There are a lot of things you need to avoid while using medications, especially for long-term prescriptions. Food, water, exercise, stress, and much more can influence the effects of medications.
Thus, in order to avoid medication use going wrong or becoming ineffective, it is best to know the things you need to avoid. Fortunately, with a small amount of research and a bit of effort, we can easily find out what we need to steer clear during and after medication use.
Consume Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal is a powder compound that people use in almost anything, from cheddar to fried chicken, and it turns food jet-black due to its intense color. A few people consume it in food, while others through a regular pill. Despite its popularity, you need to consume activated charcoal with caution.
Activated charcoal is very absorbent, which is the reason why people use it as a “cleansing” agent for skin or diet detoxification. However, the charcoal absorbs all compounds. Thus, if you eat it alongside medications, it will absorb a large part of the medicine before your body can digest the latter.
Drink Alcoholic Beverages
Patients need to be consistently careful about mixing any prescriptions with liquor. For example, ingesting alcohol while using a prescription stimulant could make the patient unable to recognize that they are not sober. Unawareness of intoxication is particularly evident when you abuse the stimulant, yet it can likewise occur when the patient correctly uses the medication.
You should not mix liquor with any medications for narcotic pain and medicines for cough and cold that contain antihistamines. Mixing these prescriptions with alcohol will increase the sedating impacts of the drug, which is highly dangerous.
Drink Coffee
Coffee can diminish the effects of antipsychotic drugs like clozapine and lithium. However, it increases the effects of other medications for pain relief, asthma, and allergic reactions. It can likewise make it more difficult for your body to absorb and utilize iron.
Drink Grapefruit
Our body filters drugs and disposes of them through urination, which is the reason why we take prescriptions daily or a few times per day. Grapefruit juice stops enzymes in the digestive organs that filter certain medications like cholesterol-lowering ones, heart prescriptions, and immunological medications. Since the body utilizes less medication, more flows into the circulatory system, which significantly increases the probability of adverse side effects.
While the facts confirm that grapefruit juice influences the digestion of a few medications, it typically takes about a certain amount of juice to have an effect. Inquire with your pharmacist as to whether any of the medicines you are taking will have an adverse reaction with grapefruit juice. If they do, you can still consume 8-ounces of grapefruit juice a day after you wait a couple of hours after taking your medicine.
Immediately Lie Down
Try not to lie down right after taking medication to ensure the pills pass through the throat and arrive in the stomach. Capsules or tablets that remain in the throat may release synthetic compounds that can irritate the throat’s lining, which in turn may cause perforation, ulcers, narrowing, and bleeding of the throat.
The danger of these kinds of wounds is more evident in people with ailments affecting the throat. Certain medications can likewise cause ulcers in the throat when they get stuck there. Medicines that can cause injury to the throat lining include potassium chloride, iron, aspirin, vitamin C, quinidine, and certain antibiotics.
Long-term Exposure to Direct Sunlight
Letting your body absorb natural Vitamin D moderately is vital for your body’s general health. However, overexposure can become detrimental in the long run, making it one of the most common things to avoid while using medication.
Sun sensitivity and photosensitivity are typical effects of numerous drugs. In simpler terms, your skin is more vulnerable to quick and severe burning when taking medications. It can likewise reduce your body’s ability to sweat, increase chances of overheating, and developing rashes.
Under- or Over-Hydrating
Not drinking enough water and drinking too much water are the two things to avoid when you’re taking medication. It is ideal if you take each pill with a glass of water. However, you still need to be careful with your water intake, for medications depend on water for effective breakdown and absorption into your body.
If you suffer from dehydration, the medication may remain in your body longer because of infrequent urination. Then again, if you are over-hydrating and peeing regularly, you are not giving the medication a chance to take effect, for your body flushes it out immediately. Both circumstances make a disbalance and can modify the results of the prescription.
Takeaway
There are already multiple health risks that you are facing. In hopes of getting better, you take medications that cause a lot of money, good thing an online website, such BuzzRX, is readily accessible to help with the expenses. However, these prescriptions can quickly work to your disadvantage if you do not take them correctly. We need to avoid countless things when taking medication to get its full benefit, all the while avoiding much worse adverse side effects.
Author Bio: Written by Meghan Hale, a content writer, and editing machine. She is working with La Dolce Studio. You’ll find me yelling at my dog to stop barking, whether it be at the neighbors or on a long afternoon walk
