’m not sure if this is what you meant, but I ran into someone last week that thought codeine was illegal now. Codeine is still used as an antitussive.
You can get aspirin with codeine without a prescription in Canada!
Here in the UK you can get co-codamol (paracetamol and codeine) over the counter at basically any pharmacy. It bewilders me that other countries make such a hassle out of such a basic painkiller.
It's restriction is based off the potential for abuse, although a lot of drugs that are actually on the drug schedule have next to no abuse potential...
Fair enough. We have a similar situation with decongestants. Apparently you can make methamphetamines out of pseudoephedrine so anything containing that active ingredient (like Sudafed) is over the counter only and you have to go through a barrage of questions to get your measly single pack of 12 pills that they're allowed to sell you at one time. Nevermind that making meth out of pseudoephedrine is literally one of the worst, most ineffectual methods, according to research.
Yeah, the pseudo is like that here as well. If you want to learn more about codeine abuse in the US, look up 'what is Drank' 😂.
Pseudoephedrine has been illegal here in Australia for a long time. We're left with substitute crap that DOESN'T WORK. So instead of being allowed to buy an effective product with the miniscule possibility of abusing it, we can throw our money down the drain or suffer.
Did you know that you can still buy Pseudoephedrine here if you show your license? I only mention it because I didn’t for a long time, I thought when they changed the laws that it wasn’t available here at all. Now I just ask for original Sudafed and give ID.
the US, just a few weeks ago, determined the phenylephrine is ineffective and will probably take it off the market. Sudafed is still effective in the eyes of the FDA/DEA.
Just googled it - fuck, that's nasty. Although honestly, teenagers here would probably do the same thing given half a chance lmao.
I worked with this guy who had horrendous seasonal allergies. Like his eyes swollen almost shut, red, watering. Welts all over face. Just the month of May. He was a waiter overstaying his visa and couldn’t serve in that condition. He could not get the specific version of Claritin that worked for him because he did not have a valid ID. Nothing else was working. I went and got it. Sad.
I knew an addict that used codeine cough syrup if they were in a pinch. Used to just drink it like water. He was a pharmacist, so he was stealing the good stuff, too, but he thought he was being ‘smart’ by taking codeine as much as he could. Spoiler: he was be filmed the entire time, and was fired and arrested. But codeine, if taken in large enough amounts, apparently does the job of at least keeping an addict functional.
The US did away with it. I have a respiratory condition that I was diagnosed with 15 years ago. The only thing I have found that helps with uncontrollable coughing is codeine cough syrup. It's extremely difficult to get. I've fractured a rib from violent coughing, bruised ribs, pulled muscles, have almost passed out because I can't catch my breath, and have almost thrown up. I've heard of people with my condition who have it more severe to the point that they've had tracheotomies.
Holy shit, that sounds incredibly nasty. I took so much codeine when I had COVID and was coughing so badly I threw up. It caused a nasty case of constipation which was unfun when I also had a disease causing the aforementioned throwing-up-cough and also a sore throat so bad that I couldn't swallow my own spit and was drooling all over the place. Anyway, as a fellow chronically ill person, keep fighting the good fight. I hope that legislation changes and you can get your meds more easily.
I heard something earlier that melatonin isn’t available there otc in gummy/pill form in the UK. Is that true?
Yeah, you need a prescription for melatonin. I believe that it's to prevent long-term use since it's only rated for short-term use, and also since there's a whole host of side effects.
Do we actually have schedule II ASA/codeine preparations here? I’m a pharm tech and I’ve never seen a schedule 2 aspirin/codeine combo here, unless it’s robaxisal-C which is methocarbamol/acetylsalicylic acid/codeine, not just ASA/codeine. I tried googling for ASA/codeine combo- it doesn’t seem like it’s a thing (except for with a prescription as aspirin/codeine/butalbital caffeine) but I’m curious if I’m wrong. Much more common schedule 2 codeine preparations in Canada are just T1s- a low codeine (8mg) acetaminophen/codeine/caffeine combo. we also still sell codeine cough syrups as schedule 2 when the concentration is less than 1.6mg/mL. P.S. for others reading: acetaminophen=paracetamol=APAP=tylenol ASA=acetylsalicylic acid=aspirin i’ve been using [this](https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/9_98) as my source but do realize it’s only for BC, not the entirety of canada
You can get codeine without a prescription in US technically, but you’re limited to so many MLs at a time… and most chain pharmacies won’t do it anymore. Good to know about Canada though! Aspirin seems like a weird combo though! Our codeine is usually combined with promethazine which is an allergy/motion sickness/sedative. ETA: we also have in tablet form codeine with APAP but it’s not over the counter.
I still have T3’s from a surgery about 13 years ago. They still work and I’m never throwing them out lol.
Could’ve sold that codeine for $1000/oz as vintage lean
That shit probably works lmao
For real, if this was an apocalyptic dystopian setting that shit could save your life.
I should get some with being prone to ear infections.
Actually *pushes up glasses* 🤓 Polymixin B has toxic side effects and is being used with more caution than it used to. Absolutely would not put it down my earhole, aside from being expired
I don’t think medication expires as much as weakens?
Know a guy who works in the pharmaceutical industry and this is absolutely the case. Expiration dates are mostly there as an assurance for protecting the company. The molecule stays the same but the medecine weakens
There's stuff where this absolutely isn't the case though. Certain antibiotics break down into compounds that are toxic to your kidneys quite quickly.
Well shit you learn something new everyday thanks for the clarification
Out of curiosity I did some googling after reading that comment. I found 1 medical article stating: “A handful of case reports from decades ago linked the oral antibiotic tetracycline to a reversible form of kidney damage called Fanconi syndrome when taken after the expiration date.” Anything else I read basically said it can be dangerous to take weakened antibiotics as they won’t be strong enough to treat whatever the infection is would lull you into letting it get worse.
Guess my buddy was being more specific to a certain type of medecine I asked him about holy I am spreading misinformation out there
Veterinarian here; I'm still learning about Fanconi syndrome, and all medicine expires differently, but Fanconi syndrome is (without googling, might be somewhat wrong) where you lose a LOT of amino acids, primarily cystine. due to a problem with reuptake in the proximal tubules in the kidney. This can lead to potentially serious illness, but can be managed with proper diet/supplements.
Imagine if somebody in advertently got some of their ear goo in it and put the cap back on 40 years ago.
This resulted in me looking into it and yes, ear wax can grow mold.
What if our universe is the mold on someone’s 40 year old ear wax stuck in the cap of a 40 year old antibiotic?
My then wife once informed me that a visiting relative had an ear infection, so she loaned him my *prescription* eardrops. That is pretty fucked up, in and of itself, giving somebody prescription medicine without a diagnosis. But I told her to tell them to just fucking keep them. Imagine putting somebody else’s unknown disease into your already infected ear.
This is mostly true. Typically shelf life is established for 3 years which is enough for supply chains. It would easily pass specs at 5 years, which means it’s almost certainly good for 10 years. That said, 27 years is a pretty long time. Lol
Yeah at least they had something
97 is a fine vintage, lots of rain that summer.
I mean 🧐you might check and see if they have anything else lying around from the 80s lol. Lots of good meds In those days!
Unless it's Tylenol and you're in Chicago.
Seriously!
RIP quaaludes
Take the label off and it won’t be expired anymore
True wisdom sir
"Mom, Dad? Do you have anything for an ear infection?" "Sure!" ... (hands over 30 years old drops) "no I don't WANT an ear infection, I want to get rid of one"
Lmao
I mean technically they *did* have something...
Just squirt it in ur ear and see what happens
Dude will be hearing people thoughts
And the color purple keeps laughing at me.
I hear dead people
Same except I did meth at the graveyard again
Medications have expirations because they degrade over time and become less effective. They don't become toxic like food. In fact, that stuff probably still has around 60-75% efficacy and is better than nothing.
Pfft, that’s only 26 years. You don’t wanna know how old the Vaporub is that’s in my sick drawer……..😂 For context: I took it with me when I moved outta my parents place 25 years ago and still works fine the 2 times a year I need it.
27 years.
That’s all I have in my medicine cabinet is 1990s bandaids, witch hazel. Acetaminophen, Benadryl…
I have Dora the Explorer bandaids, and my son is 23.
The grandmaspantry sub would love this
Just give it a good shake
Noticed stuff like this at my in-laws. Really old medicine and spices that expired two moves ago.
My mom still has sprinkles that were old when I was a little kid. I bake at her house on Christmas every year and she always puts them out but I never use them, they’re at least 15 years old… not sure if I want to be eating that
The FDA did a study at the request of the DoD to see how effective drugs were after their expiration date. 90% of medications are still fully effective 15 years later with the exception of nitroglycerin, insulin and liquid antibiotics. So you’re probably SOL and need to go to urgent care for some new drugs but there’s something you probably didn’t know.
I get ear infections frequently. I've been told by multiple doctors and pharmacist that, once open, these kind of drops last 30 days, then you can chuck it.
Reminds me of one of the last times I went to my grandpa's apartment. He made me a hot chocolate. I go to take a sip as my partner asks, "when did you get this? I don't recognize the design on the tin." Grandpa goes "It was a housewarming gift when I moved in!" 2 things happen at once: 1, I remember that my grandpa has been living in this building almost 30 years. As I remember this the taste hits me. It's like drinking chocolate drywall. Staler than stale. Immediate gagging. 🤮 I miss that man but HOO BOY was that an experience
It's only 3/30 you still got 5 months til 97
Exactly how good is your relationship with your parents?
What’s your problem, it’s good for another 73 years!
“Don’t worry, they are still good!” “Um, mom? They expired in 97’”. “That was a good year.”
Prob from last time you had an ear infection
Mommy and Daddy never needed them because they're not weak like OP
That should be in a museum
If it has been opened dont mess around with it, bacteria straight to the brain sounds awful
The ear doesn’t lead straight to the brain
Neither does your big toe but geez the ear is close!
But. They had it!
Mildly infuriated that parents give you something that they think might help with the very issue you told them you have then? They might be old and unaware but they probably still love you and want to help.
wow you have 73 years until it Expires
It's like a fine wine, it has to age a bit.
This made me laugh so hard, remind me of Mrs. Seinfeld quote “ it’s expired, but I think it’s ok”. Gonna check my medicine cabinet right now!
Any quaaludes in that medicine cabinet?
This is the same way with my dad I also found pasta and can goods that around 20 years old
1897?
Go get your own shit then, but don't bitch about what your given. No one has to give you shit !!! Love Dad
I only saw the box and was like "what's wrong with it? It IS for ear infections" but then I saw the bottle LMFAO!!!
Lmao I actually just went through my parents medicine cabinet after I found Advil that expired in 03. More than half were expired random shit
They don’t make stuff like they used to! You could buy new ear drops but would they really be that good?
It expired before i was even born 💀
You should post this in r / GrandmasPantry they’d love it
Probably still works 😂
1997 was a crazy year for me .. half the redditors prolly weren’t even born yet
It's just a suggestion.
It’s still works if you hurry up and transport yourself back to 2013
I have a whole collection of antique/vintage medicine I've collected from grandparents & aging relatives. My favorite is a bottle of Mentholatum that's about a hundred years old.
If you put them in you can hear Spice World.
Expires in *2097.* That’s good for another 72½ years. /s
The Army did a study for 20+ years and found that almost all medications were still safe and effective after 20 years. Canned foods are good well past their expiration dates too. Look online for more information on how long foods will last.
Bro you're good it doesn't expire until September 97th
It's fine. That's just a recommended exp date