I’m taking some medicine that requires I take it with food. One is taken twice a day, and the evening dose is not usually around a meal time, so I have to find food to eat with it.
So what’s best - high protein (cheese?) or high bulk (crackers?)? Or how about fruit? And how little food can I get away with and not feel the ill effects of an empty stomach?
The medication is metformin, if it makes a difference. I am not diabetic.
I also take metformin: 1000mg with breakfast, 1000mg with dinner, and 500mg (with a snack) at bedtime. Neither of my two doctors nor my nurse practitioner has ever indicated any optimum foods to accompany this, or any other, medication. I think the point is simply not to take them on an empty stomach. But of course, your situation may be different, so ask your doctor.
Yeah no one has ever told me optimum foods either, with any med. That’s why I asked. I was just curious if there may be a best sort of thing based on chemistry or something.
Milk is a good idea, hadn’t thought of that. I wonder, though, if skim milk (that’s what I drink) constitutes enough “food” or not.
And yeah, I’m sort of happy about the no grapefruit thing - I hate it anyway
Did the doc really tell you to take it at a certain time? Mine didn’t, just said take it twice a day. I take one with breakfast, one with dinner. The only times I have issues is if I take 'em too close together (like on Thanksgiving day - breakfast was late, dinner was early, and did I feel crappy afterwards!) or the one time I took it without food. And one other time, where I took it with food, just like always, and woke up in the middle of the night and had to run to the bathroom. For all I know that was something I ate, though, and not the damn metformin.
OK, so that’s several times I’ve had issues. But most days I’m just fine. I do try to “sandwich” the pill between food - eat about half of my meal, then take the pill, then eat the other half. No idea if that really helps with the stomach issues or not, but I sorta kinda feel like it does.
Well, it’s used to treat insulin resistance for folks with PCOS, I guess.
Anyhoo, I’ve been fine on taking my meds at the right time for me and taking them “with food” and all - I was mostly just curious, in the grand scheme of things, if there is a best food to take with meds. I mean, there’s a reason to take medication with food and I was just pondering if the reason could then be linked to the best type/amount of food to eat. I threw in the name of a particular drug to see if there was a difference in what foods might go best with different types of drugs, if there is a difference.
Some meds, such as tetracycline, will bind to milk proteins and become unavailable for the work you want them to do. I don’t think there could be a generic “OK to take with all everything” food. I’ve found that pharmacists usually do a great job of keeping track of these interactions, so it’s worth it to ask specifically about any med you’re taking when you pick it up.