Bisacodyl - My dulcolax expired 3 years ago. Can I take it?

My boyfriend had constipation, there were some Dulcolax tablets in my medicine cabinet from when my mom gave birth to me, so forty years old. He figured they would have lost most of their potency so he decided to take two. Big mistake! They were perfectly potent and he had terrible diarrhea. We laugh about it now, him thinking he could adjust the dosage. So I guess pills don't always lose effectiveness in the started time frame. The pills were in a dark brown glass prescription bottle and the bathroom they were in didn't get steamy, so perhaps the environment was perfect for preservation. At any rate I never assume expired medicines are no longer potent or usable. I usually give them a try. There are very few medicines that will degrade in a damaging way and you definitely shouldn't attempt to use them after expiration, you can ask your pharmacist about them.

Expand...