Should the medicine be taken on an empty stomach or not?

As we all know, different drugs have different requirements. Some drugs should be taken after meals, some drugs should be taken before meals, and some drugs should be taken on an empty stomach. So why do some medicines need to be taken on an empty stomach? What effect does not taking medicine on an empty stomach have on the efficacy of these medicines? Today Shaoxing Zhongya Capsule Co., Ltd. will talk about it.

Eating on an empty stomach means taking medicine without eating, to ensure that only medicine is eaten in the stomach. In fact, although they are all drugs taken on an empty stomach, the reasons are not the same. Generally speaking, there are mainly the following situations:
1 Certain special dosage forms of drugs, such as enteric-coated tablets, enteric-coated capsules, etc. The general oral drug dosage form releases the drug when it stays in the stomach, but according to the pharmaceutical design, enteric-coated tablets and enteric-coated capsules should not release the drug in the stomach, but should release the drug in the intestine. Therefore, enteric-coated tablets and enteric-coated capsules can resist the attack of the acidic environment of the stomach, and release drugs in the alkaline environment of the intestine, so the acidic environment of the stomach is very important. If such drugs are taken with food at the same time, the food will change the acidic environment of the stomach, causing such enteric-coated tablets and enteric-coated capsules to mistake the "stomach" as the "gut" and release the drugs in advance, increasing the risk of adverse reactions. The famous aspirin enteric-coated tablets should be taken on an empty stomach.

2 A drug whose main role is to protect the gastric mucosa. This drug generally directly acts on the damaged gastric mucosa and attaches and provides protection. Therefore, it is generally taken on an empty stomach to facilitate full contact with the gastric mucosa. If the drug is taken after meals, the presence of food will interfere with the adhesion of the drug to the damaged gastric mucosa, which actually reduces the efficacy of the drug. Therefore, such drugs should be taken on an empty stomach. For example, drugs such as sucralfate suspension and chewable tablets should be taken on an empty stomach.

3 Certain drugs that easily interact with food. The reason why this drug is taken on an empty stomach is that it easily interacts with food. If this kind of drug is not taken on an empty stomach but after a meal, the effectiveness and safety of the drug will be affected due to the existence of the interaction. For example, alendronate sodium for the treatment of osteoporosis may have more adverse reactions with food and other drugs. Therefore, the drug should be taken with plain water at least half an hour before taking food and other drugs in the morning.

Looking at the above explanations, I believe you must realize the importance of taking medicines on an empty stomach for certain medicines. Therefore, please read the drug instructions and doctor’s orders carefully before taking medicines. If you encounter medicines that need to be taken on an empty stomach, please eat on an empty stomach. Take it at least half an hour before or at night before going to bed. Taking the medicine at these two time points can generally ensure the requirement of an empty stomach.