
Are You Taking Medications Wrong? What You Need To Know
TIRED OF BEING SICK THIS WINTER
I don't know why, but lately, I've been catching every kind of cold imaginable; causing headaches, coughing, and chills, and I ran through a full box of Kleenex over the weekend. Yuk.
This time I needed some over-the-counter help. I picked up some cough medicine, medication for my sinuses, and some allergy medication.
I PONDER...
As I was lying around in misery, a lot of things started running through my mind. One of them was, “Is it that important to drink a full glass of water with my medications? And...Does it mean a FULL 8-ounce glass of water per medication or is it okay to take them all at the same time? I don't even know how our bodies know what to do with these medications but I'm sure glad I had access to them this weekend.

CAN'T I JUST DRINK JUICE?
You can say I'm a little bit guilty of sometimes replacing the recommended water with whatever I'm drinking at the moment. It could be milk, juice, or even pop. Does the type of liquid you're swallowing your pills with really make a difference?
This is what I found.
WATER DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Water helps medicine pass from your mouth to your stomach, and the small intestine so it can be absorbed there. Yeah. Anything you drink can do that, but the medicine needs to be absorbed properly to work correctly. By not drinking enough water with your medication, (if that's what the directions require) you may not get the results you are looking for. (So honestly, why not do what the directions say!)
Pain relievers like Ibuprofen, Aspirin, and Naproxen taken without a full 8 ounces of water, can lead to upset stomachs or even ulcers, according to an online article.
Also, drinking the right amount of water can change when talking about the size of your medication. If you are taking a small pill or a large capsule, you may need to adjust the amount of water you are drinking. I'm thinking if you are just taking a swig of juice and swallowing your pills, it may not get absorbed by your body at all. It might just come out the other end; so why take it? You probably just wasted all that money on medications that could be helping you but won't because you didn't drink water with it. (Yes...I'm guilty of this).
WHEN YOU DON'T NEED WATER
Some medications need to be taken with things like fruit juice, or milk. It's a good idea to read the directions for all of your medications, and if they require different beverages from each other and different amounts, it might be a good idea, to take them at separate times.
For example, maybe you need to take an allergy pill, along with cold and flu medication, and your blood pressure medication. If the directions for all of these things require a full 8-ounce glass of water, you should be able to take them together, as long as the time of day lines up as well.
I'm glad that I looked into this. I will now double-check anything that I'm taking from now on, and make sure I'm drinking enough water so that it can work.
You might want to share this information with your kids.
What about you?
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