Blood pressure pills, like all medications, do lose their effectiveness and can change chemically over time, especially after their expiration date.
Yes, blood pressure pills can go bad, primarily meaning they lose their potency and may undergo chemical changes after their expiration date has passed. This loss of effectiveness makes them unreliable for controlling your blood pressure.
Why Expired Blood Pressure Medication is Risky
Taking medication that has passed its expiration date is not recommended because its chemical composition and strength can degrade. For critical medications like blood pressure pills, this degradation is particularly dangerous.
As stated by one expert, “If you're taking expired blood pressure medication, and it's not working and your blood pressure goes up, you're risking a stroke, a heart attack,” or other serious health complications. “There's just too much of a risk with the changes in the chemical compounds.”
This highlights the significant danger: the medication might not perform its intended function of lowering blood pressure. When blood pressure remains uncontrolled due to ineffective medication, the risk of serious cardiovascular events increases substantially.
What Happens When Medication Expires?
While the exact process varies depending on the specific drug formulation, common issues with expired medication include:
- Decreased Potency: The active ingredients may break down, making the pill less effective or completely ineffective.
- Chemical Changes: The medication can undergo chemical reactions that alter its composition. These changes might render the drug inactive or, in rare cases, produce harmful compounds.
- Changes in Formulation: Components holding the pill together or helping it dissolve might degrade, affecting how the drug is absorbed by the body.
Practical Steps Regarding Medication Expiration
- Always Check the Expiration Date: Look for the expiration date printed on the medication bottle or packaging.
- Discard Expired Medication Safely: Do not take medication past its expiration date. Dispose of it properly according to local guidelines (often through pharmacy take-back programs or specific instructions from the FDA).
- Store Medication Correctly: Follow storage instructions (e.g., store at room temperature, away from moisture and light) to help maintain the medication's stability until its expiration date.
Expired blood pressure medication cannot be relied upon to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level, and the potential consequences of uncontrolled hypertension are severe.
Key Takeaway: Expired blood pressure pills lose effectiveness and pose serious health risks because they may fail to control blood pressure, increasing the likelihood of stroke, heart attack, and other complications due to changes in their chemical compounds.
