Community Chat

[chrystaltree]

It depends on what you are taking. Some meds you take on an empty stomach, some with food. Some meds can't be taken with 2 hours or 4 hours of each other. I had to do some juggling. I take my thyroid medicine on an empty stomach when I get up at 5:30. I can't eat for at least a half hour, I wait a full hour before I eat. I'd could probably take my blood pressure medicine at the same time but since I never asked the pharmacist about that, I take my bp meds at 7:00 after breakfast. I take Benedryl because I'm allergic to my cat and take that 8:00 on my way out the door. I take my vit D, calcium and my muti vitamin before at 9:30pm, about a half hour before I go to bed. And then there's the Motrin and Tylenol that I take for bone pain......I'm too tired to go into that....LOL

[RainyDayGal]

Are you asking if you put them all in your mouth at once and swallow them all at the same time? Of if you put a pill in, swallow then put another pill in, swallow and repeat until you've taken them all.

[Shorty2U]

I take some together. My back meds I space out between the 3 of those meds. And, I hate taking meds but I have to so what can ya do?

[hckynut]

I swallow 10 pills at the same time without any issues. At times that number has been up as high as 13, and still 1 swallow. With some I think it is more a mental issue than some sort of physiological problem. I've watched people down pretty good sized bits of steaks without a problem, but they cannot swallow a little aspirin pill?

This is just my opinion.

[kittymomNC]

On 10/9/2014 Phantom41 said:

On 10/8/2014 kittymomNC said:

It depends on what you're taking. For instance, Synthroid (for low thyroid) is supposed to be taken at least 4 hours <em>before</em> you take antacids, iron, or vitamin/mineral supplements. Just always be sure to read everything on your label and read the information leaflet that comes with your meds. Different things can affect the efficacy of medications depending on how/when you take them. Also, there are medications that are recommended to be taken in the morning, and some should be taken at night.

I am so glad I opened this thread! I've been on Synthroid for 30 years and never had a doctor tell me this. I do take it in the morning and then take my supplements and a couple of hours later take a nexium. Thank you for the info!

The information about vitamins etc. is on a label on my pill bottle. Maybe you should ask your pharmacist about it. I was also told a long time ago by my pharmacist that you need to be careful with some decongestants, as they can intensify the effects of the Synthroid, possibly make your heart race, etc.

I was on Synthroid for a number of years and always took it right after I ate breakfast. Then all of a sudden I got it refilled, and there was a label on the bottle to take it on an empty stomach, 1 hour before or 2 hours after eating. I thought I was losing it, because I knew I had never seen that before. Anyway, I started following those directions, and within a month or two was having all kinds of problems that the doctor couldn't figure out. I asked her how about checking my thyroid, and sure enough, it was so out of whack! When you take it on an empty stomach, your body absorbs more of it, so I was getting way too much. My dosage had been calibrated when I was taking it with food, so I needed more. Once we got the dosage down to the right level, my symptoms went away.

But on the bright side (or not, depending on how one looks at it), because of the problems I was having, they sent me for a sleep study and discovered I had sleep apnea! I would probably never have known if it hadn't been for the problems with the Synthroid!

[jlkz]

Few years ago, I took all my meds and supplements to my doctor's appointment. She went through each one and said what goes in the AM and what goes in the bedtime mix. The timed calcium release capsule is PM and the regular one is AM. HTH

[bells4me]

I only take BP meds before bed, and diuretic in the morning, so one at at time.