I have a question.
Is it best to generally take medicine BEFORE meals, so that the stomach can focus on digesting it? If so, are there any exceptions?
And how soon before meals?
And what about supplements like vitamins? Should they be taken before meals as well? Does it matter if they are taken morning or night?
Also, does it matter if you take synthetic vitamins or natural ones?
Question about taking medicine and supplements
Question about taking medicine and supplements
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momopi
- Elite Upper Class Poster
- Posts: 4898
- Joined: August 31st, 2007, 9:44 pm
- Location: Orange County, California
Re: Question about taking medicine and supplements
When you get your pill bottle (at least in the US), it will come with instructions on if you should take before or after meals, or doesn't matter. Ask your pharmacist for an explanation.Winston wrote:I have a question.
Is it best to generally take medicine BEFORE meals, so that the stomach can focus on digesting it? If so, are there any exceptions?
And how soon before meals?
Re: Question about taking medicine and supplements
Well it's not that simple. The instructions in Chinese are sometimes vague. And when you ask the doctor about it, sometimes he looks indecisive or unsure. That doesn't make me feel confident.momopi wrote:When you get your pill bottle (at least in the US), it will come with instructions on if you should take before or after meals, or doesn't matter. Ask your pharmacist for an explanation.Winston wrote:I have a question.
Is it best to generally take medicine BEFORE meals, so that the stomach can focus on digesting it? If so, are there any exceptions?
And how soon before meals?
Additionally, sometimes what it says contradicts what is written about them on prescription drugs websites. For example, they gave me eye drops called fluorometholone for my eye infection. The drug websites say not to use it for more than one week. But the eye doctor in Taiwan said it's ok to use it for up to a month.
Who do I listen to in such cases?
And what about supplements like vitamins? Should they be taken before meals as well? Does it matter if they are taken morning or night?
Also, does it matter if you take synthetic vitamins or natural ones?
Check out my FUN video clips in Russia and SE Asia and Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind video series and Full Russia Trip Videos!
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Here is my scientific advisor's response to these questions:
On Thu, 6 May 2010, Happier Abroad vociferated:
}I have a question.
}
}Is it best to generally take medicine BEFORE meals, so that the stomach can
}focus on digesting it? If so, are there any exceptions?
}
}And how soon before meals?
Depends on the medication. When they recommend that a medication be
taken with meals, it's usually because a lot of people have reported
stomach upset when the drug was taken on an empty stomach. There may
be a few rare occasions when they recommend this because it controls
the rate of absorbtion of the drug into the system, but that's a
question for a doctor. Generally, it's to avoid stomach upset.
When they say "with meals," they usually asssume that you take the
medication just before you sit down to eat. Not more than a few
minutes before, else the stomach upset has time to set in
before you get any food down.
This is usually recommended with antibiotics, and with some of
the more potent analgesics (pain-killers).
I've heard that there are a few medications that are supposed to be taken
on an empty stomach, but I've never encountered one. Another question
for an actual MD.
}And what about supplements like vitamins? Should they be taken before meals
}as well? Does it matter if they are taken morning or night?
First off, unless a doctor has recommended the taking of OTC supplements,
99.9% of the people who take them don't need them. Living where you
do, YMMV, but in North America so much of our food is already "enriched"
with extra vitamins and minerals, that we tend to get more than enough
just by eating.
Anyway, if you're taking vitamins, it doesn't matter from a nutritional
standpoint whether you take them with meals or not. The rule of thumb
is, if you find out they cause stomach upset, take them with meals.
Otherwise, it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure morning or night matters so much, either, although I have
heard a case made for the fact that digestion slows down for most
people when they're sleeping, so if you take a bunch of pills and
then go to bed they may not fully digest before they pass through you.
That would indicate that you should take them in the morning, unless
you usually work nights.
}Also, does it matter if you take synthetic vitamins or natural ones?
Again, that depends on why you're taking the vitamins. Take vitamin
C, for example. If you're taking it to correct an ascorbic acid
deficiency, then "synthetic" ascorbic acid is identical with "natural"
ascorbic acid.
If you're taking it to treat some condition (like scurvy), there is
a case to be made for "natural" vitamins having trace materials which
assist in vitamin C absorbtion and utilization. But in that case it's
even better to eat an orage than to swallow a pill.
If you're self-dosing with supplements, be careful. Taking a lot
water-soluble vitamins (like C, or the B vitamins) \probably\ won't
hurt you, since your body will just pee out what you don't need.
But oil-soluble vitamins (A, D, E) are toxic in high doses. And
because they're oil-based, they get stored in your body-fat, and
hang around a lot longer than the water-solubles. My grandmother
got on a health-nut kick once, and almost died from a self-prescribed
vitamin A overdose -- she was hospitalized for a week, and sick for
a month.
Dr H
On Thu, 6 May 2010, Happier Abroad vociferated:
}I have a question.
}
}Is it best to generally take medicine BEFORE meals, so that the stomach can
}focus on digesting it? If so, are there any exceptions?
}
}And how soon before meals?
Depends on the medication. When they recommend that a medication be
taken with meals, it's usually because a lot of people have reported
stomach upset when the drug was taken on an empty stomach. There may
be a few rare occasions when they recommend this because it controls
the rate of absorbtion of the drug into the system, but that's a
question for a doctor. Generally, it's to avoid stomach upset.
When they say "with meals," they usually asssume that you take the
medication just before you sit down to eat. Not more than a few
minutes before, else the stomach upset has time to set in
before you get any food down.
This is usually recommended with antibiotics, and with some of
the more potent analgesics (pain-killers).
I've heard that there are a few medications that are supposed to be taken
on an empty stomach, but I've never encountered one. Another question
for an actual MD.
}And what about supplements like vitamins? Should they be taken before meals
}as well? Does it matter if they are taken morning or night?
First off, unless a doctor has recommended the taking of OTC supplements,
99.9% of the people who take them don't need them. Living where you
do, YMMV, but in North America so much of our food is already "enriched"
with extra vitamins and minerals, that we tend to get more than enough
just by eating.
Anyway, if you're taking vitamins, it doesn't matter from a nutritional
standpoint whether you take them with meals or not. The rule of thumb
is, if you find out they cause stomach upset, take them with meals.
Otherwise, it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure morning or night matters so much, either, although I have
heard a case made for the fact that digestion slows down for most
people when they're sleeping, so if you take a bunch of pills and
then go to bed they may not fully digest before they pass through you.
That would indicate that you should take them in the morning, unless
you usually work nights.
}Also, does it matter if you take synthetic vitamins or natural ones?
Again, that depends on why you're taking the vitamins. Take vitamin
C, for example. If you're taking it to correct an ascorbic acid
deficiency, then "synthetic" ascorbic acid is identical with "natural"
ascorbic acid.
If you're taking it to treat some condition (like scurvy), there is
a case to be made for "natural" vitamins having trace materials which
assist in vitamin C absorbtion and utilization. But in that case it's
even better to eat an orage than to swallow a pill.
If you're self-dosing with supplements, be careful. Taking a lot
water-soluble vitamins (like C, or the B vitamins) \probably\ won't
hurt you, since your body will just pee out what you don't need.
But oil-soluble vitamins (A, D, E) are toxic in high doses. And
because they're oil-based, they get stored in your body-fat, and
hang around a lot longer than the water-solubles. My grandmother
got on a health-nut kick once, and almost died from a self-prescribed
vitamin A overdose -- she was hospitalized for a week, and sick for
a month.
Dr H
Check out my FUN video clips in Russia and SE Asia and Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind video series and Full Russia Trip Videos!
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Here is his next response to my next set of questions:
On Sat, 8 May 2010, Happier Abroad vociferated:
}Hi Dr. H,
}Thanks for answering my questions.
No problem. But remember that I am NOT a -medical- doctor.
You might be better off asking your questions at one of the
"Ask a Nurse" sites. For excample:
http://www.justanswer.com/health?r=ppc| ... gwodkFnE-A
}So as I understand it, there is no benefit to taking a medication after a
}meal right?
In 99% of cases whatever benefit you are expected to derive from
the drug will be the same regardless of whether you take it before
or after meals. If what you're taking falls into that other 1%, follow
what the doctor says.
}There are some medications that ask you to take it an hour before a meal,
}such as nexium or zantac, for acid reflux, remember?
If the medication in question is being taken for a problem that is
*associated* with eating, then yes, that falls into that 1% category
where it makes a difference.
}Speaking of acid reflux, I do have that too, but it's been gone for a while.
}I have both zantac and nexium. What is the difference and which is better?
what the difference is, is a quesation for a pharmacist. Which is
better depends on which one works, and that's a question for a physician.
}The reason I have to ask you rather than my doctor is because here in
}Taiwan, many doctors look unsure and indecisive when you ask them questions
}like this. I don't think they are as knowledgeable as doctors are in the
}states.
<shrug> Possible, I suppose. But there are actual doctors and nurses who
will answer questions on-line -- see above. It should be easy to get
an actual medical opinion on a generic question like "what's the difference
between zantac and nexium".
}The vitamins I take are multi-vitamins. Aren't those fairly safe?
Mostly. OTC multivitimins usually contain fairly low doses of any
given vitamin. As long as you're not swallowing a handful every day
you're probably OK. NOTE: this is NOT necessarily true for children,
who are more sensitive to a lot of things. I wouldn't give a multivitamin
to a child without first asking a pediatrician's advice.
}If vitamins are toxic, why don't they have warning labels on them?
Many of them do.
Here's a summary of Vitamin A toxicity:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/126104-overview
}I also take vitamin C sometimes too, like when I am sick.
It's probably not doing you much good at that point. Vitamin C
seems to work best when you maintain adequate levels to boost
your immune system before you get sick. The idea that massive
doses of vitamin C "cures colds" has been long discredited.
}I saw in some documentary that long ago, a genius who won two nobel prizes,
}one in chemistry and one in biology, recommended that the world take vitamin
}supplements, and that started the national craze. Do you remember his name?
}Isn't he a genius?
You're probably thinking of Linus Pauling. He won a Nobel peace prize,
and a Nobel prize in chemistry. He was a chemist, not a biologist.
Whether or not he was a genius, I don't know; he was certainly a very
bright and talented individual.
}Don't you respect him? He must know what he's talking about right?
I respect him for his accomplishmenst in quantum chemistry. Unfortunately,
as sometimes happens with very accomplished people, he let his success
in one field delude him into believing that he expertise automatically
carried over into all fields.
He was /not/ a biologist, medical doctor, nutritionist, or parmacologist.
His pronouncements on vitamin C were not based on well designed research,
but on a series of poorly controlled studies perfused with wishful
thinking. Multiple attemps to replicate his reported results failed to
do so, and a series of well-controlled Mayo clinic studies demonstrated
his hypotheses regarding vitamin C to be false. Pauling maintained a
blind-spot regarding these studies up to his his death.
}Like you, he was a human encyclopedia in biology and chemistry
}and won two nobel prizes. Isn't that impressive? Doesn't that make him an
}authority?
He was impressive, and he was an authority /in his field/. He was not
an authority on everything, and he was wrong -- significantly wrong --
about some things.
}I think this is the guy I'm talking about
}
}http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Pauling
Probably.
}I'm a vegetarian by the way. And the food in the Philippines tends to suck.
}So don't I need vitamins? Also, aren't all vegetarians supposed to take
}vitamin B12? If so, how many grams per day?
There are all kinds of vegetarian. If you're a lacto-vegetarian, then
you can probalby get sufficient B12 in your diet. If you don't eat
dairy products or eggs, or if you're trying to be vegan, then you may
need B12 supplements.
RDA for B12 is about 3 \micro\grams daily, for adult males.
If you take in more B12 than you need, you're just wasting your money
on it -- you pee out any excess.
}I take vitamin C for healing and antioxidant effects.
<shrug> Unless you have scurvy or are genetically prone to vitamin C
deficieny, you can get all the vitamin C you need by eating an orange
a day. (Or a lemon, lime or grapefruit).
}One more thing, in the Philippines, it's popular to take glutathione for
}skin whitening and antioxidant benefits. I've seen that it really does
}whiten skin. But is it safe? And does it really act as an antioxidant?
}
}http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutathione
Sounds like a fad to me. Gluthathions isn't a vitamin, it's a peptide,
which means it's related to the amino acids and proteins. I don't know
if a whole lot is known about its effects on humans, or what an appropriate
dose might be. If the appropriate does is unknown, that means it would
be really easy to take an inapproproate does; I'd avoid it, myself.
}Thanks for all your help.
Yeah. Maybe one day you'll listen to me and actually ask an MD
about all this stuff?
Dr H
On Sat, 8 May 2010, Happier Abroad vociferated:
}Hi Dr. H,
}Thanks for answering my questions.
No problem. But remember that I am NOT a -medical- doctor.
You might be better off asking your questions at one of the
"Ask a Nurse" sites. For excample:
http://www.justanswer.com/health?r=ppc| ... gwodkFnE-A
}So as I understand it, there is no benefit to taking a medication after a
}meal right?
In 99% of cases whatever benefit you are expected to derive from
the drug will be the same regardless of whether you take it before
or after meals. If what you're taking falls into that other 1%, follow
what the doctor says.
}There are some medications that ask you to take it an hour before a meal,
}such as nexium or zantac, for acid reflux, remember?
If the medication in question is being taken for a problem that is
*associated* with eating, then yes, that falls into that 1% category
where it makes a difference.
}Speaking of acid reflux, I do have that too, but it's been gone for a while.
}I have both zantac and nexium. What is the difference and which is better?
what the difference is, is a quesation for a pharmacist. Which is
better depends on which one works, and that's a question for a physician.
}The reason I have to ask you rather than my doctor is because here in
}Taiwan, many doctors look unsure and indecisive when you ask them questions
}like this. I don't think they are as knowledgeable as doctors are in the
}states.
<shrug> Possible, I suppose. But there are actual doctors and nurses who
will answer questions on-line -- see above. It should be easy to get
an actual medical opinion on a generic question like "what's the difference
between zantac and nexium".
}The vitamins I take are multi-vitamins. Aren't those fairly safe?
Mostly. OTC multivitimins usually contain fairly low doses of any
given vitamin. As long as you're not swallowing a handful every day
you're probably OK. NOTE: this is NOT necessarily true for children,
who are more sensitive to a lot of things. I wouldn't give a multivitamin
to a child without first asking a pediatrician's advice.
}If vitamins are toxic, why don't they have warning labels on them?
Many of them do.
Here's a summary of Vitamin A toxicity:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/126104-overview
}I also take vitamin C sometimes too, like when I am sick.
It's probably not doing you much good at that point. Vitamin C
seems to work best when you maintain adequate levels to boost
your immune system before you get sick. The idea that massive
doses of vitamin C "cures colds" has been long discredited.
}I saw in some documentary that long ago, a genius who won two nobel prizes,
}one in chemistry and one in biology, recommended that the world take vitamin
}supplements, and that started the national craze. Do you remember his name?
}Isn't he a genius?
You're probably thinking of Linus Pauling. He won a Nobel peace prize,
and a Nobel prize in chemistry. He was a chemist, not a biologist.
Whether or not he was a genius, I don't know; he was certainly a very
bright and talented individual.
}Don't you respect him? He must know what he's talking about right?
I respect him for his accomplishmenst in quantum chemistry. Unfortunately,
as sometimes happens with very accomplished people, he let his success
in one field delude him into believing that he expertise automatically
carried over into all fields.
He was /not/ a biologist, medical doctor, nutritionist, or parmacologist.
His pronouncements on vitamin C were not based on well designed research,
but on a series of poorly controlled studies perfused with wishful
thinking. Multiple attemps to replicate his reported results failed to
do so, and a series of well-controlled Mayo clinic studies demonstrated
his hypotheses regarding vitamin C to be false. Pauling maintained a
blind-spot regarding these studies up to his his death.
}Like you, he was a human encyclopedia in biology and chemistry
}and won two nobel prizes. Isn't that impressive? Doesn't that make him an
}authority?
He was impressive, and he was an authority /in his field/. He was not
an authority on everything, and he was wrong -- significantly wrong --
about some things.
}I think this is the guy I'm talking about
}
}http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Pauling
Probably.
}I'm a vegetarian by the way. And the food in the Philippines tends to suck.
}So don't I need vitamins? Also, aren't all vegetarians supposed to take
}vitamin B12? If so, how many grams per day?
There are all kinds of vegetarian. If you're a lacto-vegetarian, then
you can probalby get sufficient B12 in your diet. If you don't eat
dairy products or eggs, or if you're trying to be vegan, then you may
need B12 supplements.
RDA for B12 is about 3 \micro\grams daily, for adult males.
If you take in more B12 than you need, you're just wasting your money
on it -- you pee out any excess.
}I take vitamin C for healing and antioxidant effects.
<shrug> Unless you have scurvy or are genetically prone to vitamin C
deficieny, you can get all the vitamin C you need by eating an orange
a day. (Or a lemon, lime or grapefruit).
}One more thing, in the Philippines, it's popular to take glutathione for
}skin whitening and antioxidant benefits. I've seen that it really does
}whiten skin. But is it safe? And does it really act as an antioxidant?
}
}http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutathione
Sounds like a fad to me. Gluthathions isn't a vitamin, it's a peptide,
which means it's related to the amino acids and proteins. I don't know
if a whole lot is known about its effects on humans, or what an appropriate
dose might be. If the appropriate does is unknown, that means it would
be really easy to take an inapproproate does; I'd avoid it, myself.
}Thanks for all your help.
Yeah. Maybe one day you'll listen to me and actually ask an MD
about all this stuff?
Dr H
Check out my FUN video clips in Russia and SE Asia and Female Encounters of the Foreign Kind video series and Full Russia Trip Videos!
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
Join my Dating Site to meet thousands of legit foreign girls at low cost!
"It takes far less effort to find and move to the society that has what you want than it does to try to reconstruct an existing society to match your standards." - Harry Browne
-
momopi
- Elite Upper Class Poster
- Posts: 4898
- Joined: August 31st, 2007, 9:44 pm
- Location: Orange County, California
Re: Question about taking medicine and supplements
As I've said previously, ask the pharmacist (not the doctor or pharmacy tech) if you want a second opinion.Winston wrote: Well it's not that simple. The instructions in Chinese are sometimes vague. And when you ask the doctor about it, sometimes he looks indecisive or unsure. That doesn't make me feel confident.
Apparently its best NOT to take medicine at all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_FMr8kd ... r_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_FMr8kd ... r_embedded
-
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