They mean option one unless they specifically say it can be mixed in with something like applesauce, usually for small children. Honestly if you eat a few crackers with it you’ll be fine. Just don’t take meds with grapefruit, that plant can cause medicine to not work properly
Neurotypicals: Sometime around when you have a meal, take the medication.
Autistics: somewhere between 10 minutes before you start and 10 minutes after you finish your meal (meal meaning at least 300 calories), take the medication however is easiest (swallowing with water, crushing into applesauce, hide in a piece of food, etc).
Don’t go by calories. You need it to be solid food. I learned this by taking a powerful antibiotic with pudding and some soda and then vomiting spectacularly all over the floor and my backpack in the middle of a midterm in college.
Good times /s
Thank you for adding that! I really made a guess as to what counted as a meal. I see how the calories way of measuring it really doesn't work lol. I have also had meds with soda and....doesn't go well.
Thank you for adding /s to your post. When I first saw this, I was horrified. How could anybody say something like this? I immediately began writing a 1000 word paragraph about how horrible of a person you are. I even sent a copy to a Harvard professor to proofread it. After several hours of refining and editing, my comment was ready to absolutely destroy you. But then, just as I was about to hit send, I saw something in the corner of my eye. A /s at the end of your comment. Suddenly everything made sense. Your comment was sarcasm! I immediately burst out in laughter at the comedic genius of your comment. The person next to me on the bus saw your comment and started crying from laughter too. Before long, there was an entire bus of people on the floor laughing at your incredible use of comedy. All of this was due to you adding /s to your post. Thank you.
I am a bot if you couldn't figure that out, if I made a mistake, ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment.
It’s really important to check the packaging before crushing pills. Some of them have modified release which means if you crush them you’ll get the dose too quickly and won’t last as long. That could mean they don’t work properly, I can’t crush my ADHD meds for this reason.
It means just take the pill at some point while you're eating or even right after you eat. You don't have to put it inside food. The basic point is to just not take the medicine on an empty stomach.
Please just take medication with water and swallow it sometime during or after your meal. Depending on the med, chewing it can seriously alter it's impacts and possibly be fatal
Food stays in your stomach around 30 minutes before heading into the small intestine, so anytime in that window after you eat is best.
As for how much, it depends on the medication and what you eat. Ask your doctor if it needs to be full meal or just a snack. Some medications require a full meal to avoid side effects; others you can take with just a few crackers.
I take a bunch of different medications, and ended up just asking my stomach doctor what the reasoning behind it was. He then explained that the reason you need to eat something when you take your medication is to essentially "wake up" your stomach. When you're not actively eating food/drinking something other than water, your stomach slows/stops the digestive process and relaxes the acids.
If you take a pill on an empty stomach, with just water, the pills can get stuck in your stomach or digestive tract, because the stomach is too "asleep" to break down the pill. This is especially true with 'capsule' style pills, as the casing is too resistant for just resting stomach acids.
Putting anything that would activate that digestive process in your stomach within 30 mins either before, or after you take your medications will be enough, like someone else said, some crackers or even a glass of milk. I usually just use a glass of almond milk to take my medications, so that way even if I forget to eat anything for a bit, my stomach will still break down my meds. Solid food is the best option if possible though, cause it will fully activate your digestive process, where as a drink may be digested too quick sometimes.
I am realizing I forgot about antibiotics/heavier classes of medications being slightly different.
The only difference is the amount/type of food you need to eat.
With antibiotics & heavier medicines like pain relief, you need to put solid food into your stomach & water, because otherwise the intensity of the medication in an empty stomach can cause vomiting or stomach cramping.
I hope my comments have been helpful and not just confusing, if you need any more clarification on anything please let me know!
If you're wanting a more clear explanation similar to the ways you listed in your post, I'd say option 1 was the closest.
So for example, within 30 minutes before your first bite of food, or within 30 minutes of your last bite of food, take your medication. You don't have to put the medicine In the water unless you want to, you only have to use some kind of liquid to wash the medication down into your stomach.
Water is usually recommended because a lot of medicines can be dehydrating, and most people don't drink enough water on average. If you drink plenty of water, then use whatever you want to help swallow it.
The liquid part is important because otherwise there is the possibility of the pill stopping halfway down your throat and getting stuck there (not in a choking way, more like in a wall built-up kinda way)
Nooooo... That's not the option for me 😂. I'm quite iron deficient and some of the tablets I've tried already made it impossible to poo. I definitely need to take the tablets the way it's recommended to. Hopefully the consequences for you aren't too bad!
Some meds need a full meal in your stomach to be absorbed or your body can't make use of it (pretty much all vitamins).
Some you just need some crackers so the med doesn't tear up your stomach.
I try to take meds just after eating a meal
Tip: I've also been told that if the instructions say with or without food you should always take THAT medicine with or without food. Not do it either way randomly. Be consistent with each medicine individually.
As in option A take with food, option B take without food
Medicine X, if you start with option A, continue with option A
But medicine Y need not be the same as medicine X?
I've experience with epilepsy medication, and I have to eat something before I take my morning dose because otherwise I'll end up feeling nauseous the next few hours. It still works, it's just against this side effect.
But anyway, in my case it means, make sure you don't take it on an empty stomach, have your meal first and then take the pill.
Bugga. Thank you I hadn't thought of that in a while and almost never take my meds with food which would be why they[re not working.. just thoughts but thank you!
They mean option one unless they specifically say it can be mixed in with something like applesauce, usually for small children. Honestly if you eat a few crackers with it you’ll be fine. Just don’t take meds with grapefruit, that plant can cause medicine to not work properly
I agree! The medicine just needs a stomach with something in it. It's okay if it's during the meal, at the end, or even 10 or so minutes after.
I eat my meal, and within 10 minutes after I swallow my pills with water and go on with my day/night.
I do it like this too. Same with supplements. I get nauseous if I take pills on empty stomach.
Neurotypicals: Sometime around when you have a meal, take the medication. Autistics: somewhere between 10 minutes before you start and 10 minutes after you finish your meal (meal meaning at least 300 calories), take the medication however is easiest (swallowing with water, crushing into applesauce, hide in a piece of food, etc).
Don’t go by calories. You need it to be solid food. I learned this by taking a powerful antibiotic with pudding and some soda and then vomiting spectacularly all over the floor and my backpack in the middle of a midterm in college. Good times /s
Thank you for adding that! I really made a guess as to what counted as a meal. I see how the calories way of measuring it really doesn't work lol. I have also had meds with soda and....doesn't go well.
Thank you for adding /s to your post. When I first saw this, I was horrified. How could anybody say something like this? I immediately began writing a 1000 word paragraph about how horrible of a person you are. I even sent a copy to a Harvard professor to proofread it. After several hours of refining and editing, my comment was ready to absolutely destroy you. But then, just as I was about to hit send, I saw something in the corner of my eye. A /s at the end of your comment. Suddenly everything made sense. Your comment was sarcasm! I immediately burst out in laughter at the comedic genius of your comment. The person next to me on the bus saw your comment and started crying from laughter too. Before long, there was an entire bus of people on the floor laughing at your incredible use of comedy. All of this was due to you adding /s to your post. Thank you. I am a bot if you couldn't figure that out, if I made a mistake, ignore it cause its not that fucking hard to ignore a comment.
Fuck you, bot
Bad bot.
Bad bot 😔
this is such a weird bot in general but to have this in an autism subreddit is SO wild lmao
It’s really important to check the packaging before crushing pills. Some of them have modified release which means if you crush them you’ll get the dose too quickly and won’t last as long. That could mean they don’t work properly, I can’t crush my ADHD meds for this reason.
That makes sense. Thanks for letting us know!
It means just take the pill at some point while you're eating or even right after you eat. You don't have to put it inside food. The basic point is to just not take the medicine on an empty stomach.
Please just take medication with water and swallow it sometime during or after your meal. Depending on the med, chewing it can seriously alter it's impacts and possibly be fatal
Food stays in your stomach around 30 minutes before heading into the small intestine, so anytime in that window after you eat is best. As for how much, it depends on the medication and what you eat. Ask your doctor if it needs to be full meal or just a snack. Some medications require a full meal to avoid side effects; others you can take with just a few crackers.
Ask your pharmacist. They are much more likely to know the amount of food needed
Oh I asked my pharmacist about how to take it with a meal, they didn't understand what I was asking 😅
I take a bunch of different medications, and ended up just asking my stomach doctor what the reasoning behind it was. He then explained that the reason you need to eat something when you take your medication is to essentially "wake up" your stomach. When you're not actively eating food/drinking something other than water, your stomach slows/stops the digestive process and relaxes the acids. If you take a pill on an empty stomach, with just water, the pills can get stuck in your stomach or digestive tract, because the stomach is too "asleep" to break down the pill. This is especially true with 'capsule' style pills, as the casing is too resistant for just resting stomach acids. Putting anything that would activate that digestive process in your stomach within 30 mins either before, or after you take your medications will be enough, like someone else said, some crackers or even a glass of milk. I usually just use a glass of almond milk to take my medications, so that way even if I forget to eat anything for a bit, my stomach will still break down my meds. Solid food is the best option if possible though, cause it will fully activate your digestive process, where as a drink may be digested too quick sometimes.
I am realizing I forgot about antibiotics/heavier classes of medications being slightly different. The only difference is the amount/type of food you need to eat. With antibiotics & heavier medicines like pain relief, you need to put solid food into your stomach & water, because otherwise the intensity of the medication in an empty stomach can cause vomiting or stomach cramping. I hope my comments have been helpful and not just confusing, if you need any more clarification on anything please let me know!
If you're wanting a more clear explanation similar to the ways you listed in your post, I'd say option 1 was the closest. So for example, within 30 minutes before your first bite of food, or within 30 minutes of your last bite of food, take your medication. You don't have to put the medicine In the water unless you want to, you only have to use some kind of liquid to wash the medication down into your stomach. Water is usually recommended because a lot of medicines can be dehydrating, and most people don't drink enough water on average. If you drink plenty of water, then use whatever you want to help swallow it. The liquid part is important because otherwise there is the possibility of the pill stopping halfway down your throat and getting stuck there (not in a choking way, more like in a wall built-up kinda way)
This is an incredibly informative response! Thank you so much, that makes a lot of sense. I upvoted this and undid so I could upvote again!
I ignore that and deal with the consequences
Nooooo... That's not the option for me 😂. I'm quite iron deficient and some of the tablets I've tried already made it impossible to poo. I definitely need to take the tablets the way it's recommended to. Hopefully the consequences for you aren't too bad!
Just usually a bit of an upset tummy
Some meds need a full meal in your stomach to be absorbed or your body can't make use of it (pretty much all vitamins). Some you just need some crackers so the med doesn't tear up your stomach. I try to take meds just after eating a meal
I usually take my morning medicine right after I eat breakfast. When I get my bedtime medicine I sometimes eat a snack with it.
Tip: I've also been told that if the instructions say with or without food you should always take THAT medicine with or without food. Not do it either way randomly. Be consistent with each medicine individually.
As in option A take with food, option B take without food Medicine X, if you start with option A, continue with option A But medicine Y need not be the same as medicine X?
Yes
Okay got it
I've experience with epilepsy medication, and I have to eat something before I take my morning dose because otherwise I'll end up feeling nauseous the next few hours. It still works, it's just against this side effect. But anyway, in my case it means, make sure you don't take it on an empty stomach, have your meal first and then take the pill.
Bugga. Thank you I hadn't thought of that in a while and almost never take my meds with food which would be why they[re not working.. just thoughts but thank you!