The doctor, prescribing this or that medicine, often explains that this one should be drunk on an empty stomach, this one – with meals, and this one – only in the evening.
What are these recommendations connected with and what will happen if evening pills are taken in the morning, and what should be taken before meals are consumed during meals? It turns out that everything has its own explanation, and neglecting the recommendations may not have the best effect on treatment.
Depending on this, the doctor will prescribe the necessary medications: he will select the dose and tell you how many times a day and when these drugs should be taken. In addition, he will tell you how long to take the drugs: some drugs are taken in courses (short or long), and others require a long or even lifelong intake.
The effectiveness of drugs depends not only on whether the drugs are chosen correctly but also on the adherence of patients to treatment. In medicine, there is a special term for this – compliance. It is quite logical that if you forget to take a pill (and do it not once or twice for a long course, but forget it systematically), then you should not expect an impressive effect from the treatment.
To combat such “forgetfulness”, everyone uses a method that suits him: a pill box in which tablets and capsules are laid out by day and time of day, an alarm clock with reminders, and special applications that signal that it is time to take the medicine.
However, some people do not forget about taking medications but do it quite consciously. By skipping medications, they try to stretch the packaging of expensive drugs for a longer period. In some cases, this not only nullifies the effect of the prescribed treatment but is also very dangerous for health.
If a course of medication is prescribed for a week or a month, you do not need to stop taking the drugs at the first improvement. This often happens when antibiotics are prescribed: with a properly selected drug, improvement occurs already on the third day, and delighted patients decide to interrupt the weekly course on their own. This leads to the fact that the bacteria that caused the disease will develop resistance to these antibiotics and it will no longer be possible to fight them with the help of these drugs in the future. You can learn more about antibiotics and the rules for taking them from our large article.
When to take medicine?
Usually, the doctor tells you how many times a day you need to take pills. Some – once, only in the evening, others – both in the evening and in the morning. It is better to choose a specific time and stick to it throughout the course of admission. If you need to drink pills several times a day, then try to maintain a certain interval between doses, for example, 8 or 12 hours. So it is easier for you to remember, and the effect of taking the medicine will become more noticeable.
It is important not only the time of admission but also how exactly the prescribed pill is taken. Yes, there are medicines that do not need to be tied to food: it doesn’t matter if you take it with food, after food, or before it. But most drugs are more “capricious”, and you need to be especially careful with them.
- “An hour before meals.” If the recommendations indicate that the tablet must be taken a certain time before a meal, then it must be taken on an empty stomach. On an empty stomach, if it happens in the morning, or at least 3 hours after the previous meal if we are talking about an evening or afternoon intake. After taking the medicine, it is necessary to withstand the very time that the time is in the recommendations: if it is said that an hour before a meal, then you can only eat an hour after taking it. Deviating from these rules can interfere with the absorption of drugs, and they will be less effective or not work at all.
- “While eating”. There is no need to maintain any time intervals, you need to drink tablets right during breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
- “After meal”. In this case, too, everything as a whole is more or less clear: you need to eat, then drink the medicine, and then for a certain time (usually it is indicated in the instructions) do not eat any food.
How to take pills?
The best way is to take the tablets with water. For these purposes, water (non-carbonated and unsweetened) is ideal, you do not need to think of other ways and drink tea, coffee, lemonade, energy drinks, or something else.
Some exceptions do exist: some medicines will be better absorbed if they are washed down with apple juice or, for example, milk. But these are isolated cases, which will definitely be mentioned in the instructions. If the instructions do not contain a word about milk, then there is no need to engage in amateur performances.
Can pills be broken?
Usually, drugs are available in different dosages. This is done for ease of use. Those who need a large dose of the drug can take tablets that contain a lot of the active substance, and not drink 2-4 tablets at a time, so it is better to buy exactly the dosage prescribed by the doctor.
Some tablets can indeed be divided – you can identify them by the risk at which you can cut the tablet in half. You will get a half containing a fractional dosage. If there is no such risk, then you should not try to separate the tablets – it is difficult, and besides, there is no guarantee that the resulting halves will contain the right amount of the active substance.
Swallow, chew, or suck?
Medicines are available in different forms. It can be tablets, medicines, chewable lozenges, or coated capsules. Each patient has its own form of release: someone cannot swallow a tablet or a large capsule – in this case, a liquid form is suitable or an injection is required.
Each dosage form has its own rules of admission. Tablets need to be washed down with water, but they can be crushed if necessary. If it is a capsule or dragee, that is, the medicine is coated, then it is impossible to cut, divide and grind. The capsule is needed so that the active substances reach the stomach or intestines, where they will be absorbed, safe, and sound.
Chewable tablets or tablets that need to be dissolved should be taken exactly as indicated in the instructions: chew or dissolve. A swallowed medicine may not work, work in the wrong way, or at the wrong time.
What if you need to take several tablets at once?
The effectiveness of drugs depends not only on whether the drugs are chosen correctly but also on the adherence of patients to treatment. In medicine, there is a special term for this – compliance. It is quite logical that if you forget to take a pill (and do it not once or twice for a long course, but forget it systematically), then you should not expect an impressive effect from the treatment.
To combat such “forgetfulness”, everyone uses a method that suits him: a pill box in which tablets and capsules are laid out by day and time of day, an alarm clock with reminders, and special applications that signal that it is time to take the medicine.
However, some people do not forget about taking medications but do it quite consciously. By skipping medications, they try to stretch the packaging of expensive drugs for a longer period. In some cases, this not only nullifies the effect of the prescribed treatment but is also very dangerous for health.
If a course of medication is prescribed for a week or a month, you do not need to stop taking the drugs at the first improvement. This often happens when antibiotics are prescribed: with a properly selected drug, improvement occurs already on the third day, and delighted patients decide to interrupt the weekly course on their own. This leads to the fact that the bacteria that caused the disease will develop resistance to these antibiotics and it will no longer be possible to fight them with the help of these drugs in the future. You can learn more about antibiotics and the rules for taking them from our large article.
