Epipen Expiration

[kejedo]

 I was just going through my epipens and noticed they are cloudy. Even the new ones with expiration date of 9/16 are cloudy. I had no health insurance for many years and have had about 12 different insurance companies in the past four years (not by choice.)  My 'plan' will change again in a few months. The out of pocket cost of epipens for the uninsured, here, is about $500 dollars or more, and they usually come in two packs. Has anyone successfully used expired or cloudy epipens.  I have read that many meds are useful after their expiration dates. What is your experience?

 Y (Benadryl Chewing) S, pauline

Edited November 23, 2015 by kejedo

[Buddy]

I'm confused I looked up the word epipens in the dictionary but there's no such word. So what is Epipens. may be you Spelled wrong

Edited November 23, 2015 by a3a27988

[Tortuga]

I'm confused I looked up the word epipens in the dictionary but there's no such word. So what is Epipens. may be you Spelled wrong

 

Google - Yahoo - Bing are your friends..

 

https://www.epipen.com/

[kejedo]

An epi-pen is an injection of epinephrine that is self administered in case of anaphylaxes, (potentially fatal allergy reaction), or cardiac arrest. Anaphylaxes reaction can start seconds or minutes after exposure to the allergen.  One still has to go to the ER after this event. General ER cost about $2000.  The epipen buys time to get to the hospital. Many who cannot afford  both an epipen and an ER admit, literally chew Benadryl tablets to try to survive the anaphylactic reaction, but it is risky. Been there, done that, threw out the T-shirt. 

[kejedo]

Short DRs clip on anaphylactic shock

[Raindrop]

Mike, it is actually the combination of 2 words: epinephrine and pen as it is like Pauline nicely described, epinephrine in an injector that looks like a pen. Though there are new injectors now that look nothing like a pen (but there was a recall recently and everyone is back to Epi-pen that looks like a pen).

 

Pauline, I get Epi-pen training on a yearly basis and we are told that expired ones can be used until the ambulance comes. May be you can get your Doctor to confirm (or not)? Your life depends on it, that is really unbelievable there is nothing to help people out on this...

Edited November 23, 2015 by Raindrop

[kejedo]

Mike, it is actually the combination of 2 words: epinephrine and pen as it is like Pauline nicely described, epinephrine in an injector that looks like a pen. Though there are new injectors now that look nothing like a pen (but there was a recall recently and everyone is back to Epi-pen that looks like a pen).

 

Pauline, I get Epi-pen training on a yearly basis and we are told that expired ones can be used until the ambulance comes. May be you can get your Doctor to confirm (or not)? Your life depends on it, that is really unbelievable there is nothing to help people out on this...

Thank you, Sister Hasina. I haven't been able to upload a pic of someone with eyes swollen shut, lips bulging, and of course, all the internal things unseen, like throat closing. Sometimes one might need a second injection to try to make it to the hospital or the arrival of an ambulance. I have seen allergists expressing different opinions as to whether one can use cloudy epipens. Curiously, epipens are RX only in the USA, but OTC in Canada. Although I don't know your profession, it is encouraging to hear that people are getting yearly Epipen training. Have you ever known of anyone who has taken a third epi (due to loss of potency, exspiry)? 

[kejedo]

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AqDTOvQJ5fdNf28fqUYXeyCbvZx4?fr=yfp-t-901-s&toggle=1&fp=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&p=anaphylaxis%20pictures

 

This is pretty much what I look like when having severe allergy (anaphylaxis) reaction.

[Raindrop]

Thank you, Sister Hasina. I haven't been able to upload a pic of someone with eyes swollen shut, lips bulging, and of course, all the internal things unseen, like throat closing. Sometimes one might need a second injection to try to make it to the hospital or the arrival of an ambulance. I have seen allergists expressing different opinions as to whether one can use cloudy epipens. Curiously, epipens are RX only in the USA, but OTC in Canada. Although I don't know your profession, it is encouraging to hear that people are getting yearly Epipen training. Have you ever known of anyone who has taken a third epi (due to loss of potency, exspiry)? 

I am an ECE - early childhood educator and work in Kindergarten for FDK (full day kindergerten). Kindergarten classes in Ontario have a teacher and an ECE.

I did not know that in Canada you get Epi-pen over the counter...Because we can only use Epi-pen's that have the name of the child on it. Even if there is a reaction, I am ot allowed to administer someone else's Epi-pen to that reacting student...

 

I have not known anyone getting a third one, no. However, you are right, if symptoms do not improve until the ambulance comes, we are to administer a second one. So far, this has only happened once. A student with milk allergy on the last day of school before the christmas break ate chocolate ... It is life threatening but thanks to Jehovah the child was ok.

 

Did you want me to check for you if I could get you an Epi-pen OTC? I heard parents say they cost around 100$ CAD which is 70$ US or so. But not sure if that is what they pay and the insurance pay the rest. Need to check it, if it could help you?

[kejedo]

I am an ECE - early childhood educator and work in Kindergarten for FDK (full day kindergerten). Kindergarten classes in Ontario have a teacher and an ECE.

I did not know that in Canada you get Epi-pen over the counter...Because we can only use Epi-pen's that have the name of the child on it. Even if there is a reaction, I am ot allowed to administer someone else's Epi-pen to that reacting student...

 

I have not known anyone getting a third one, no. However, you are right, if symptoms do not improve until the ambulance comes, we are to administer a second one. So far, this has only happened once. A student with milk allergy on the last day of school before the christmas break ate chocolate ... It is life threatening but thanks to Jehovah the child was ok.

 

Did you want me to check for you if I could get you an Epi-pen OTC? I heard parents say they cost around 100$ CAD which is 70$ US or so. But not sure if that is what they pay and the insurance pay the rest. Need to check it, if it could help you?

Right now, I have a bunch of them because of my current health insurance plan. I am not sure what changes in coverage will come about in my upcoming months. I am keeping my expired meds in case I get to the point where it becomes cost prohibitive to fill my RXs. At the moment, they are covered.  Thanks. Your job sounds like fun!

[Raindrop]

Ah OK. I am glad to hear you are covered. Are you going to check with the Doctor about the cloudy and expired one? Just to make sure you are safe?

 

Yes, my job is fun...but I am glad to go home at the end of the day because it is tiring! We have 29 little ones

[Miss Bea]

I worked in a clinic, and had to use the epipen once. It was horrible. I am not a big person, (well then) and I hit my thigh bone. I talked the providers into giving me a vial of epinephrine and a decent sized needle to administer it if needed. It was wasp stings. I sort of grew out of it. If I get stung now, I don't get the full blown allergic response. (anaphalytic??) Anyway, I can take a benedril, and the area where I get stung is a bit swollen. I ice it. I'd google this issue.

One thing, then another, huh?

[ReadYourBible]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10808186

 

For prehospital treatment of anaphylaxis, we recommend the use of EpiPen and EpiPen Jr autoinjectors that are not outdated. If, however, the only autoinjector available is an outdated one, it could be used as long as no discoloration or precipitates are apparent because the potential benefit of using it is greater than the potential risk of a suboptimal epinephrine dose or of no epinephrine treatment at all.

 

Cloudy suggests precipitation to me, I would return the pens to the manufacturer because they are cloudy, perhaps they'd supply you with new ones which will have different expiration dates and hold the suspension better.  

 

Myself, if I had a severe enough allergy which necessitated an epipen, I'd use it cloudy or not LOL

[New World Explorer]

I'm confused I looked up the word epipens in the dictionary but there's no such word. So what is Epipens. may be you Spelled wrong

Epipen is a small alien from planet Epipeth

Also he is friend of ET !

They never die ... They expire

LOL

[Tortuga]

Epipen is a small alien from planet Epipeth

Also he is friend of ET !

They never die ... They expire

LOL

 

You must have used the Star Wars dictionary to look that up...

[Raindrop]

I worked in a clinic, and had to use the epipen once. It was horrible. I am not a big person, (well then) and I hit my thigh bone. I talked the providers into giving me a vial of epinephrine and a decent sized needle to administer it if needed. It was wasp stings. I sort of grew out of it. If I get stung now, I don't get the full blown allergic response. (anaphalytic??) Anyway, I can take a benedril, and the area where I get stung is a bit swollen. I ice it. I'd google this issue.

One thing, then another, huh?

The bee allergy sounds bad because you don't always control it. Glad you are doing better!