Does Viagra expire? The shelf life of sildenafil

If you only take Viagra or sildenafil occasionally, you are probably wondering whether the expiration date stamped on the medication is legit. Does Viagra actually expire? Will your 5-year-old Viagra still work? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, Viagra and sildenafil expire, and expired Viagra will probably be less effective. 

But, let’s be honest — what you really want to know is will anything bad happen if you take your sildenafil (Viagra) after its expiration date? Keep reading to understand what that expiration date actually means and whether it’s safe to take Viagra after it expires. 

The short and sweet answer is yes, Viagra expires two years (24 months) from the date it was manufactured.

Viagra is an oral medication approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998 for the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED). Like all drugs, Viagra has a specific expiration date. But what does this date actually mean? The expiration date refers to how long the drug is known to remain stable in its original sealed packaging at the recommended storage conditions.

Along with clinical trial data to show a drug’s safety and effectiveness, manufacturers must test a medication’s stability before FDA approval. Viagra’s manufacturer (Pfizer) submitted data showing it remains stable for 24 months at room temperature. This date appears on the original stock bottle, which contains 30 or 100 tablets. However, pharmacies typically open these stock bottles to fill Viagra prescriptions for smaller quantities, then label your Rx bottle with a one-year expiration date. So, the general rule is that Viagra expires about one year after your Rx fill date.

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Viagra’s shelf life — the timeframe in which the ingredients are safe to take and guaranteed to work as they should — is about two years. That includes both the brand name and the generic version, sildenafil. 

A medication’s expiration date is not always the same as its shelf life:

• The expiration date tells you the last day the medication is guaranteed to work at full strength and be safe to use. After the expiration date, the FDA says not to use the medication.   

• Shelf life refers to how long the medication stays at its full potency, and this depends on the ingredients, how the medication was stored and packaged. The shelf life can be longer or shorter than the expiration date.

The expiration date doesn’t mean the medication goes bad right after it expires. It just means there isn’t enough research to confirm the drug’s effectiveness or safety beyond that date. There aren’t any studies on the maximum shelf life of Viagra, so we don’t know for sure how long it may stay good after its expiration date. 

Most other oral tablet medications are expected to stay safe and effective for around two years. This includes other erectile dysfunction medications, such as Cialis (tadalafil), vardenafil, and Stendra (avanafil). 

The 5-year-old Viagra in your medicine cabinet may not work as it should, and there’s no guarantee that expired Viagra will be as safe and effective as it had been. This is because the chemicals in medications may only stay potent for a certain period of time before they start degrading, or breaking down — but this varies based on the form (e.g., liquid or solid), any preservatives, and storage conditions.

In fact, research shows that many solid medications keep at least 90% of their potency for 5+ years past their expiration date. But expired Viagra wasn’t specifically studied, so we don’t know how long it takes to start degrading or lose potency. 

Erectile dysfunction drugs work by increasing blood flow into the penis’ soft tissues, but this effect may be weakened in expired Viagra tablets since the chemicals have broken down. Meaning, you may not be able to achieve or maintain an erection if you take expired Viagra. 

Expired medications may be less effective because over time, the chemicals in the drug break down. If the medication was exposed to heat or humidity (such as being stored in a bathroom), it can become degraded, or less effective. So while technically, Viagra should still work, it may not work very well after it expires. 

Since there’s not an exact timeframe of a medication going from working to not working, you might find very recently expired Viagra may work for you. But as time goes on, it can get less effective. For this reason, it’s best to dispose of expired Viagra. 

Taking expired Viagra is not recommended because it might not be safe. Because of the stability uncertainty, the FDA doesn’t recommend using drugs past their expiration dates. The medication may also have been contaminated with bacteria or fungus — definitely not something you want to put into your body.  

Of course, Viagra doesn’t go from safe to unsafe the day it expires. But healthcare providers will  likely advise against you taking expired Viagra and will recommend you dispose of it. 

If you’re cleaning out the medicine cabinet and find a bottle of Viagra that expired 5 years ago, there are a few steps you can take. First, we don’t recommend you take it, and instead dispose of it. 

This doesn’t mean flushing it down the toilet. The FDA does recommend that some medications be flushed if there’s no alternative take-back program, but Viagra isn’t one of them. 

You can safely dispose of Viagra either by:

• Disposing in the trash: Mixing expired Viagra tablets with an undesirable substance (meaning you wouldn’t eat it unless someone paid you to) like coffee grounds,  cat litter or even dirt. Then, place the mixture in a sealed plastic bag and throw it away in the household trash. 

• Taking advantage of drug take-back programs: These programs may be local, such as bringing medications to your pharmacy for safe disposal. They also may be national, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) Take Back Day.

Contact your healthcare provider to get a new prescription if your medication has expired.

There are several factors that can affect how long Viagra lasts (or how long Viagra actually stays active in your body). These include:

• What’s in your stomach: Viagra works most efficiently if you take it on an empty stomach, so the medication can enter your bloodstream faster. You may want to avoid the cheeseburger and fries beforehand, since large, fatty meals can make the medication take a bit longer to work. 

• Your age: Your age can affect how well medications are absorbed in your body. If you are age 65 or older, Viagra may reach higher levels in your bloodstream. As a precaution, older people usually start at the lowest dose of Viagra. 

• Underlying liver or kidney issues: Some health conditions like liver or kidney disease may also affect how medications are processed in your body. A low starting dose is also recommended in such cases.

• Other medications: Some drug interactions can affect how long Viagra lasts and raise the risk of serious side effects. Examples include azole antifungals and ritonavir.    

To get the best results (you know what we mean), take Viagra about one hour before you have sex. Anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours before sex is recommended. You don’t have to take it on an empty stomach, but taking it with a fatty meal can diminish its effects.  

Viagra’s effects last for about four hours, according to its FDA label. This means after four hours, there is still medication in your system, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s in high enough concentrations to help you get an erection — just that you can technically get an erection for about four hours after you first take the medication. If you have an erection that lasts more than four hours (a dangerous condition called priapism), go to your nearest emergency room.

The best way to store Viagra is in a cool, dry place that stays at room temperature. Avoid storing the drug in the bathroom, where it can be exposed to humidity. If stored improperly, Viagra’s ingredients may lose their potency faster. This could decrease the effectiveness of the drug.

Follow these best storage practices for Viagra or sildenafil oral tablets:

• Keep medication in the container it came in (i.e., your prescription bottle).

• Store the bottle at room temperature, ideally around 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit; it is also okay if the drug is stored for short periods of time at temperatures between 59 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Avoid storing in spaces with excess humidity, like bathrooms.

• Don’t freeze Viagra.

• Keep out of reach of children or pets.

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So does Viagra expire? Yes, unfortunately, if you have expired Viagra, it’s best to dispose of it and not use it. Unlike that bottle of forgotten lotion in the back of your closet, using 5-year-old Viagra is probably not a good idea and can even negatively affect your health. You’re better off getting a new prescription from your doctor. 

• Viagra expires two years after its date of manufacturing. As with other medications, Viagra has an expiration date. If Viagra is expired, don’t take it, since the use of expired Viagra has not been studied.  

• But Viagra’s shelf life can vary. Viagra tablets aren’t manufactured and dispensed on the same day. The best practice is to go by the expiration date on your prescription bottle. It’s usually a year after the fill date. 

• Dispose of expired Viagra appropriately. Instead of flushing Viagra tablets down the toilet, you can crush and mix them up in coffee grounds or cat litter and throw them in the trash. You can also dispose of them through a medication take-back program. 

• Expired Viagra might not be safe to take. Expired medications, including Viagra, may be less potent and might have a higher risk of bacterial contamination.