I have a bottle of Doxycycline left over from a trip in Fall of '04. I will be needing more malaria meds for my upcoming trip in march-april '06. Is it still good? Does anyone know the shelf life of this stuff? There is no expiry date on the bottle!

I can't find any information about exactly how long it keeps but I do know that expired doxycycline can cause serious kidney damage. It's so cheap to get in the US by prescription or over the counter on the road that I wouldn't consider taking the old stuff.

If you want better advice, you can always take it to your pharmacy, tell them when you got it (and how you've been storing it since it breaks down when exposed to heat and moisture) and ask them.

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Originally posted by NStar6C:
I have a bottle of Doxycycline left over from a trip in Fall of '04. I will be needing more malaria meds for my upcoming trip in march-april '06. Is it still good? Does anyone know the shelf life of this stuff? There is no expiry date on the bottle!

Most of the tetracycline antibiotics will have a shelf life of ~2 years. You'd be over that by now.

Surprised there is no expiration date, nothing stamped on the bottom? You will usually find a manufactoring date at least somewhere on the bottle. The prescription label might be covering it.

As has already been suggested, talk to your local pharmacist, they can give you far more accurate advice.