If you forgot to take a tablet before meals. The art of being healthy

Regardless of whether you drink an analgin tablet every six months or swallow a whole handful of pills three times a day, it is important to follow the rules for taking medications. After all, the quality of treatment and the absence of side effects depend on it. And often complaints that the medicine does not help are associated precisely with a violation of the rules for taking the drugs. Therefore, it is necessary not only to have a well-formed first-aid kit in the house (how to do this, the My Years website has already told), but also to take the prescribed medications correctly.

Taking medication: basic rules

According to statistics, no more than 20% of all patients take their medicines correctly, and the rest either forget about the doctor's recommendations or simply do not pay attention to them.

1. Exact time

The instructions always write how often you need to take the drug. It is very desirable to drink medicines strictly by the hour, this allows you to maintain the desired concentration. medicinal substance constantly in the blood. This is important for many drugs, for example, antihypertensives, antibiotics, hypoglycemic, hormonal.
If it is written that the tablets should be taken twice a day, then they mean a day, that is, the drug is needed every 12 hours. For example, at 8 am and 20 00 pm.

An exception is made for immediate relief medicines: they are taken as needed, without any schedule.

For many drugs, the time of day is also important - this is due to the biorhythms of the body. Such features will also be written in the instructions or the doctor will tell you about it.
For example, antihistamines are taken in the evening. Painkillers are also taken in the evening, because at night the pain is always felt more strongly. Tonic drugs are drunk in the first half of the day, and sedatives in the second.

2. Pill box and alarm clock

If there are several medicines and they need to be taken in certain time, then it is necessary to organize the process as conveniently as possible. A pill box will help out, where you can put everything the right drugs by time and day of the week. You can also set an alarm or a reminder on your phone. This will help not only the elderly, because in the hustle and bustle of the day, anyone can forget about the necessary pill.

You can print the medication schedule and hang it in a conspicuous place, not forgetting to mark taken pill and time.

By the way, recording the time of administration and dose is very helpful if we are talking about medicines for immediate relief. For example, in the case of antihypertensive drugs, antipyretics and painkillers. This will protect against accidental overdose, because many of these drugs can only be taken after a certain amount of time. These records will also help doctors. If you had to call ambulance, you can clearly tell the doctor when and what you took.

If there are a lot of medicines and you need to drink them several times a day, it makes sense to buy a convenient pillbox

Note

What to do if you forgot to take your medicine on time?
If a little time has passed, then just drink the drug. And if the time is right next appointment then wait for it and drink it usual dose. Never take a double dose of a medicine instead of a missed one!

3. No "drug cocktails"

This applies to those who are forced to take several medications at the same time. Often this happens in the presence of some chronic diseases.
How to proceed in this case? Of course, it is easier to swallow all the pills in one fell swoop, but this cannot be done. Each drug is taken separately with an interval of 30 minutes.

Note

If you are taking adsorbents, such as Polysorb, Enterosgel, Activated carbon, smect and the like, then it is imperative to take a break in taking between this drug and other drugs, since otherwise the sorbent will bind and remove the drug from the body. This is always written in the instructions. Usually it is recommended to wait from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.

3. Swallow or chew?

Medicines are always in the form that promotes them. better assimilation. Therefore, if the instructions say “chew”, “grind” or “put under the tongue until completely dissolved”, you need to do just that. For example, it is better to chew or crush ordinary aspirin, so it will quickly enter the bloodstream and injure the stomach less.

Lozenges should not be swallowed or swallowed.

Coated tablets should not be crushed as the coating protects the contents from gastric juices.

Capsules are also not opened, since the gelatin shell ensures the safety of the drug and its prolonged action.

Naturally, effervescent tablets must be dissolved in water, and use the amount indicated in the instructions.

Tablets that can be divided are equipped with special notches.

Do not swallow tablets while lying down - this can lead to nausea, vomiting or heartburn.

4. Before or after meals

Yes, it does matter. There are several reasons for this: some of the drugs irritate the gastric mucosa and, taking them on an empty stomach, you can give yourself gastritis or an ulcer. Another reason: the degree of assimilation of the drug. The contents of the stomach can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the pill drunk.
And the interaction medicines With different products and drinks - this is a separate topic for conversation.
Not all medications are associated with food intake. If the doctor did not special instructions, then it is better to drink the medicine half an hour before meals, then the degree of its absorption will be high.

Many people wonder what it means: before, after and during meals.

Before meals - usually 15-20, maximum 30 minutes before meals

After eating - after 15-20, maximum 60 minutes

On an empty stomach - 40-60 minutes before meals

If the medication schedule does not coincide with the diet, and the drug needs to be taken after or during meals, this is easily solved: you can drink kefir, yogurt, milk, eat something small. The main thing is that the medicine does not get into empty stomach.

5. A glass of water

General recommendation: it is most reliable to drink any tablets with water, and clean. For example, boiled, settled or filtered. There are exceptions to these rules, but they are usually written in the annotations to the drug and the doctor can also say about it.

Alena Knizhnik, site for pensioners "My Years", site

Tell your friends about it!

As statistics show, only 20% of people more or less strictly follow the doctor's prescriptions for taking medications, 60% forget what and when to take, and 20% (!) Do not necessarily refer to the doctor's recommendations. In this regard, the effect of treatment tends to zero, and sometimes such frivolity leads to death.

The main rule in treatment is to take the medicines prescribed by the doctor.. In no case should you be treated with drugs that your neighbor Aunt Luda “prescribed” for you, because they helped her a lot. The doctor selects medications based on your age, gender, physiological characteristics, allergies, etc. At self-treatment you run the risk of getting into big trouble.

Surprisingly, but what we drink the medicine with is directly related to a successful recovery and vice versa. It's all about the chemical interaction of the product and the drug. An inappropriate liquid for drinking a tablet can form compounds that are indigestible by the body and insoluble substances. The result is a severe allergy, poisoning, failure of some organs.

For example, let's tell a story where the assistant to the president of America, George W. Bush (senior), Antonio Benedi, who treated the common cold with paracetamol, washed down with alcohol, became a victim of illiterate medication. Four days later, this explosive mixture caused complete failure liver. As a result, I had to do an urgent operation for an organ transplant. And this is all due to the fact that the person did not know how to take medicines correctly.

Drug interactions with tea and coffee

Tea contains a lot useful elements, it has antioxidant (anti-cancer) properties, boosts immunity, lowers cholesterol and cleanses blood vessels. But! As soon as you drink the medicine with tea, insoluble compounds form in the body and the process of assimilation of the medication slows down. For example, when drinking tea, oral contraceptives lose their properties, and antidepressants lead to overexcitation.

Do not drink tea with neurological drugs, antibiotics, cardiovascular agents, alkaloids, drugs to activate the process of digestion and treatment of stomach ulcers, as well as nitrogen-containing agents (eufillin, caffeine, amidopyrine).

Coffee, in turn, very quickly removes antibiotics from the body, while the effect of the drug can be generally unpredictable. When washing down painkillers with a coffee drink (aspirin, citramon, paracetamol), the liver can be severely affected. Also, sedatives are not combined with coffee at all.

Drug interactions with juices

Juices should not be taken with drugs that lower the acidity of the stomach, sulfonamides (sulfalene, streptocide), cardiac glycosides and drugs to lower blood pressure

Juices slow down the action of antibiotics, prevent the absorption of amidopyrine, and the action of aspirin is enhanced so that poisoning is possible.

Avocados and cranberries, for example, are dangerous when combined with warfarin (this medicine reduces blood clotting, it is prescribed for varicose veins veins).

Grapefruit juice

It should be noted in a separate line grapefruit juice. The list of drugs incompatible with it is very large. These are histamine anti-allergy drugs, antibiotics, heart, antiviral and antitussive drugs, hormonal medicines and drugs for the treatment of hypertension.

Interaction of drugs with milk

In ancient times, people were saved from poisoning with milk. This suggests that it reduces the effect of many drugs. This is especially true for antibiotics.

Antibiotics of the tetracycline series are not combined with dairy products at all. With the interaction of milk and tetracycline, the effectiveness of the drug drops to 80%. In the diet with such treatment, only fermented milk products should be present.

Do not drink milk with drugs with an acid-resistant shell, such as pancreatin (milk contributes to the premature dissolution of the shell, and therefore the drug will collapse without an achieved result).

Also, milk reduces the acidity of gastric juice and prevents the absorption of enzymes to improve digestion.

Drug interactions with alcohol

Alcoholic drinks generally do not combine with any medications. Categorically! For the duration of treatment, you should forget about your favorite cognac, wine for dinner or daily beer. By the way, taking medications is also undesirable during a hangover syndrome.

Products and medicines

A special place is occupied antidepressants. They are not friendly with large quantity products that are in the daily normal diet - dairy products, beef, cheeses, fish. If these products are taken at the same time with the medicine, it may happen hypertensive crisis or increased depression.

Healing and popular hypericum infusion reduces the intake of hormonal drugs to zero.

After taking heart medication can't eat fatty foods In one hour.

How to take medicine correctly

Take your medicine boiled water room temperature(approximately 150 ml) in a standing or sitting position. Water is a chemically neutral substance, so there can be no undesirable reactions and unpredictable consequences during treatment.

Carefully study the instructions for the medication and follow it exactly. Check with your doctor correct dosage and the mode of use of the drug: before, after or during meals.

If you buy an over-the-counter drug from a pharmacy, speak loudly and clearly to the pharmacist all the necessary data: age, gender, condition (for example, pregnancy, asthma, diabetes, tendency to allergies to certain drugs, driver behind the wheel, etc.). Ask how to take medication.

If you need to be treated with several drugs at the same time, then don't take them all at once, and with a break of 10 minutes.

Don't give up treatment halfway through. In this regard, the strongest complications and the transition of the disease to the category of chronic are possible. In the future, treatment with more potent drugs will be required.

If you need to drink the medicine before meals, then take it 30-40 minutes before eating, sometimes the instructions may indicate 15 minutes. But nothing less Otherwise, the medicine will not have time to work properly.. Usually taken with meals stomach medicines and drugs that help digest food. After eating, taking medication should be no earlier than two hours later.

Regardless of food, they take bronchodilators, antibiotics, means to improve cerebral circulation and antidiarrheal drugs.

If you have been prescribed to take the medicine on an empty stomach, this means that you must be received by 10 am. Thus, the drug is absorbed and absorbed much better and faster.

If your medication regimen says "three times a day", you you need to drink this medicine every 8 hours. The meaning of this technique is that a certain level of concentration of the drug must be maintained in the body.

Sleeping pills should be taken 30 minutes before bedtime.

If suddenly there is no data on taking it in the instructions for the medicine, drink it 30 minutes before meals.

Take care of your health and the health of your loved ones! Take care of yourself!

Often in the annotation to the medicine you can read “take after meals” or “half an hour before meals”, or there are no recommendations at all in the instructions. In addition, the doctor gives advice when he prescribes the drug - drink it twice or thrice a day, or once, at night, etc. Why do these instructions, what do they change in the action of the tablets, do they need to be strictly observed or is it not important ? Does food, time of day, and sleep affect how drugs work? Let's figure it out.

The basic rule for taking any pills is the frequency of their use. When a doctor prescribes medication several times a day, most specialists mean the whole day as a whole, and not the waking time, which is approximately 15-16 hours (minus the time that the patient spends in sleep from the day).

This is due to the fact that, despite the patient's sleep, his body continues to work - the heart contracts, the liver actively processes drugs, and the kidneys excrete their residues in the urine. Accordingly, microbes or viruses also attack the body around the clock, and diseases do not go to sleep with their host. Therefore, it is important to evenly distribute the intake of tablets at equal time intervals (if possible), especially if they are antiviral drugs, or some other means.

Accordingly, if you need to take twice a day, the interval between their use should be approximately equal to 12 hours. That is, they can be accepted, for example, at 8.00 and 20.00. If this is a three-time appointment, the interval is reduced to 8 hours, you can make a schedule like this - 6.00, 14.00 and 20.00.

Fluctuations in the interval of taking the drug at 1-2 hours are acceptable, and it is not necessary to jump up on the alarm clock an hour earlier than expected to take the pill, you can adjust the schedule for yourself. However, taking three times a day does not mean chaotic use - without observing time intervals, as it is convenient for the patient if he forgot to take the drug on time. That is, you can not take the drug in the morning, then in the evening and two pills at once, after waiting 2-3 hours, because there was no time at work during the day. To avoid confusion, many experts indicate approximate time taking the medication when prescribed.

It is often easier to follow short courses of drugs. Usually the first few days the patient is more pedantic about his treatment, especially if he is not feeling well. But, as it becomes easier, or if the course is long, the pills are drunk less and less responsibly - and this is very bad! Often, rush, stress, or forgetfulness is the reason for missing or stopping medications. This leads to the fact that the treatment does not give the expected effect due to its incomplete course. There is another option: people take pills half asleep or forget that they have already taken them, and then repeat the dose, already superfluous. If the drug has strong effects, this can end sadly.

To combat this problem, it is proposed various options: putting pills in a prominent place, a schedule on the wall with checkmarks when taking pills, reminders on the phone or alarm clocks. Yes, for oral contraceptives manufacturers have long begun to mark the days of the week or the dates of the month on the blister itself so that women do not forget to take the pill. There are also mobile applications that help to follow the treatment schedule. And recently hybrids have appeared - an alarm clock-a first-aid kit, programmable and giving out a portion of the drug on a bell.

Human nutrition can significantly affect the activity of drugs and the rate of their absorption from the intestine into the blood. If we divide all drugs in relation to their relationship with nutrition, there are several groups:

Means that do not depend on meals,
Drugs that must be taken strictly before meals,
Medicines taken after meals
Drugs taken with food.

In addition, according to the patient's assumption, nutrition refers to regular meals in the form of breakfast, which is then followed by a full lunch and the same dinner. However, doctors say that frequent and incomplete snacking is also a meal, even a banana, tea with biscuits or yogurt eaten is nutrition. But, according to the patient, they are not considered normal meals. This means that taking medications without taking into account these snacks, but only the main meals, will be wrong from the point of view of the full assimilation of drugs.

Preparations that require taking “before meals” suggest that when you take the pill you are hungry, you have not eaten anything at all, and you will not eat anything for the period specified in the instructions (usually 30 minutes). Thus, the drug enters the empty stomach, in which it will not interfere with food components mixed with gastric juice. This is due to the fact that the activity of drugs, if the patient allows himself just one candy or a glass of juice, can be disturbed almost to zero, absorption in the intestine will suffer, or the drug will simply collapse.

There are exceptions to the rule, especially with regard to treatment. digestive disorders or endocrine pathologies. Therefore, you always need to check with the doctor how the remedy is taken correctly - strictly on an empty stomach or after waiting a couple of hours after you have eaten.

With drugs from the “during meals” group, it is most understandable, although it is worth checking with the doctor how dense the meal should be and what components it should consist of, especially if it is extremely irregular for you.

Taking drugs "after a meal" is rare. Usually these are means for normalization digestive functions, stimulating the separation of gastric juice or some others. It is also important to clarify with the doctor what is meant by nutrition in this case - any snacks or a plentiful, hearty meal.

The easiest way is with drugs that do not depend on food intake in any way, for them only the time interval for taking is set.

Who has just prescribed you a course of treatment that includes several drugs, do you completely forget about how and when to take them? If you forgot, you are not alone. Most of them are. Result: drugs do not help and even harm. If you want the pills to bring health benefits, take them correctly.

2. Check drugs for compatibility. For example, if the therapist prescribed you one drug, the urologist another, the cardiologist the third, and the gastroenterologist the fourth, be sure to return to the therapist again or seek the advice of a pharmacist. So you prevent their contradictory interaction by replacing the medicine with a safe analogue.

3. Do not expect instant results from drugs and do not take a double dose without waiting. Most tablets begin to work in 40-60 minutes.

4. Do not swallow medicines lying down. Otherwise, they may begin to decompose in the esophagus, leading to heartburn, nausea, and vomiting.

5. Do not chew or twist capsule preparations. The gelatin shell ensures the "delivery" of the drug to its destination - in gastrointestinal tract. In addition, many of the capsules are so-called prolonged action agents that no longer need to be taken several times a day. The shell provides a slow release of the drug, and it must not be damaged.

Precautions for each drug

Aspirin. This medicine should only be taken after meals. soluble tablet dip it in exactly the amount of water that is 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 quickly enter the bloodstream and will not unnecessarily irritate the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract.

Sulfonamides. They should be washed down with a glass of mineral water. These drugs often cause kidney problems, and copious alkaline drink get rid of problems.

Oral contraceptives. These pills can not be washed down with tea, coffee, Coca-Cola. If this recommendation is not followed, hyperactivity and insomnia appear, since contraceptives reduce the body's ability to break down caffeine.

Antibiotics. They should be taken half an hour before meals. And drink them down water is better, and not milk, since the content in milk reacts with antibiotics (especially tetracycline) and forms sparingly soluble compounds.

Nitroglycerin, glycine. They must be dissolved without drinking anything.

How to take pills

Boiled water at room temperature is the best drink for most tablets.

Grapefruit juice. It should not be combined with cholesterol-lowering agents, immunosuppressants, erythromycin, oral contraceptives, some anticancer drugs, Viagra (and its analogues). Grapefruit juice does not remove drugs from the body. The result is an overdose.

Cranberry juice. It is not compatible with anticoagulants - drugs that reduce blood clotting. Otherwise, bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract may open.

Alcohol. In the annotation to many tablets, a warning is given about incompatibility with alcohol. So, the combination of alcohol with antihistamines, insulin, tranquilizers and pills that lower blood pressure, will lead to increased drowsiness, which is especially dangerous for motorists. Antibiotics, when mixed with alcohol, will cause flushing of the head, dizziness, and nausea. Nitroglycerin under the influence of alcohol changes its effect and will not bring much-needed relief to the heart. Antipyretic tablets, coupled with alcohol, will cause a massive blow to the mucous membranes of the stomach.

How to take medication

Enzyme preparations that improve digestion should be swallowed directly during meals.

Do not mix aspirin with spicy food and citrus fruits an hour before and after taking the tablets, so as not to irritate the stomach and intestines.

Antidepressants are best taken with a diet that excludes foods such as: cheese, yeast, soy sauce, fish caviar, avocado. Otherwise, severe drowsiness and high blood pressure will ruin your day.

Hormonal preparations require mandatory neighborhood with protein foods. Vitamins for good assimilation fats are required.

Drugs that regulate digestion, on the contrary, with fatty foods do not match.

Medication time

Heart remedies and asthma medications are taken closer to midnight.

Ulcer medicines - early in the morning and late in the evening to prevent hunger pains.

Of course, you yourself are well aware of all this. But ... forgot. Print this leaflet if you are constantly taking any medication for a medical condition. And don't bother remembering.

You can speed up the action of the pill or enhance its effect, minimize the risk adverse reactions or, on the contrary, get poisoned by taking the usual dose of the drug ... The mode and method of use radically affects the work of many drugs: from ordinary vitamins to potent drugs.

After the tablet enters the body, it must dissolve in the digestive tract, penetrate through the walls of blood vessels into the blood. Then the active substance is distributed throughout the body and exerts its effect, after which it enters the liver, where it is destroyed and excreted out with unnecessary metabolic products through the kidneys or intestines. This is the most common route taken by oral medications in the body.

What we eat and drink during treatment can slow down or speed up the absorption of the drug, disrupt its inactivation in the liver, or even remove the drug from the body in transit, without any effect. Therefore, it is important to know how to drink pills correctly.

How to drink medicines?

The universal liquid for drinking tablets is pure non-carbonated warm or room temperature water. Cold water slows absorption in the stomach and may, during illness, provoke nausea and vomiting. The amount of water should be at least half a glass (100 ml).

You can drink milk with milk, and even only some medicines are useful. These are drugs from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that we most often use for pain and fever: aspirin, ibuprofen, ketanov, analgin, indomethacin, voltaren and others, as well as steroid hormones: prednisolone, dexamethasone. Milk renders protective action on the gastric mucosa and reduces the likelihood of damaging effects of these drugs on it. The exceptions are the funds from these groups in the form of enteric-coated tablets or capsules (such information can be found on the packaging) - their contents are released only in the intestines.

It is usually not recommended to use mineral water for drinking tablets, as they contain calcium, iron and other ions that can enter into chemical reaction with the components of the drug and disrupt their absorption.

The most complex interactions are observed when sharing tablets with vegetables and fruit juices: they can both weaken and enhance the effect of drugs. In the "black list": apple, cherry, pear, grape, lemon, orange, pineapple, beetroot, tomato, viburnum and many other juices. The most dangerous is grapefruit. About 70% are incompatible with it existing medicines, including blood pressure medications, heart medications, and oral contraceptives. Cholesterol-lowering drugs (atorvastatin, simvastatin, etc.) together with grapefruit juice cause massive destruction muscle tissue and kidney failure. Moreover, for the development of an adverse effect, 1 glass of juice is enough, it all depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. Therefore, it is recommended to stop drinking grapefruit juice three days before starting treatment with any medication (including in the form of injections).

It is not harmless to drink some drugs with tea and coffee. The tannins, catechins, and caffeine in these drinks can play a role. bad joke, for example, by reducing the effectiveness of oral contraceptives. On the other hand, oral contraceptives increase side effects caffeine, which can lead to insomnia. Tea and coffee reduce the absorption of many other drugs: antispasmodics, cough medicines, glaucoma, etc. But paracetamol washed down with tea will quickly remove headache, since caffeine increases the penetration of the drug into the brain.

The most "explosive" mixture can be obtained by the joint use of drugs and alcohol of any strength. Ethanol and its metabolic products enhance the effects (including side effects) of psychotropic, antiallergic drugs, drugs for pain and temperature, reduce the effect of antibiotics, drugs for diabetes, drugs that affect blood clotting and anti-tuberculosis pills. And the most dangerous - in some cases, alcohol, together with completely harmless drugs, causes poisoning, up to fatality as a result of liver failure. Most often this happens when taking antibacterial, antifungal drugs and paracetamol with alcohol.

When to take the tablets: on an empty stomach or after a meal?

Given the fact that the active components of drugs can enter into undesirable associations with food, and the consequences of these associations are poorly understood, most drugs are recommended to be taken on an empty stomach.

If the instructions say "on an empty stomach", this means that the medicine should be drunk one hour before meals or 2-3 hours after. This mode of administration, firstly, minimizes the contact of the tablet with food. Secondly, it is believed that in the intervals between meals, the secretion of hydrochloric acid gastric juice is minimal, which also affects the work of many drugs. Thirdly, the medicine taken on an empty stomach acts faster.

The exceptions are those drugs that have irritant effect on the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, for example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, aspirin, etc.). For the same reason, it is recommended to take iron supplements after meals to treat anemia, although they are absorbed better on an empty stomach.

Especially important is the connection with food intake with drugs for the treatment of the gastrointestinal tract, because each of them affects certain stages of digestion, so it must be ingested at a certain time. So, drugs that reduce acidity and relieve heartburn are taken 40 minutes before meals or an hour after. Enzymes (mezim, pancreatin, festal) are drunk with meals, as they must be mixed with food. Pre- and probiotic preparations are usually consumed during or after meals.

Antacids (almagel, maalox, de-nol and others), as well as sorbents (smecta, activated carbon, polyphepan) disrupt the absorption of most drugs, so the interval between taking them and using other drugs should be at least 1-2 hours.

Time of day and interval of medication

The daily amount of the drug is usually divided into several doses in order to ensure a more or less constant concentration of the active substance in the body, as well as to reduce single dose and the likelihood of side effects. Therefore, in the instructions for the drugs and in the note from the doctor, it usually says: 2-3 times a day. However, for some drugs, the dose should not be divided over daylight hours, but during the day. That is, a three-time intake is the use of a medicine every 8 hours, a 4-time dose is every 6 hours, and so on.

Such strict regime must be sustained, for example, in antibiotic treatment, which is often overlooked. If you take antibiotics irregularly, for example, by doing long break on a night's sleep, the concentration of the active substance in the blood will fluctuate greatly. It is unlikely to cause overdose symptoms during the day, but at night with high probability lead to the development of resistance to treatment. That is, while you sleep, microbes adapt their metabolism to the antibiotic residues in the blood. Further treatment this drug will be ineffective.

For convenience, many medications come in the form of long-acting tablets or capsules that can only be taken once a day. In the morning, they take diuretics, hormonal drugs, drugs, caffeine content and adaptogens (ginseng, eleutherococcus, Rhodiola rosea, etc.).

The rule of the forgotten pill

If you forget to take a pill, estimate how much time has passed since "X". Depending on the length of the delay, three options are possible. First: if the time for the next dose is very close, skip the forgotten tablet completely, but keep in mind that the effect of the treatment may be reduced. The second option is that you take the medicine as soon as you remember about it, but you drink the next dose according to the old schedule. This can be done if you use the medicine 1-2 times a day and at least half of the time period remains until the next dose. It is impossible to double the dose of the drug at one time. The third opportunity to fix everything: you drink a single dose of the drug and start a new countdown, that is, shift the intake schedule by the number of hours missed. This is the most rational way when treated in short courses, for example, if you are prescribed antibiotics for 5-7 days.

Is it possible to divide tablets and open capsules?

If the tablet does not have a groove (rises, notches) to divide it into parts, most likely it is not intended for use in pieces. As a rule, these are all medicines that are coated with a protective shell. If they are broken, sucked, chewed or crushed, they reduce their effectiveness. However, this can be neglected when an ambulance is required.

When taken orally, the tablet begins to act, on average, after 40 minutes. If you require quick effect, you can put the medicine under the tongue or chew it thoroughly and hold it in your mouth along with warm water. Then the absorption of the drug will begin right in the oral cavity and the effect will come in 5-10 minutes.

Gelatin capsules, consisting of two halves, are also not recommended to be opened. The shell protects the contents from contact with air, accidental entry into Airways(may cause irritation) or is only broken down in the intestines, ensuring that the drug is delivered exactly to the target without loss.

However, exceptions are sometimes made to this rule. Tablets and capsules are divided into parts if a person cannot swallow a large capsule or titration of the drug is required (individual dose selection). These cases should be discussed with the doctor.

Can the side effects of medications be avoided?

Compliance with doses, regimen and rules for taking medications allows you to minimize the risk of a side effect, but you cannot completely protect yourself from troubles during treatment. You need to be alert. Most of the complications become noticeable in the first days of therapy. These are various types of allergic reactions, nausea, abdominal pain, stool disorders, headaches, swelling and other manifestations that usually disappear when the drug is replaced with a similar one or after stopping treatment.

delayed and most serious complication treatment is liver failure less often kidney function suffers. These organs are involved in the neutralization and removal from the body of almost all drugs, including those that many of us take lightly: oral contraceptives, drugs for pressure and arrhythmia, lowering blood cholesterol, drugs for joint pain. By the way, it is these drugs that most often cause drug-induced hepatitis when taken for a long time.

deceit drug lesion liver and kidneys in that initial stages diseases that can still be easily corrected are asymptomatic. Therefore, everyone who takes medications for a long time needs to do a biochemical blood test and a general urine test every six months. These elementary studies allow you to monitor the function of the liver and kidneys. At significant deviations from the norm, it is necessary to interrupt treatment and consult a doctor.

Question Description

No matter how we monitor our health, unfortunately, each of us sooner or later is destined to drink his dose of medicine. On the one hand, there is nothing difficult in taking pills: put it in your mouth, drink it down and wait for a miraculous recovery. However, in practice, everything is not so simple. After all, any medicine will begin to act only when it is in sufficient concentration in the tissues of the diseased organ. The path of the active substance to its destination is sometimes very complicated. Through the mouth it is necessary to get into the stomach, from there to small intestine, then dissolve in its contents and at the same time avoid destruction due to exposure to hydrochloric acid of the stomach, enzymes and other food components. It is very important at what time of the day you drink the medicine, do it before meals, during or after, what you drink, etc. It is always very desirable that the treatment does not last long, be effective in relation to the disease and do not harm the rest of the body. For everything to be just right, the pills must be taken correctly. The instructions for use, which you will find in the medicine box, will tell you in detail about the features of taking certain pills. However, there are a number general advice, which are often not reflected in the insert, because considered to be public knowledge. It is about them that will be discussed below.

You will need

alarm clock or timer in mobile phone
a special calendar where you can mark the fact of taking pills
instructions for using the medicine

Step by step solution

note

Always strictly follow the instructions for use that comes with any medicine. Never throw away an information leaflet by opening a package of tablets and skimming through this leaflet. It is very possible that you will later need to re-read it.
Most the best remedy do not stray from the intake schedule - draw up a schedule for taking the pills and hang it in a conspicuous place (on the refrigerator, on the door, etc.). And in order not to miss the time of taking the medicine, use the timer or alarm clock on mobile phone.
Do not take advice on the use of pills from your friends. When a doctor prescribes a medicine for you, he relies on medical knowledge that is not always obvious to you at first glance. The instructions for use are compiled by specialists, and every word in it is the result of long and painstaking scientific research. Therefore, if your mother with hypertension took the same medications that were prescribed to you, according to a different scheme, this is not at all a reason to drink them the same way. Do not show any initiative when taking pills. At the slightest doubt, consult a doctor.

Why do drugs sometimes not work as quickly as expected, and sometimes they don't work at all? It is possible that this is due to improper medication.
Most of us take drugs according to one scheme: drink and forget. But the body remembers for a long time what and how it was taken, punishing for the wrong attitude towards itself.

Chew or swallow?

Medication does not tolerate self-activity. On most drugs there is an inscription: "For oral administration." However, it is not always indicated which way to take the medicine inside.

Some medicines that are coated or contained in a capsule must be swallowed without chewing. This is usually specified in the instructions.

Some of the tablets can be chewed (citramon, analgin). Since there are many in the oral cavity blood vessels, the medicinal substance is easily absorbed into the bloodstream and acts faster than when the tablet is swallowed whole.

There is emergency conditions when you need emergency help. Then the tablet is placed under the tongue, such as validol or nitroglycerin. There are pills that are very bitter in taste, it is preferable to take them whole.

Water or juice?

Pharmacologists are convinced: tablets should be washed down with water at room temperature. All other drinks may not be combined with drugs. Therefore, the patient will not make a mistake with the choice if he drinks the medicine with plain water. If he chooses another liquid, various surprises are possible.

Cranberry juice should never be taken with blood thinners. This may lead to internal bleeding. Grapefruit juice reduces the effectiveness of hormonal contraceptives.

Some antibiotics, such as tetracycline, and enzymes such as mezim and pancreatin are incompatible with milk. Do not take pills with tea, the tannin contained in the tea contributes to the precipitation of many active ingredients. Coffee is also contraindicated - why does a sick body need an extra load on the heart?

It is forbidden to drink medicines with decoctions of herbs, since herbs are also medicines, and it is not known how such a mixture will behave in the body.

You should forget about alcohol during treatment. Joint reception, for example, alcohol with nitroglycerin leads to sharp decline blood pressure up to loss of consciousness. Against the background of treatment with diuretic drugs, alcohol leads to a violation of the heart rhythm. Fainting is also threatened by the interaction of alcohol with drugs for the treatment of diabetes, sleeping pills and antiallergic drugs. For the duration of antibiotic treatment, you need to forget even about beer.

There is a deviation from the iron rule "water and only water". Vitamins A, D, E, K, iodine preparations and hormonal preparations well accepted by the body with milk. The antibiotic erythromycin is washed down with any alkaline mineral water. Aspirin or other medicines containing acetylsalicylic acid, "soften" jelly. But such tablets as pharyngosept, in general, do not tolerate any neighborhood with them for several hours.

Medicines and products

Sometimes drugs are incompatible with products. For example, oily fish with aspirin provokes bleeding. If you take bananas and chocolate with psychostimulants together, blood pressure rises, and the side effects of drugs increase. Cabbage removes barbiturates from the body too quickly. Dairy products slow down the absorption of some antibiotics (tetracycline, doxycycline, ampicillin).

Before meals or after?

Another important point is when to take the medicine. Punctuality in this is simply necessary, since the effect of treatment depends on it. Strictly by the clock accepted contraceptives, antiallergic tablets and painkillers with prolonged action. If you accidentally miss a dose, do not take a double dose next time. The consequences for the body are dangerous.

30 minutes before meals, drugs are usually taken that affect the secretion of gastric juice, containing live bacteria, some homeopathic remedies. Drinking is best absorbed 15-20 minutes before a meal. choleretic drugs, means that reduce the secretion of gastric juice, decoctions of herbs.

During meals, enzymes are taken that improve the digestion of food. In order for vitamins to be better absorbed, they should also be drunk after meals or during it.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are best taken one hour after a meal.

Can nicotine?

If you're on medication and smoking at the same time, don't be surprised why you're not getting better. Substances in cigarettes reduce therapeutic effect cardiovascular, psychotropic, bronchial and even contraceptives.

Alcohol enhances the effect of drugs containing paracetamol and antihypertensive drugs. If you drink a phenobarbital tablet with an alcoholic drink, then there is a risk of dying from respiratory arrest.

If you combine aspirin and alcohol, then a stomach ulcer may develop and stomach bleeding. Alcoholic beverages combined with nitroglycerin can lower blood pressure dramatically, leading to fainting. Insulin and other antidiabetic drugs, combined with alcoholic drinks, greatly reduce blood sugar, which often causes fainting. Alcoholic beverages, along with diuretics and digoxin, disrupt heartbeat, as there is a change in the balance of potassium.

Rules for taking medicines

Medicines must be taken regularly.

When taking certain medications, one should take into account the state of health, age, and sometimes even gender. Very carefully and carefully you need to take pills for children and pregnant women, the elderly, drivers, athletes. For example, pills such as erythromycin, verapamil, diazepam are more suitable for men, but are ineffective for women. And tazepam and anaprilin on women are more beneficial.

It is undesirable to take several different pills at once. If this is necessary, then you need to drink medicines with a break of 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Antibiotics do not need to be combined with antipyretic, antihistamine, sleeping pills.

Iron preparations should not be taken with antacids (Maalox, Almagel, Rennie).

Oral contraceptives (Non-ovlon, Marvelon, Trimerci, Jeanine) should not be mixed with analgin, sulfonamides (biseptol, streptocide), antibiotics.

When taking enterosorbents (activated charcoal, smectite, polysorb) and any other tablets, the interval between taking them should be at least 2 hours.

At the same time, you can not take papaverine and aspirin, penicillin and vitamin C, tetracycline and dibazol.

After all, prescribing certain drugs, the doctor expects that they will be used correctly.

Rule 1. The multiplicity is our everything

When prescribing pills several times a day, most doctors have in mind a day - not the hours that we are usually awake, but all 24. Because the heart, liver and kidneys work around the clock, and therefore microbes work without a break for lunch and sleep. Therefore, the intake of tablets should be divided as evenly as possible, this is especially true for antimicrobial agents.

That is, with a double dose, the interval between taking each dosage should be 12 hours, three times - 8, four times - 6. True, this does not mean that patients should jump out of bed every night. There are not so many drugs, the accuracy of which is calculated per minute, and they are usually prescribed not in tablet form. But nevertheless, 2, 3, 4 times a day is not when it is convenient for the patient (“now and in an hour, because I forgot to drink in the morning”), but at certain intervals. In order to avoid interpretation when taking a double dose, for example, it is justified to prescribe a specific time for taking a pill: 8:00 and 20:00 or 10:00 and 22:00. And the patient is more comfortable, and it is impossible to understand in two ways.

Rule 2. Compliance, or adherence to acceptance

FROM short courses tablets, things are more or less normal: we usually do not forget to drink them for a couple of days. With long courses it's worse. Because we are in a hurry, because stress, because it just flew out of my head. There is another side of the coin: sometimes people mechanically, half asleep, drink the medicine, and then forget about it and take more. And it's good if it's not a potent drug.

Among doctors, before complaining about this to patients, they suggest conducting an experiment on themselves: take a jar of dark glass with 60 harmless pills(glucose, calcium gluconate, etc.) and take one daily. There were a lot of experimenters, but those who after two months did not have from 2 to 5-6 “extra” tablets left were few.

Everyone chooses ways to deal with such “sclerosis” for themselves: someone puts medicines in a prominent place, checkmarks on the calendar help pedants, and alarm clocks, reminders on a mobile phone, etc. help those who are especially forgetful. Pharmaceutical firms even produce special calendars where you can mark each appointment. Not so long ago (although, as usual, not in Russia), hybrids of an alarm clock and a mini-first-aid kit appeared, ringing and giving out a pill at a certain time.

Rule 3. Before or after a meal is important

According to the relationship with meals, all tablets are divided into groups: “do not care”, “before”, “after” and “during meals”. Moreover, in the mind of the doctor, the patient eats strictly according to the schedule, does not have a snack during breaks and does not drive teas. But in the mind of the patient, an apple, a banana and a candy are not food, but food is borscht with a cutlet and compote with pies. Unfortunately, these notions also contribute to misunderstanding medicines.

"Before meals". For starters, it's good to understand what the doctor means when he says "take 30 minutes before meals." Does this mean that after taking the pill you need to eat thoroughly, or is it just the medicine taken on an empty stomach?

In most cases, when prescribing medications “before meals”, the doctor means:

that you did not eat anything (nothing at all!) before taking the pill;
that at least for the specified period after taking the medicine, you will also not eat anything.

That is, this pill should go into an empty stomach, where it will not interfere with gastric juice, food components, etc. From my own experience, I can say that I have to explain this many times. Because, for example, the active ingredients of macrolide preparations are destroyed by an acidic environment. In this case, eating a candy or drinking a glass of juice two hours before taking the medicine or one hour after can drastically affect the result of treatment. The same applies to many other drugs, and the point is not only in the gastric juice, but also in the timing of the drug from the stomach to the intestines, absorption disorders, and simply in the chemical reaction of the components of the drug with food.

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, when you need to eat exactly at the specified time after taking. For example, with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract or endocrinopathies. Therefore, for your own convenience, it is better to clarify what exactly the doctor had in mind when prescribing the drug “before meals”.

"During the meal": everything is clear here. Just again, specify what to do and how much to eat with a pill, especially if your meals are organized according to the “Monday-Wednesday-Friday” principle.

“After eating” a significantly smaller amount of drugs is taken. As a rule, these include agents that irritate the gastric mucosa or contribute to the normalization of digestion. "Food" in this case often does not mean a change of three meals, especially if the drug needs to be taken 4-5-6 times a day. Some limited amount of food will suffice.

Rule 4. Not all pills can be taken together

Most tablets should be taken separately, unless the "bulk lot" is agreed with the doctor separately. This is not very convenient, but it is impossible to conduct studies on the interaction of all drugs in the world, and swallowing pills with a “handful”, it is easy to get an unpredictable effect already on initial stage. Unless otherwise stated, between doses various drugs should take at least 30 minutes.

Now about compatibility. Often, patients like to bring their own creativity to the treatment. For example, “I am taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor, and since it is probably harmful, it’s not bad to drink more and vitamins or something else at the same time». And the fact that vitamins can neutralize the drug or lead to unpredictable consequences against the background of taking the main drug, is not taken into account.

Hepatorrotectors, vitamins, combined remedies for colds and herbs, recommended by a beloved grandmother, can be taken during treatment only after consulting with your doctor first. If you are being treated by several specialists for different reasons, they should be aware of each other's appointments.

Rule 5. Not all pills have fractional dosages.

Tablets are different for tablets, and not all of them can be broken to be divided into several doses. Moreover, some tablets are coated, damaging which can affect the properties of the drug. Therefore, the absence of a “separating strip” should alert - most often such a pill cannot be divided. Yes, and dosages of one-fourth or even one-eighth of the tablets also raise questions - it is almost impossible to measure correctly in such cases. If such an appointment was made by a doctor, you can ask him what this is fraught with. Well, we won’t even talk about self-treatment once again.

Rule 6. Medicines, with rare exceptions, are washed down only with water.

Not tea or coffee, not juice, no, God forbid, sweet soda, and nominal water - the most ordinary and non-carbonated. There are even separate studies devoted to this issue.

True, there are certain groups of drugs that are washed down sour drinks, milk, alkaline mineral water and other separately specified drinks. But these are exceptions, and they will definitely be mentioned at the appointment and in the instructions.

Rule 7

Direct prohibitions, as well as indications of special ways use, appear not just like that. Chewing or sucking tablet, which you swallowed whole, will work after a different time or will not work at all.

The form of release of the drug is also not chosen by chance. If the tablet has a special coating, it should not be crushed, broken or cracked. Because this coating protects something from something: the active substance of the tablet from stomach acids, the stomach from the active substance, the esophagus or tooth enamel from damage, etc. The capsule form also says that the active substance should be absorbed only in the intestines and for a certain time. Therefore, you can open the capsules only as directed by a doctor, with an eye to the instructions.

Rule 8. There are special cases, but they must be evaluated by a doctor.

Different doctors have their own treatment regimens that have been tested over the years, and sometimes the dosage and method of using drugs may differ for different groups patients. In the same way, if there are characteristics of the patient ( accompanying illnesses, individual reactions etc.) the assignment can be adjusted for this particular case. At the same time, the choice of the drug and the method of its use are influenced by factors that are not always obvious to a person without medical education factors. Therefore, if your grandfather with hypertension took the same drugs according to a different regimen prescribed by the world's best doctor, this is not a reason to drink them the same way. Take pills like any other medicines, it is necessary without amateur performance, while absolutely any innovations not agreed with the doctor are superfluous.

Leonid Schebotansky, Olesya Sosnitskaya

Whether it is possible to drink tablets "handfuls"? And why?

It means that the doctor prescribed several different medicines and according to the rules for taking them, it turns out that in the end you need to take several tablets at once, and they are collected in 4-6 pieces. Should I take it all at once or not?

different pills to be taken different time, unless otherwise stated. That is, if the doctor prescribed pit tablets 3 times a day after meals, then you should drink it that way. He can prescribe one pill to drink before meals, others after meals, and others during meals. all this must be observed. If the doctor has not specified or written the time of taking the medicines, then they must be taken as written in the instructions attached to the tablets. For example, tablets such as aspirin, diclofenac should not be taken on an empty stomach, as you can spoil the stomach and get an ulcer. Some tablets should be taken half an hour before meals, as they must enter and be absorbed in the intestines to have the desired effect.

As for 4-6 tablets at a time, this is not much; earlier, with pulmonary tuberculosis, patients took Pask tablets one piece at a time

How to take medicine correctly?

Taking medication: basic rules

According to statistics, no more than 20% of all patients take their medicines correctly, and the rest either forget about the doctor's recommendations or simply do not pay attention to them.

If it is written that the tablets should be taken twice a day, then they mean a day, that is, the drug is needed every 12 hours. For example, at 8 am and evening.

An exception is made for immediate relief medicines: they are taken as needed, without any schedule.

For many drugs, the time of day is also important - this is due to the biorhythms of the body. Such features will also be written in the instructions or the doctor will tell you about it.

For example, antihistamines are taken in the evening. Painkillers are also taken in the evening, because at night the pain is always felt more strongly. Tonic drugs are drunk in the first half of the day, and sedatives in the second.

If there are several medicines and they need to be drunk at a certain time, then it is necessary to organize the process as conveniently as possible. A pill box will help out, where you can put all the necessary drugs by time and day of the week. You can also set an alarm or a reminder on your phone. This will help not only the elderly, because in the hustle and bustle of the day, anyone can forget about the necessary pill.

You can print out the medication schedule and hang it in a conspicuous place, not forgetting to mark the pill taken and the time.

By the way, recording the time of administration and dose is very helpful when it comes to drugs for immediate relief. For example, in the case of antihypertensive drugs, antipyretics and painkillers. This will protect against accidental overdose, because many of these drugs can only be taken after a certain amount of time. These records will also help doctors. If you had to call an ambulance, you can clearly tell the doctor when and what you took.

If there are a lot of medicines and you need to drink them several times a day, it makes sense to buy a convenient pillbox

What to do if you forgot to take your medicine on time?

If a little time has passed, then just drink the drug. And if the time for the next dose is already approaching, then wait for it and drink the usual dose. Never take a double dose of a medicine instead of a missed one!

3. No "drug cocktails"

This applies to those who are forced to take several medications at the same time. Often this happens in the presence of some chronic diseases.

How to proceed in this case? Of course, it is easier to swallow all the pills in one fell swoop, but this cannot be done. Each drug is taken separately with an interval of 30 minutes.

If you are taking adsorbents, for example, polysorb, enterosgel, activated charcoal, smectite, and the like, then you must definitely take a break between this drug and other drugs, otherwise the sorbent will bind and remove the drug from the body. This is always written in the instructions. Usually it is recommended to wait from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.

Medicines are always in the form that contributes to their best assimilation. Therefore, if the instructions say “chew”, “grind” or “put under the tongue until completely dissolved”, you need to do just that. For example, it is better to chew or crush ordinary aspirin, so it will quickly enter the bloodstream and injure the stomach less.

Lozenges should not be swallowed or swallowed.

Coated tablets should not be crushed as the coating protects the contents from gastric juices.

Capsules are also not opened, since the gelatin shell ensures the safety of the drug and its prolonged action.

Naturally, effervescent tablets must be dissolved in water, and use the amount indicated in the instructions.

Tablets that can be divided are equipped with special notches.

Do not swallow tablets while lying down - this can lead to nausea, vomiting or heartburn.

And the interaction of drugs with different foods and drinks is a separate topic for conversation.

Not all medications are associated with food intake. If the doctor has not given special instructions, then it is better to drink the medicine half an hour before meals, then the degree of absorption will be high.

Many people wonder what it means: before, after and during meals.

Before meals - usually up to 30 minutes before meals

After eating - after a maximum of 60 minutes

On an empty stomach - minutes before meals

If the medication schedule does not coincide with the diet, and the drug needs to be taken after or during meals, this is easily solved: you can drink kefir, yogurt, milk, eat something small. The main thing is that the medicine does not get into an empty stomach.

All about medicine

popular about medicine and health

Any medications should be taken only as prescribed by a doctor. But even with the right appointment, you need to know how to take pills correctly, understand general rules taking medications.

First of all, you need to remember that different pills it is recommended to take it separately, at least with a short break, and not all at once, with a handful. The fact is that taken all at once, they can not only act worse, but also have an undesirable effect.

The drugs must be compatible. If a different drugs appoints one doctor, he will certainly take care that they do not oppose each other. But if, for example, the therapist prescribed you some medications, the neurologist - others, and the endocrinologist - the third, then by all means go back to the therapist or consult a pharmacist who will explain how to take the pills correctly. It is possible that some drugs will have to be replaced with safe alternatives.

Don't rely on quick result and do not increase the dose of the drug yourself without waiting for the desired effect. Most tablets begin to act within minutes.

Do not take medication lying down. They can linger in the esophagus, and this will cause heartburn, nausea and vomiting.

Do not chew medicines in the form of capsules. A shell of gelatin, agar or other substances ensures the delivery of the drug to the stomach, where it dissolves without a trace. In addition, many capsules are long-acting drugs that do not need to be taken several times a day. The shell provides a graceful release of the contents and cannot be corrupted.

For many medicines, it matters when they are taken - before or after meals. Usually the doctor who prescribes the drug specifies the time of admission. In the package with tablets there is an instruction that indicates the time of taking the drug, how to take the pills correctly. Here are examples of taking some medications.

Acetylsalicylic acid and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

These medicines should only be taken after meals. It is better not to swallow soluble tablets whole, but to dissolve them in the amount of water indicated in the instructions, ordinary tablets - crush or chew and drink milk or mineral water without gas - then they enter the blood faster and do not irritate the mucous membranes. If the amount of liquid is not indicated, remember that one tablet should be taken with at least half a glass of water.

It is better to drink these drugs only with water, and not with milk or tea with milk. Calcium, which is contained in milk, reacts with an antibiotic (especially with tetracycline) and forms sparingly soluble compounds.

Drink a glass of mineral water without gas. These drugs often cause kidney problems, and alkaline drinking eliminates this problem.

Take under the tongue, dissolve until completely dissolved, without drinking anything.

These tablets should not be taken with any kind of tea, coffee, cocoa, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. If this is not done, hyperactivity and insomnia appear, since contraceptives reduce the body's ability to break down caffeine. It is best to drink them with plain water.

Pure water at room temperature or table mineral water without gas - best liquid for drinking most tablets. But there are lovers of taking drugs with something tasty. For them, special recommendations.

First of all, remember that in an acidic environment, most drugs lose their properties or they are significantly weakened. So take the pills sour juices not worth it.

Grapefruit juice is not compatible with cholesterol-lowering drugs, immunosuppressants, erythromycin, oral contraceptives, some anticancer drugs, Viagra and its analogues. In addition to all of the above, grapefruit juice reduces the effect of antibiotics and does not remove drugs from the body, as a result of which an overdose often develops.

Cranberry juice is not compatible with anticoagulants, with simultaneous reception gastrointestinal bleeding may occur.

In the instructions for most drugs there is a warning about incompatibility with alcohol. Don't try to ignore it. Association of alcohol with antihistamines, insulin, tranquilizers and antihypertensives, leads to an increase in drowsiness. Antibiotics with alcohol cause a rush of blood to the head, dizziness, nausea. Nitroglycerin under the influence of alcohol changes its action and does not provide the necessary reduction in pain in the heart. Antipyretic tablets along with alcohol give swipe along the gastric mucosa.

Regarding how to take the pills correctly depending on the time of the meal. Enzyme preparations that improve digestion, such as the popular mezim, should be taken directly with meals.

Spicy foods and citrus fruits should not be taken one hour before and after taking the tablets, so as not to irritate the stomach and intestines.

Antidepressants are best taken with a diet free of cheese, soy sauce, yeast, caviar, and avocado. Otherwise, you will be guaranteed severe drowsiness and high blood pressure for the whole day.

Hormonal preparations require an indispensable intake with protein foods.

Knowing how to take pills correctly, you can help your health, improve the health of loved ones.

How to take multiple pills

When you leave a therapist who has just prescribed you a course of treatment that includes several drugs, don't you completely forget about how and when to take them? If you forgot, you are not alone. Most of them are. Result: drugs do not help and even harm. If you want the pills to bring health benefits, take them correctly.

1. Take different tablets separately, and not all at once at one time. So you will avoid many side effects.

3. Do not expect instant results from drugs and do not take a double dose without waiting. Most tablets begin to act within minutes.

4. Do not swallow medicines lying down. Otherwise, they may begin to decompose in the esophagus, leading to heartburn, nausea, and vomiting.

5. Do not chew or twist capsule preparations. The gelatin shell ensures the "delivery" of the drug to its intended purpose - to the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, many of the capsules are so-called prolonged action agents that no longer need to be taken several times a day. The shell provides a slow release of the drug, and it must not be damaged.

Precautions for each drug

Aspirin. This medicine should only be taken after meals. Dip a soluble tablet 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 quickly enter the bloodstream and will not unnecessarily irritate the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract.

Sulfonamides. They should be washed down with a glass of mineral water. These drugs often cause problems with the kidneys, and drinking plenty of alkaline water will get rid of the problems.

Antibiotics. They should be taken half an hour before meals. And it is better to drink them with water, not milk, since the calcium contained in milk reacts with antibiotics (especially tetracycline) and forms sparingly soluble compounds.

Nitroglycerin, glycine. They must be dissolved without drinking anything.

How to take pills

Boiled water at room temperature is the best drink for most tablets.

Grapefruit juice. It cannot be combined with cholesterol-lowering drugs, immunosuppressants, erythromycin, oral contraceptives, some anticancer drugs, Viagra (and its analogues). Grapefruit juice does not remove drugs from the body. The result is an overdose.

Cranberry juice. It is not compatible with anticoagulants - drugs that reduce blood clotting. Otherwise, bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract may open.

Alcohol. In the annotation to many tablets, a warning is given about incompatibility with alcohol. Thus, the combination of alcohol with antihistamines, insulin, tranquilizers and blood pressure pills will lead to increased drowsiness, which is especially dangerous for motorists. Antibiotics, when mixed with alcohol, will cause flushing of the head, dizziness, and nausea. Nitroglycerin under the influence of alcohol changes its effect and will not bring much-needed relief to the heart. Antipyretic tablets, coupled with alcohol, will cause a massive blow to the mucous membranes of the stomach.

How to take medication

Enzyme preparations that improve digestion should be swallowed directly with meals.

Do not mix aspirin with spicy foods and citrus fruits an hour before and after taking the tablets, so as not to irritate the stomach and intestines.

Antidepressants are best taken with a diet that excludes foods such as: cheese, yeast, soy sauce, fish caviar, avocado. Otherwise, severe drowsiness and high blood pressure will ruin your day.

Hormonal preparations require mandatory neighborhood with protein foods. Vitamins require fats for good absorption.

Drugs that regulate digestion, on the contrary, are not combined with fatty foods.

Medication time

Heart remedies and asthma medications are taken closer to midnight.

Ulcer medicines - early in the morning and late in the evening to prevent hunger pains.

Of course, you yourself are well aware of all this. But ... forgot. Print this leaflet if you are constantly taking any medication for a chronic illness. And don't bother remembering.

How to take pills correctly

What does it mean - "to drink" pills correctly? This means - take them as indicated in the attached instructions. The same recommendations are given by the doctor when prescribing medications. Failure to follow these instructions can lead to the fact that the tablets will not have a therapeutic effect or even harm the body.

When taking medication, you need to pay attention to the following points:

Relationship of medication with food intake;

The possibility of "fractional" dosages;

Drinking liquid;

Medicines should be taken by the patient at regular intervals. If the doctor has prescribed taking pills 2 times a day, then the interval between doses should be 12 hours; 3 times a day - 8 hours, 4 times a day - 6 hours. Those. medication should be distributed evenly throughout the day, and not just during the waking period. This is especially true when taking antibiotics.

Relationship between medication and food intake

Some tablets can be taken with or without food; it is very convenient for the patient. But, unfortunately, there are not so many such tablets.

The medicine prescribed "before meals" should be drunk on an empty stomach or at least 4 hours after the previous meal. The stomach should be free from food and from gastric juice, because. in an acidic environment, these drugs are simply destroyed.

Taking the medicine "with meals" is simple and clear.

"After eating" tablets are prescribed that normalize digestion or irritate the gastric mucosa.

By the way, even a small amount of food (an apple, a banana, a glass of compote) is considered “food”, and not necessarily a full meal. Breakfast or dinner.

If you are prescribed several medications at the same time, you need to ask your doctor if you can take all these pills at once or take some kind of break between taking them. The interaction of drugs with each other has not been studied for all drugs, and if the doctor did not allow you to drink all the prescribed pills at once, “a handful,” then you need to wait half an hour between taking different drugs.

Possibility of "fractional" dosages

Sometimes it is cheaper for the patient to buy pills higher dosage than he was assigned, and take them, breaking them into 2, or even 4 parts. But this is not possible with all pills. Coated tablets cannot be crushed at all. If the tablet has a separating strip, such a tablet can be broken. The absence of such a strip is no guarantee that by breaking the pill you will get the right dose.

Drinking liquid

Drinking tablets, with rare exceptions, can only be boiled water at room temperature. Neither tea, nor coffee, nor juice are suitable for drinking medicines.

Some medicines need to be taken with alkaline mineral water, milk or acidic drinks, but these are exceptions and are always written about in the instructions.

Some pills need to be chewed, they are called - " chewable tablets". There are tablets that need to be dissolved in the mouth. Medicines in the form of dragees should be swallowed whole, without biting. These instructions must be followed, otherwise therapeutic effect pills will not provide or will provide much later.

Follow the doctor's prescriptions and carefully read the instructions that come with the medicines - then you will drink the pills correctly.

MEDIMARI

"Your health is in your hands"

How to take pills correctly

Since childhood, we have associated the treatment of ailments with taking pills. Most of the time, we don't think much about them. Appointed by a doctor, drank the course, recovered and forgot. But as we get older, we use them more and more. And then we realize that medicines not only cure, but also “cripple”. But, unfortunately, you can't do without them. It's time to find out if there are subtleties in the order of admission various medicines. We are interested in questions:

What time of day is best to take the tablets?
What does it mean to "drink on an empty stomach, during or after a meal"?
How does the tablet prescribed to us interact with food, with other medicines?

There are no exact and detailed answers to these questions in the annotations of medicines, with rare exceptions. Yes, and many doctors who prescribe treatment usually forget to talk about the features of taking certain pills.

Pharmaceutical companies are not required to indicate such nuances, and doctors only find out about it if any emergencies and only then can they warn the patient that be careful, for example, do not drink medicines with juices, especially citrus fruits.

Features of drug interactions

Patients with chronic diseases often have a problem due to the prescription of drugs by doctors of different profiles. For example, the therapist prescribed aspirin, and the neurologist prescribed Nurofen. Both of these drugs are from the same anti-inflammatory group of NSAIDs. Taking both of these tablets, we get an excess of the amount of active substance. Therefore, you need to tell each doctor what medications you are taking now so that he can take into account their interaction and calculate the dose.

Tip: Write on a piece of paper the names and doses of the medicines you take regularly, as well as the medicines to which you are allergic. This is necessary in order not to make mistakes in the names and not to forget anything.

And do not be lazy, although it is difficult to see the fine print of the annotations, arm yourself with a magnifying glass and read it. Especially pay attention to the sections called "Composition" and "Interaction with drugs", "Use" and "Contraindications". If the medicines you are taking contain the same ingredients, then there is a threat of doubling the dose.

It should be borne in mind that many drugs interact poorly with dairy, fatty foods, pickles, marinade, chocolate.

The following drugs are considered unpredictable in combination with other substances:

Antibiotics
Antifungal
Antiallergic
sleeping pills
Antidepressants
Paracetamol
Statins
Non-steroidal (diclofenac, cyclosporine)
Anticoagulants (warfarin)

Usually tablets are washed down with water, but there are exceptions, which are necessarily mentioned in the annotation. Some drugs are washed down with milk, acidic drinks, alkaline mineral water.

Water-soluble B vitamins and vitamin C are taken either before meals or with meals. Fat-soluble vitamins such as D, A, K, E - after meals. Vitamin complexes taken immediately after meals.

Blood pressure medications are best taken before bed.

Aspirin hearts are taken in the evening, so it is at night that blood clots in the vessels are most likely to occur.

Preparations for arthritis and arthrosis are taken during the day, as usually pain syndrome intensifies in the evening.

Wash down pills with grapefruit juice, it causes an overdose of drugs
Take medicine with hot drinks
Alcohol and drugs are not compatible, especially paracetamol and cardiac glycosides
Tea inhibits the absorption of iron. It has an effect on papaverine, aminophylline, caffeine, heart drugs.
Coffee and acid-reducing drugs and some antibiotics can cause seizures
Antibiotics of the tetracycline series can not only be washed down with milk, but it is even better to exclude it from the diet for the duration of treatment
You can not drink vitamins and enzymes at the same time
Herbal preparations are medicines. They either increase or decrease the effect of the tablets. Need a doctor's consultation.
If the tablet does not have a separating strip, then it is wrong to reduce its dose by breaking it. Some tablets have a coating that affects the properties of drugs, protects the stomach, esophagus, tooth enamel from the active substance or, conversely, the active substance from gastric juice. Yes, and it is simply impossible to accurately observe a lower dosage. Capsules show that the active substance must enter the intestines without affecting other internal organs.
If you miss a scheduled dose, do not take a double dose.

Medication Rules

If you do not know about the interaction of the drugs prescribed to you, then it is better to take them separately, at least with an interval of 20-30 minutes.
Antimicrobial, antibacterial, hormonal and cardiac drugs are taken strictly at regular intervals.
If it is prescribed once a day, then we mean a day. That is, the medicine must be taken every 24 hours. If 2 times a day, then every 12 hours. If 3 times a day, then after 8.
To be sure you have taken a pill or not, it is convenient to use:
- Organizer boxes or pillboxes;
- set an alarm (reminder) on your phone;
- start a calendar with a checklist, like that what nurses in hospitals do, and check the box next to the name of the pill you have taken

"On an empty stomach, before, during, after a meal" - what does it mean

The terms "on an empty stomach" and "before meals" most often mean that in this moment there should be no food in the stomach, while the acidity of the gastric juice is low and the gastric juice does not interfere with the action of the medicine. This applies not only full breakfast or lunch, and neither an apple, nor candy, nor juice should be eaten. Usually, cardiac antiarrhythmic drugs, antiulcer drugs, antacids, and others are taken at this time.

If the medicine needs to be taken “with meals”, then it is understood that you have an organized diet. And it is better if you ask your doctor when it is better to take this medicine: during breakfast, lunch or dinner. And specify what food should not be in the diet while taking the pill. Usually enzymes, laxatives, some diuretics are taken during meals.

"After eating" prescribe pills that irritate the gastric mucosa. These are diuretics, anti-inflammatory, cardiac glycosides, sulfonamides, bile-containing.

The medicine is best taken one hour before or after a meal.
drink only clean non-carbonated water at room temperature, in a standing, sitting or half-sitting position
for one tablet you need at least half a glass of water
dragees drink and do not bite
chewable tablets should be chewed without drinking
sucking tablets do not need to be swallowed, they therapeutic effect associated with tablet resorption
dissolvable tablets - dissolve in water
funds emergency assistance taken without schedule
homeopathic medicines are taken separately from other medicines. During their intake, marinades, alcohol, tea and coffee should be excluded from the diet.
erythromycin, aspirin is better to drink alkaline mineral water
indomethacin, diclofenac, nurofen washed down with milk

We must not forget that experienced doctors have proven treatment regimens and apply them exclusively to each patient, taking into account his individual characteristics. That's why the best option, when the doctor explains the features of prescribing and taking certain drugs, but the patient can also clarify the correctness of the doctor's prescription. Feel free to write down the doctor's recommendations. Read annotations to medicines. If not clear, please clarify. Your health depends on it.

On the pages of the MEDIMARI website you will find a lot of interesting and useful things. I suggest you look at the page: "Site map"

4 comments

When you have to go to the doctor because of ailments, then this is already a fact of non-compliance with the requirements healthy lifestyle life. Unfortunately, the number of patients in queues to doctors is not decreasing, and the advice from the proposed article on how to take pills is exactly what this category of citizens needs. Very much requested information. Thank you.

Thank you very much for such important details. And then after all, sometimes in a hurry than you just do not drink it down.

Lots of useful tips and observations! Especially right thought“for one tablet you need at least half a glass of water” - that’s just the majority don’t adhere to it, they are so unaccustomed to drinking plain water that a handful of pills are washed down with one or two sips of water, just to slip into the stomach, but this is wrong!

The main thing is to follow the rules prescribed by the doctor. Drink more water and fruit drinks. Be healthy!

How to take pills correctly so that they work?

Proper tablet intake

The basic rule for taking any pills is the frequency of their use. When a doctor prescribes taking drugs several times a day, most specialists mean the whole day as a whole, and not the time of wakefulness, which is approximately hours (minus the time that the patient spends in sleep from the day).

Accordingly, if the tablets need to be taken twice a day, the interval between their use should be approximately equal to 12 hours. That is, they can be accepted, for example, at 8.00 and 20.00. If this is a three-time appointment, the interval is reduced to 8 hours, you can make a schedule like this - 6.00, 14.00 and 20.00.

Fluctuations in the interval of taking the drug at 1-2 hours are acceptable, and it is not necessary to jump up on the alarm clock an hour earlier than expected to take the pill, you can adjust the schedule for yourself. However, taking three times a day does not mean chaotic use - without observing time intervals, as it is convenient for the patient if he forgot to take the drug on time. That is, you can not take the drug in the morning, then in the evening and two pills at once, after waiting 2-3 hours, because there was no time at work during the day. To avoid confusion, many experts indicate the approximate time of taking the medicine when prescribing it.

Full compliance with the duration of medication

To combat this problem, various options are offered: placing the pills in a conspicuous place, a schedule on the wall with checkmarks when taking pills, reminders on the phone or alarm clocks. So, for oral contraceptives, manufacturers have long begun to mark the days of the week or the dates of the month on the blister itself so that women do not forget to take the pill. There are also mobile applications that help to follow the treatment schedule. And recently hybrids have appeared - an alarm clock-a first-aid kit, programmable and giving out a portion of the drug on a bell.

Relationship with nutrition: before meals or after?

Means that do not depend on meals,
Drugs that must be taken strictly before meals,
Medicines taken after meals
Drugs taken with food.

Specificity of drugs in connection with nutrition

There are exceptions to the rule, especially in the treatment of digestive disorders or endocrine pathologies. Therefore, you always need to check with the doctor how the remedy is taken correctly - strictly on an empty stomach or after waiting a couple of hours after you have eaten.

With drugs from the “during meals” group, it is most understandable, although it is worth checking with the doctor how dense the meal should be and what components the meal should consist of, especially if you have it extremely irregular.

Taking drugs "after a meal" is rare. Usually these are means for the normalization of digestive functions, stimulating the separation of gastric juice or some others. It is also important to clarify with the doctor what is meant by nutrition in this case - any snacks or a plentiful, hearty meal.

The easiest way is with drugs that do not depend on food intake in any way, for them only the time interval for taking is set.

Why medicines prescribed by a doctor sometimes do not give the expected effect? Why drugs that are very effective for one patient are practically useless for another? Do not rush to blame the doctor for choosing the wrong one for you remedy, which does not fully take into account your individual characteristics and previous diseases. Maybe it's all about you - that you're just taking the wrong medication?

Well, firstly, you need to follow the regimen of medication and the correct dosage. If you want to take them three times a day - this is actually three times a day, that is, a tablet every 8 hours. Not "morning, afternoon and evening" - it can be at "11 am", "12 noon" and "5 pm" - but every 8 hours. For the most effective effect of the drug on the body, it is necessary to maintain a certain concentration in the blood.

This is especially important to consider when taking antibiotics. Otherwise, the medicine is unlikely to be able to cope with microbes, rather it will teach them to resist the drug.

Sometimes patients stop taking the recommended medications - they say, “everything went away for me”, “it’s a pity for the money, the pills are too expensive”, or if side effects suddenly begin to appear before the end of the course. Consult with your doctor, it happens that some inconveniences need to be “endured”.

It is very important when you take your medicines - "before meals", "during meals" and "after meals". Doctors emphasize: only timely administration of drugs provides not only maximum effect but also, often, safety for your health.

Before meals: in case the gastric juice does not act on the drugs, they are absorbed better and absorbed faster. They are recommended to be taken 30 minutes before meals. These drugs include choleretic, antiulcer, normalizing the work of the heart. Often during these half an hour do not even drink liquids, even water - so as not to wash the remedy out of the stomach. Example: antacids /heartburn medicines/.

Sometimes tablets "on an empty stomach" can greatly irritate the mucous membrane. The same aspirin / acetylsalicylic acid / in no case should be taken before meals, only strictly after meals /!/, during meals it breaks down into acetic acid. Moreover, it is necessary to drink aspirin tablets with a large amount of water, here a glass will not be superfluous. If the tablet does not have time to dissolve and for some reason stays in the esophagus for a long time or sticks to the wall of the stomach, an ulcer is inevitable! Aspirin can even corrode the walls of blood vessels.

However, there is one exception: in the form effervescent tablets Aspirin can be taken before lunch: active substance already dissolved, and gas bubbles will only accelerate the absorption of the drug.

While eating : medicines that are recommended to be taken after the first spoons, the majority. These are drugs that improve digestion, diuretics, laxatives / not all! / Means. It is strictly forbidden to take antibiotics with food - their action is completely neutralized by gastric juice.

After meal: most often, two hours after eating, as soon as the contents of the stomach are empty. This is done so that the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines is irritated as little as possible. These medications include anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs, drugs that reduce acidity.

Regardless of food intake drugs are taken that improve blood circulation in the brain, bronchodilators and antihypertensive drugs- those that cause a decrease in blood pressure and are used mainly with a pathological increase in systemic pressure.

"Fistfuls" of medicine should not be taken in any case. If you need to take several drugs, and the doctor has not given any recommendations, between taking various drugs is take a 30-40 minute break . It is unlikely that even scientists will tell you how thousands of types of tablets, potions, powders are combined with each other - whether they will be absorbed by the body, whether they are easily excreted by the intestines, and in general - whether such an “assortment” will lead to some serious complications.

How to drink medicines? The question is fundamental. So, for example, a very useful freshly squeezed grapefruit juice in combination with certain drugs can be life-threatening. Juices, like milk / in general, have the ability to destroy the structure of drugs. Even “simple” tea can form insoluble compounds in combination with some drugs that are difficult for the body to absorb. And our favorite coffee has the ability to speed up the elimination of drugs from the body - before they are absorbed.

So take your medicines with water only. If the creators of the drug provide for the intake of another liquid, then this will be indicated in the instructions.

And anyway, do not combine medication and alcohol ! Doctors say that these concepts simply do not fit, and the strength of alcohol does not play any role. Alcohol combined with antibiotics will lead to dizziness and nausea; with tranquilizers and antidepressants - will enhance their effect, with drugs that lower blood pressure - will cause drowsiness. Taking with aspirin will cause stomach ulcers, with paracetamol - toxic hepatitis, with insulin - hypoglycemic coma.

Most tablets, especially coated tablets, cannot be chewed - only swallowed . They are conceived as such - a special shell protects the drug from the acidic environment of the stomach. That is why you should not cut the coated tablets in half. In addition, the active substance of the tablet itself is often coated with flavoring to "neutralize" bad taste medicines.

Well, and finally - on the storage of medicines . Tip number 1: after the expiration date, which is necessarily indicated on the packaging of the drug, it should be thrown away without regret. Although in fairness it should be noted that unopened packages and tablets in blisters can be stored without much concern. long years. American researchers have found that more than 80% of drugs remain valid for 5 to 25 /!/ years after the expiration date, and the remaining part simply reduces the amount of active ingredients. If you want to check this data and risk your own health, you can experiment on yourself.

But it is better to get rid of already opened packages, even if the indicated expiration date has not yet expired. The reason is not only that the tablets dry out or, on the contrary, absorb moisture from the air - depending on the storage conditions. That is, they deteriorate. The same Americans found out that salmonella, staphylococcus, Escherichia coli and other microorganisms begin to multiply on the surface of drugs stored in an opened container a year later.

In general, do not get sick!

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