How to Tell If Your Gear (anabolic steroids) is Expired or Unusable

There is no sure shot way of knowing if your steroids have expired or not, accept reading the information on the label. Nonetheless, knowing few things may help to make right decisions.

Law make it necessary for the manufacturers of legal drugs to provide information about the shelf life of the product on the label. This shelf life is established by years of research, with the help of stability data generated by the manufacturers.

Generally, law demands that dosage or potency of any drug should not fall below 90%, anytime during its normal shelf life. So, let us say that if a 500 mg of drug has a shelf-life of 3 years, then at the end of 3 years its potency must not be below 450 mg.

Nothing in the world is forever, and chemical compounds or synthetic hormones are no exception. How long can a chemical remain stable is known through stability studies. Based on these stability studies, shelf life or expiry date of any chemical is estimated. Some compounds are more stable, while others less.

Stability of compounds also depend on the way they are stored. Chemicals are less stable at higher temperatures, in direct sunlight, or at high moisture. It is the reason why you can see on the package of medications that they should be stored in a cool, dry place, away from sunlight.

Technically it means that your steroids may still be quite good, even if package date shows that they have expired. Especially if they were stored in a perfect condition like in an air-tight packing in a refrigerator.

Moreover, steroids degrade slowly. It means that if you are using them three months after an expiry, they may be almost as good can be. However, after a year of expiry, potency may be much less. It may be 20-25% less.

Is there any other way to know if your steroids are expired (apart from information on the label)?

Perhaps no. However, in some cases physical inspection may help. Very old tablets may start breaking due to degradation of binders. Further, they may change color from white of creamy to yellow.

Same is true for injections. Look at the color of your steroid injections, usually they are anywhere from white to slight creamy. Do not use them if you see any changes in color, crystallization, sediment in a vial.