When should you take pills? Which means regardless of food. What does it mean to take medications correctly? Number of doses and what time is best to take the pills

As long as a person is healthy, he does not think about pills. But when illness occurs, you have to use a wide variety of medications, the administration of which has its own rules, time and order. It is necessary to take into account all the subtleties of their interaction with each other, and also know everything about medications and food intake - before, after eating, what to do after meals and medicines. After all, from correct use drugs depends on the success of treating the disease.

Today on the pages of the website www.site, we will talk to you about how taking medications interacts with eating food.

Taking medication before meals

Most medications are taken 30-40 minutes before meals. During this period they are best absorbed. Sometimes it is permissible to take the medicine 15 minutes before meals, but not earlier.

While eating

Acidity increases when you eat food gastric juice. This circumstance has a significant impact on the absorption of drugs into the blood. For example, in acidic environment the effect of some antibiotics slows down.

Drugs based on gastric juice are usually used with food, digestive enzymes. they help the stomach digest food efficiently. It is advisable to drink laxatives with food. Some diuretics and antiarrhythmic medications are taken during meals. Antimalarial and antiasthmatic medications are also used before meals. The antibiotic chloramphenicol is also used with meals.

Taking medication after meals

If the drug is recommended to be taken after meals, best time Take it 1.5-2 hours after meals. Immediately after eating, it is recommended to take medications that irritate the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines. Some medications, such as sulfonamides, are recommended to be taken with alkaline mineral water, such as Borjomi.

A prerequisite for the action of drugs based on bile components is to take them after meals. Only in this case will they begin to act in the body.
After eating, when the stomach begins to produce hydrochloric acid, it is recommended to take aspirin and askofen. In this case it is suppressed irritant effect on the gastric mucosa with acetylsalicylic acid. You need to remember this when you take these tablets for a cold or headache.

Regardless of meal

Regardless of food, they usually take bronchodilators, drugs to improve cerebral circulation.

On an empty stomach

On an empty stomach - this is about half an hour before breakfast. When the acidity of the gastric juice is low, heart medications, sulfonamides, and also medications that do not irritate the mucous membrane are usually prescribed. When taking medications on an empty stomach, they are absorbed and absorbed by the body much faster. If you use them at other times, it will affect destructive effect gastric juice, which significantly reduces their effectiveness.

For example, acidic gastric juice neutralizes therapeutic effect antibiotics: erythromycin, ampicillin. They don't give due credit therapeutic effects cardiac glycosides, preparations of lily of the valley, strophanthus.

Taking medication 2-3 times a day

This condition does not mean that you should take pills after breakfast, lunch, or dinner. To maintain the concentration of the drug in the blood, it should be taken every 8 hours. Most medications should be taken with plain, purified or boiled water.

To cleanse the body in case of poisoning, sorbents are most often used, including Activated carbon, polyphepane, . They have the property of attracting and removing toxins. They are recommended to be used 2 to 4 times a day between meals. At the same time, be sure to increase your water intake and use herbal infusions with a diuretic effect.

If the instructions for use do not contain clear instructions, take this medicine half an hour before meals. This recommendation applies to most drugs.

Very often, patients ignore the advice of doctors and pharmacists and take medications as “God bestows upon them,” or even skip the next appointment altogether. Therefore, it must be recalled that non-compliance with the use of drugs leads to a decrease in absorption into the blood, reducing their effectiveness.

It should also be borne in mind that the food itself can also change the effect medicines. For example, sweets, fatty dishes significantly increase the absorption time of medicinal components into the blood. And some other dishes enhance their effects, causing an overdose.

Therefore, you should read the instructions for use very carefully and strictly follow its recommendations. Also, be sure to consult with your doctor about taking this or that drug. If you have problems taking medications or eating, ask your pharmacist. Be healthy!

Why should some medications be taken before meals and others after? Could the outcome of treatment depend on this? It turns out yes.

Question correct reception medicine sooner or later confronts every person. It would seem that there is nothing difficult about taking pills correctly. However, according to statistics, only 20% of patients correctly take medications prescribed by a doctor. Almost every second patient, leaving the doctor’s office, completely forgets the recommendations received, including best case scenario- remembers the name of the drug. At the same time, the question “when and how to take medications correctly” is far from idle, because the result and effectiveness of treatment largely depends on this.

Here are some rules for taking medications.

• Strictly observe the frequency of administration drug.

  Remember that when prescribing medicine 2 times a day, by the word “day” the doctor means not the light part of the day, but the entire 24 hours. This means that it is correct to take the pills twice - every 12 hours, and in most cases it is not so important at what time you schedule the first dose of the medicine. The exceptions are, for example, sleeping pills taken closer to bedtime, cardiac and anti-asthmatic drugs, which are recommended to be taken closer to midnight, and drugs against ulcers, the effect of which is most expected in the morning.

How to take medications correctly emergency assistance? The answer is simple: at the moment when this help is needed.

• How to take tablets correctly: “before meals”, “during meals”, “after meals” or even regardless of food intake? It is very important to follow the doctor’s recommendations, because medications are chemical substances, which interact with the media and tissues of the body. Eg, acetylsalicylic acid irritates the gastric mucosa; macrolide antibiotics are destroyed by gastric juice. Some drugs, such as cardiac glycosides, antiarrhythmics, sulfonamides, do not tolerate proximity to food, it interferes with their absorption, others, on the contrary, need it and move forward digestive tract together with a bolus of food, for example, enzyme preparations.

Take medicine "on an empty stomach"- this means 30-40 minutes before breakfast, when there are no digestive enzymes in the stomach yet. Moreover, before taking the pill you should not drink anything, not even tea with candy.

Drink pills "before meals" means that you should not eat anything for 30-40 minutes before taking the medicine, and you will not eat anything for the same amount of time after you take it. However, in some cases it is expected that you will eat during this time, so check with your doctor about how to take the medicine correctly.

Taking medication "while eating" more often than not it raises no questions. But it's worth keeping in mind that the word "meal" doesn't have to mean a three-course meal. If taking the pills coincides with breakfast, lunch or dinner, that’s good, but if not, tea with crackers or a glass of milk will be enough.

Also keep in mind that medications that irritate the stomach, such as aspirin, should not be mixed with acute or sour foods, antidepressants should not be combined with foods rich in tyramine, such as cheese, fish roe, soy sauce, etc. otherwise- daytime sleepiness is guaranteed.

How to take pills correctly "after meal"? This needs to be sorted out. Immediately “after eating”, medications that irritate the stomach are usually taken, and 2 hours after eating, medications that reduce stomach acidity are taken.

"Regardless of food" Antibiotics, antihypertensives, antidiarrhea medications, and antacids are most often taken.

Attention! If the doctor has not specified the procedure for taking the tablets, and the instructions do not indicate how to take the medicine correctly, then the drug should be taken 30 minutes before meals. By the way, this recommendation applies to most medications.

• The tablets should be washed down plain water, unless there are other recommendations. This is not tea, not juice, not compote, but still drinking water.


• How to take tablets or capsules correctly? Remember, anything that is enclosed in a shell or capsule should not be chewed or bitten. Only “naked” tablets can be crushed, this speeds up their absorption. Chewable tablets It is recommended to chew thoroughly, sucking - to dissolve. The release form of the drug is selected not for beauty or even for the convenience of the patient, but based on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the drug.


• Don't combine incompatible things! Ideally, all medications should be taken separately. But how to take pills correctly if their number exceeds 2-3 pieces and it is not possible to maintain intervals of 30 minutes between taking medications. The advice is simple - consult your doctor or pharmacist.

Never supplement your doctor’s prescriptions with medications that you think are “useful,” “strengthens the immune system,” “protects the liver,” “accelerates recovery from colds.” herbal infusions. Always express your wishes to your doctor and coordinate all innovations with him. For the same reason, the doctor should know about all your illnesses and the appointments of other specialists.

• Follow the recommended course of medication. Most often, drugs are prescribed for long term in anticipation of a cumulative effect or to consolidate the result obtained. There is no other way to overcome the disease other than to take medications correctly and for a long time.


• Don't miss taking your medications. Place your pills in a visible place, and if you forget, let your alarm remind you to take a pill.

If you miss taking a medicine, then after 1-2 hours it is not too late to take a pill, but if more time has passed, wait next appointment, but do not double the dose of the drug. Hormonal contraceptives and antibiotics require strict adherence to the dosage schedule.

Follow the rules for taking pills! Only then will the medications taken have an effect necessary action and will not cause unwanted side effects.

Source
Medkrug.ru

They should be washed down with water (not milk).

You should also take it half an hour before meals. antacids (ALMAGEL, PHOSPHALUGEL, etc.) and choleretic agents .

TAKEN WITH MEALS
During meals, the acidity of the gastric eye is very high, and therefore significantly affects the stability of drugs and their absorption into the blood. In an acidic environment, the effect of ERYTHROMYCIN, LINCOMYCIN HYDROCHLORIDE and others is partially reduced antibiotics.

Should be taken with food gastric juice preparations or digestive enzymes , as they help the stomach digest food. These include PEPSIN, FESTAL, DIGESTAL, ENZISTAL, PANZINORM.

It is advisable to take with food laxatives to be digested. These are Senna, buckthorn bark, rhubarb ROOT and JOSTER FRUITS.

During meals you have to take some diuretics , QUINIDINE (antiarrhythmic and antimalarial), EUPHYLLINE (antiasthmatic), antibiotic wide range actions of LEVOMYCETIN.

AFTER MEAL
If the medicine is prescribed after meal, then to get the best therapeutic effect Wait at least two hours.

Straightaway same after meal take mainly medications that irritate the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines. This recommendation applies to such groups of drugs as:

diuretics- DIACARB, HYPOTHIAZI D, BRINALDIX, TRIAMPUR, FUROSEMIDE (only after meals)
painkillers (non-steroidal) anti-inflammatory drugs - BUTADIONE, ASPIRIN, ASPIRIN CARDIO, VOLTAREN, IBUPROFEN, ASKOFEN, CITRAMON (only after meals).
cardiac glycosides - Lily of the Valley tincture, DIGITOXIN, DIGOXIN, CORDIGIT, CELANIDE.
sulfonamides - STREPTOCIDE, SULFADIMETOXINE, NORSULFAZOLE. FTHALAZOL, ETAZOL; It is recommended to take these medications with an alkaline drink, for example, Borjomi-type mineral water.
drugs that are components of bile - ALLOCHOL, CHOLENZIM, LIOBIL, etc.); taken after meals - required condition so that these drugs “work.”

There are so-called antacids , the intake of which should be timed to coincide with the moment when the stomach is empty, and hydrochloric acid continues to be released, that is, an hour or two after finishing the meal - MAGNESIUM OXIDE, VIKALIN, VIKAIR.

Antibiotics They are usually taken regardless of food, but at the same time, your diet must include dairy products. Along with antibiotics, NISTATIN is also taken, and at the end of the course - complex vitamins (for example, SUPRADIN).

Antihypertensive drugs can be taken during the day: before or after meals, morning and evening - ADELPHAN, BRINERDY N, CLOPHELINE, RENITEK, PAPAZOL, RAUNATIN, RESERPINE, TRIRESIDE K, ENALAPRIL, ENAP N).

Antacids(GASTAL, ALMAGEL, MAALOX, TALTSID, RELTSER, PHOSPHALUGEL) and antidiarrheals (IMODIUM, INTETRIX, SMEKTA, NEOINTESTOPAN) - half an hour before meals or one and a half to two hours after. Please note that antacids, taken on an empty stomach, act for about half an hour, and taken 1 hour after a meal - for 3 to 4 hours.

TAKING ON AN EAST SCHOOK
Taking medication on an empty stomach is common in the morning 20-40 minutes before breakfast.

Example:
on an empty stomach, when the acidity of gastric juice is low, should be taken heart medications , sulfonamides , as well as drugs that do not irritate the gastric mucosa - ERYTHROMYCIN, NISTATIN, POLYMYXIN (1.5–2 hours before meals).

Medicines taken on an empty stomach are absorbed and absorbed much faster. Otherwise, the acidic gastric juice will have a destructive effect on them, and the medications will be of little use.

■ PHARMACISTS WARN AND ADVICE
Patients often ignore the recommendations of doctors and pharmacists, forgetting to take a pill prescribed before meals and rescheduling it for the afternoon. If the rules are not followed, the effectiveness of the drugs will inevitably decrease. To the greatest extent if, contrary to the instructions, the drug is taken during or immediately after meals. This changes how quickly drugs pass through the digestive tract and how quickly they are absorbed into the blood.

Some drugs may break down into their component parts. For example, in an acidic gastric environment, PENICILLIN is destroyed. Breaks down into salicylic acid and acetic acid ASPIRIN (acetylsalicylic acid).

The acidic environment of the stomach can neutralize such antibiotics like erythromycin and ampicillin, cardiac glycosides . The preparations LILY OF THE LILY and STROPHANTA are very sensitive to food juices: taken with food, they are digested along with it.

A number of drugs form poorly soluble and non-absorbable complexes with food components. This can happen if, for example, you take TETRACYCLINE after dairy food. CALCIUM GLUCONATE taken after meals can form insoluble precipitates with food acids. NISTATIN and POLYMYXIN form the same sediments with bile.

USE 2-3 TIMES A DAY
If the instructions indicate " three times a day", this does not mean breakfast - lunch - dinner. The medicine must be taken every eight hours so that its concentration is maintained evenly in the blood. It is better to take the medicine with plain boiled water. Tea and juices - no the best remedy.

If it is necessary to resort to cleansing the body (for example, in case of poisoning, alcohol intoxication), usually used sorbents: ACTIVATED CHARCOAL, POLYPHEPAN or ENTEROSGEL. They collect toxins “on themselves” and remove them through the intestines. They should be taken twice daily between meals. At the same time, you need to increase your fluid intake. It is good to add herbs that have a diuretic effect to your drink.

DAY OR NIGHT
Drugs with hypnotic effect need to be accepted 30 minutes before bedtime.

Laxatives - BISACODIL, SENAD, GLAXENA, REGULAX, GUTALAX, FORLAX - usually taken before bed and half an hour before breakfast.

Don't have your time medicines, appointed " under the tongue» NITROGLYCERINE, VALIDOL.

Heart medications And asthma remedies accepted closer to midnight.

Remedies for ulcers taken early in the morning and late in the evening to prevent hunger pangs.

After inserting the suppositories, you need to lie down, so they are prescribed at night.

■ PHARMACISTS WARN AND ADVICE
Emergency supplies taken regardless of the time of day - if the temperature has risen or colic has begun. In such cases, adherence to the schedule is not important.

IF THE INSTRUCTIONS DO NOT SAY
In the absence of any instructions in the package insert, the medicine should be taken 30 minutes before meals. This applies to the bulk of drugs.

IF YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME IS MISSED
If you " we were late» for 1-2 hours, then the drug can be accepted, as usual. If the break is longer, you should skip the medication until the next one to avoid an overdose. After this, it is advisable to restore the medication dosage schedule.

It is forbidden take the drug in double dose just because you missed your appointment time - this may increase side effect medicines.

Hormonal And " cardiac drugs , majority antibiotics should be taken strictly by the clock. The best thing is to draw up a reception diagram and hang it in a visible place (on the door, furniture, refrigerator, etc.). To avoid missing your next medication dose, use an alarm clock or timer.

IN WHAT SEQUENCE SHOULD I TAKE MEDICATIONS?
Many medications interact with each other, so try to accept medicines one by one.

Often incompatible there are antibiotics. They should not be unnecessarily combined with antipyretics, hypnotics, antihistamines. And, of course, in no case with alcohol.

The gastric mucosa will be safer if you take into account the specifics of taking vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) are more useful after meals, and water-soluble(C and group B) - before meals or during meals. Complex multivitamin preparations It is better to drink immediately after eating.

■ PHARMACISTS ADVICE
When visiting a doctor, it is advisable for patients write down recommendations. This is important to ensure your own safety, because medications are a delicate thing. As for food, almost all of them can change the effect of the drug. Some (for example, fatty and sweet foods) delay and increase the absorption time of the drug components into the blood, while others increase the effect of the drug several times, causing an overdose

At first glance, this question seems stupid. But it turns out that only 20% of patients follow doctors’ recommendations. 60%, upon leaving the office, completely forget when and how to take pills. And another 20% consider such subtleties unprincipled. The result is predictable: the drugs do not work as expected. In fact, a person taking pills needs to learn some wisdom. Only then will he get the maximum out of the medicine. Firstly, pronounced side effects, if taken different tablets separately, and not all at once in one go.
Secondly, it is extremely dangerous to use the medicine after the expiration date, because chemical composition the drug may have changed.
Thirdly, never take your doctor’s prescriptions thoughtlessly. If the therapist prescribed you one medicine, the ophthalmologist - another, the dentist - a third, and the cardiologist - a fourth, be sure to return to the therapist again or consult a pharmacist. Have them analyze drugs for compatibility to prevent conflicting interactions, and replace any drug with a safe analogue. There are other very important rules.

What to drink with it?

One example: recent research has shown that oral contraceptives Do not mix with drinks containing caffeine. With this combination, contraceptives reduce the body's ability to break down caffeine, causing hyperactivity and insomnia. Therefore, in most cases it is important what to take the pill with.

Aspirin severely irritates the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, this medicine should be taken only after meals. Soluble tablet It should be dipped in exactly the amount of water indicated in the insert, and it is better to crush or chew an ordinary tablet and drink it with milk or mineral water, then it will get into the blood faster.

If etazol, norsulfazole, sulgin, sulfadimethoxine are prescribed, you will need a glass of mineral water. The fact is that sulfonamides often cause kidney problems, and drinking plenty of alkaline water will help get rid of unnecessary problems.

Antibiotics. After all, the calcium contained in milk reacts with antibiotics (especially tetracycline) and forms poorly soluble compounds. By the way, boiled water room temperature is the best drink for most tablets.

Special conversation - grapefruit juice. It cannot be combined with drugs that lower blood cholesterol, immunosuppressants, erythromycin, oral contraceptives, tamoxifen, " antitumor drugs, Viagra and its analogues. Grapefruit juice does not remove drugs from the body. The result is an overdose.

But with cranberry juice not compatible anticoagulants- drugs that reduce blood clotting. If this rule is not followed, bleeding may occur in the gastrointestinal tract.

You should not drink alcohol while taking medications. The combination of alcohol with antihistamines, insulin, tranquilizers and pills that lower blood pressure, can lead to increased drowsiness, which is especially dangerous if you drive a car.
Antibiotics should also not be mixed with alcohol, otherwise you will suffer from a rush of blood to the head, dizziness and nausea.
In old age, when alcohol stays in the blood longer, the consequences of this combination can be even more unpleasant. For example, nitroglycerin under the influence of alcohol changes its effect and does not bring much-needed relief to the heart.

Antipyretic tablets, coupled with a glass or two of alcohol, will cause a massive blow to the mucous membranes of the stomach. Alcohol is especially dangerous for diabetics, since under its influence the blood sugar level first rises and then falls.

When to take the pills?

Emergency medications, of course, are taken regardless of the time of day - if the temperature rises or colic begins, there is no time for schedules. But the effectiveness of drugs, as doctors have long noted, also depends on the time of administration. Heart and asthma medications are taken close to midnight, and ulcer medications early in the morning and late in the evening to prevent hunger pangs. Do not expect immediate results from medications and do not take them without waiting for them. double dose. Most tablets begin to work within 40 to 60 minutes. The exception is those that are placed under the tongue for rapid absorption (for example, nitroglycerin, glycine).

Stuff?

When taking pills, you must follow a certain diet. Festal, Mezim-Forte and other enzyme preparations that improve digestion are best taken directly with meals. Do not mix aspirin with spicy food and citrus fruits one hour before and one hour after taking the tablets. If you do not follow this rule, you are guaranteed to irritate the gastric mucosa.
When taking antidepressants, it is better to exclude foods containing tyramine: cheese, yeast, soy sauce, fish roe, avocado. Otherwise, your day will be ruined by severe drowsiness and high pressure.
Tetracycline tablets, as we have already warned, do not tolerate proximity to dairy products. An hour or two before and after taking the medicine, give up milk in any form, cottage cheese, yogurt.
If a person takes hormonal medications, it is important for him to provide the body with protein foods.
Vitamins require fat, and drugs that regulate digestion, on the contrary, require fatty foods don't match. Spinach, rhubarb, tea and bran bread combine with calcium, which is contained in many vitamins, and prevent the body from absorbing it.

How to swallow?

So that the medicine gets into the blood faster and fulfills its purpose, the American medical association offers next way taking pills. Take some water into your mouth and tilt your head back. When swallowing, tilt your head forward. Then take the medicine with a full glass of water, unless otherwise indicated in the medicine label.

Do not chew or unscrew the capsules: the gelatin shell was not invented for beauty, but to ensure the “delivery” of the medicine as intended - to gastrointestinal tract. There is another reason why you should not damage the pill shell: last years Doctors are increasingly prescribing so-called prolonged (extended) action drugs, which no longer need to be taken 5 times a day - the shell in such cases ensures a slow release of the drug and cannot be damaged.

Never swallow tablets while lying down: they may begin to disintegrate in the esophagus, leading to heartburn, nausea and vomiting.

Where to take?

You should take the pills very carefully in the summer, especially if you sunbathe under the hot sun. Some medications can increase sensitivity to light and change skin pigmentation. After taking the medications, you will get sunburned faster. To return from vacation as a “chocolate bar” and not a spotted panther, refrain from taking it for a while hormonal drugs, antibiotics, tranquilizers, analgesics and antiseptics for the skin. If the course of treatment cannot be postponed, then tanning is contraindicated for you, so you should refuse a trip to the sea or stay in the shade most of the time.

One more thing. Taking medications in front of guests and co-workers is considered bad manners.