Medication

[BertiWooster]

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 ?

[elginred]

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]

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]

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]

Why is swallowing pills with beer so difficult?

[Peter Pedant]

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]