Science

Medication

You are usually advised to take medication in the form of tablets , with water .

However is there any reason why you shouldn't take it with , for eg tea/coffee /soft drink ?

BertiWooster Wed 02/07/08 11:30

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elginred
Wed 02/07/08
11:32

Certain tablets are coated, and hot or acidic drinks can speed up the way the medication works. That's the very basic answer, I'm sure someone has the more scientific explanation.

newtron
Wed 02/07/08
15:07

I would be interested to see if there is a more scientific answer. After all, the stomach is an acidic environment. When I swallow pills, I use what ever liquid I happen to be drinking.

Ginger Git
Wed 02/07/08
22:01

The performance of some drugs can be affected by the contents of some drinks. For example, the absorption of vitamin C into the body can be affected by caffeine, so some vitamin supplements should not be swallowed with tea or coffee. Similarly, grapefruit juice is a no-no with certail types of drug. I dont know exactly why, but its certainly to do with reactions between the drug and the contents of the drink. With so much of the body already composed of water, the performance of drugs taken by mouth are unlikely to be affected by being swallowed with water.

McNoodle
Thurs 03/07/08
14:31

Why is swallowing pills with beer so difficult?

Peter Pedant
Thurs 03/07/08
23:18

The obvious answer is whether the soft drink,tea,coffee interacts with the drug

so I dont think it is recommended but so what

Grapefruit juice interacts with antihistamines, in particular loratidine I think [and gives a higher serum level for any set dose]

niceboy
Fri 04/07/08
23:08

Beer is effervescent and therefore makes swallowing tablets more difficult because the gas (carbon dioxide) makes them "float".

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