It is common sense for many people to take medication after meals, but not all medications are taken after meals. To get the best effect of medication you should first ensure that it is safe to use, i.e. under the guidance of a doctor, and secondly, master the best time to take different medications to get their effect. In this article, we will introduce the best time to take different drugs.
5:00 - Take heart failure medication
Heart failure tends to strike quietly in the early morning and at night, some people call it the "silent killer", but this killer also has a soft spot, and the time to appear is at 5:00 am. Therefore, if you take heart medication at 5 am, the effect will be maximized, compared to other times of the day, the drug may be more than 50% more effective. It should be reminded that the dose of the drug at 5 a.m. must be grasped and can be reduced appropriately to avoid poisoning caused by drug overdose.
6:00am - Insulin medication
The human body is most sensitive to insulin at 6:00 a.m. Taking insulin-promoting drugs at this time can make the body secrete more insulin itself, prompting glucose to be utilized by cells as soon as possible, thus bringing down blood sugar.
Moreover, the medication at this time can also achieve the minimum dose, the best efficacy and the least toxic side effects. It should be reminded that insulin sensitizers can only make the body's cells more sensitive to insulin and are not suitable for type 1 diabetes with absolute insulin deficiency.
7:00am - Antihypertensive drugs, anti-allergy drugs
For patients with hypertension, 7:00 a.m. is often the highest blood pressure peak of the day. Taking antihypertensive drugs at this time can effectively lower blood pressure, and the drug efficacy will be significantly better than other time periods, and it is recommended to take 1~2 tablets.
Anti-allergic drugs, if taken at about 7:00 a.m., the drug effect can be maintained for up to 17 hours; while taken at night, its effect is less than half the time, only about 8 hours.
10:00 - Anti-inflammatory drugs
The prime time to take anti-inflammatory drugs is around 10:00 a.m., because the blood concentration is twice as high when the drugs are taken at this time than at other times. In general, semi-synthetic penicillin is more effective when used at 10:00 am.
12:00 - Arthritis medication
Pain perception in patients with osteoarthritis is more pronounced at night than during the day. Previous research published by Texas Tech University has also pointed out that the best time to take anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs such as ibuprofen is to ensure that it is at the time when the body feels the most pain, and that such drugs usually take 7 to 8 hours to be most effective. Therefore, it is recommended that patients with osteoarthritis take drugs such as ibuprofen at 12:00 noon.
15:00 - Asthma calming medication
The body's biological clock automatically reduces hormone production at night, thus narrowing the width of the airways, so asthma symptoms usually intensify at night. Researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil found that inhaling steroids at 3-4 pm helped prevent asthma attacks at 3-4 am the next day.
16:00 - Cold and flu medicine
4:00 p.m. is the peak time for the onset of high fever and other common cold symptoms, so it is also the best time to take cold medication.
20:00-Blood tonic
Iron gluconate, ferrous sulfate and other blood supplements are best taken at 8:00 p.m. The absorption rate is much higher than 8:00 a.m., and the efficacy can be extended up to 3-4 times.
21:00 - Cholesterol-lowering drugs
To smash the "conspiracy" of cholesterol synthesis quietly at night, 8:00 pm is the best time to take medication at this time to effectively lower cholesterol. Therefore, it is better for patients to take cholesterol-lowering drugs after dinner, i.e. around 8:00 pm.
22:00- Drugs for gastric ulcer
Stomach acid is often secreted most vigorously at night, and taking gastric drugs for ulcer disease at 10:00 p.m. can effectively delay the emptying time of the drugs, so that they can neutralize more stomach acid and relieve the inflammation of the stomach and the pain caused by stomach ulcers.
