Expired, Schmexpired

When cleaning out my house in preparation for my trip, in other words trying to compact the contents of a 4 bedroom home into one neat little back pack, I realized that I have a hard time "letting go". This can clearly be seen in the medications I hang onto for no apparent reason. I do not have allergies. However, every time I travel, I bring along the same Wal-Dryl capsules that I have had for one hundred years "just in case". Expiration date? 3/04. Meaning they were probably manufactured sometime in the 20th century. Since I don't have allergies, it's even more unclear why I have a single Zyrtec tablet, packaged in a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" aluminum foil cartridge. Expiration date? Sep 06. My drawers are filled with Acyclovir cream that went bad in June of 2001, HomeBest's generic version of Antifungal Cream which "Cures Most Athlete's Foot!", expiration date: 10/05. The weird thing? I've never had Athlete's Foot. Also, I wonder if I'll ever need this unopened Monistat Vulvar Cream that went bad in April of 2007, or the Claritin Hives Relief, expired in August of 2005? The worst part is that I have moved these medications from several apartments and now finally they reside, unused, in the drawers and cabinets of my home.

The only medication around here that seems to still be good is the Chewable Lactaid, which expires August 2010, but is of no use to me, since I am quite lactose TOLERANT.

I don't think I ever actually purchased any of these items, and yet I feel the need to keep them on hand in case my non-existant allergies act up, or if I ever get a tummy ache from milk, which will never happen. "Just throw them away!", you might say...I can't. Something is wrong with me. Am I a hoarder?