Taking food with tablets

You could make yourself a cup of ovaltine or hot chocolate and drink it before taking your pain killers.

I have a glass of water and a breadstick when I have to take painkillers outside meal times NanKate.

I sympathise about the night time pain as I suffer from that too and try to take a long lasting ibuprofen at bedtime, which helps. I hope the GP gets you sorted with some pain relief. I need to do something about mine too but keep putting it off as I get really stressed consulting doctors.

It's OK to have paracetamol on an empty stomach but not ibuprofen.

I'm prescribed slow release ibuprofen for this very reason. It does help.

If I have to take Ibuprofen in the night, I have a biscuit and a few glugs of water ( which I always keep by the bed). It's a bit of a faff munching on a biscuit in the small hours, but needs must. Though sometimes I just eat half a banana as it's easier when I'm too 'out of it'!

If you can tolerate milk and as Barb5 said, with a banana, that should be okay.

Thanks tonight I am going to have a selection of milk, biscuits and banana with my Ibuprofen and see what takes my fancy at 3.00am.

Thanks all. Sleep well.

Antibiotics are another nightmare. Take with or just before food - and then, to take them at regular intervals, you end up having to take one at two oclock in the morning. At that point I don't want to take the tablet, never mind food!

Hi anyone able to talk about rheumatism? I'm wide awake since 3am with pain.feeling like I brought it on doing too many heavy household jobs when I really should know better. I'm recently diagnosed and findingit hard to understand when in pain ie think that's when I worry and can't believe what's happening can't think straight. Meds don't seem to be helping a great deal now.

Hope you managed to get back to sleep Moocow. If you have only just started taking your meds you may not have yet worked out the best timings for you.

I too have a rheumatic illness called Polymyalgia is that what you have ?

I find that having a glass of milk and a rich tea biscuit plus a painkiller just before I go to sleep gets me through the night.

You must of course be guided by your doctor with regard to your medication, but as time goes by hopefully you will begin to feel better and not be awake during the night.

Best of luck.

I think it is advice rather than an unbreakable rule. It is not inevitable or even likely that taking paracetamol at night without food will cause you problems. There is only a possibility that it will. The risk is small.

I take co-codamol and sometimes aspirin during the night with a sip of water. I've never had any stomach problems because of this. Been doing it for years.

co-codamol contains paracetamol

Deedaa with oral antibiotics you have only to space them out sensibly but there's no need to take them at 2am.

So you would take the first around 7am and the last around 11pm. In hospital you wouldn't be woken at 2 to be given oral antibiotics - we only do that with sleeping pills

I found that taking prescribed 2 Naproxen (plus Omeprazole) with a tumblerful of milk stops me having the resultant indigestion, that often lasted for most of the morning at least. I have milk at night with remaining 1 Naproxen.

Some tablets work better on an empty stomach if unsure you can always ask the pharmacist. Omerprazole for instance should be taken 30 mins before food. If i take paracetamol I have a couple of biscuits then take them mainly because I have a sensitive stomach. Anything asperin based is a no no..

It is worth making the effort to get a biscuit before taking tablets, if you irritate your stomach lining it can add to your suffering.

Thank you NanKate I did but felt washed out all day. Apparently it's palindromic but When the pain hits I can't help wondering.