IBS Support Group

Yes, I know, once medication is past its expiration date it should be discarded because it could be ineffective or even dangerous. That's the thing, though--because that's always the answer, I haven't been able to find out whether Amitiza really does (or can) become ineffective or dangerous after a certain amount of time, and from what I've read about medication expiration dates in general, it sounds like many are still good well after their shelf date while many others just lose effectiveness rather than actually becoming dangerous. Because...if expired Amitiza just doesn't do anything for me, I won't have lost anything, but I'm uneasy about trying it since I don't know.

I've been on Amitiza (24 mcg twice daily) for several years, see, and because my insurance changed recently, it's become my most expensive prescription--about $120 or more for a month's supply. I've started taking it only once a day to make it last longer, actually. A few days ago I discovered an old bottle of Amitiza from a three-month prescription--there's probably about a month's worth of pills in there (judging by the dates, I probably took only what I needed when I spent a semester abroad and left the rest behind, which is how I apparently forgot about it). This particular prescription was filled in July 2008, and while I don't see an actual expiration date for these particular pills, the prescription in question says "may refill two times by July 2009". So it's been a while, in other words. The pills are, as far as I can tell, identical to the newer ones in color, smell, general appearance, texture, etc.

tl;dr - Just how bad of an idea would it be to try some 2.5-year-old Amitiza?