DRUGS:  Why All the Stickers?

Many times prescription medication bottles have auxiliary stickers placed on them.  These often colorful stickers have instructions.  Why does taking prescription medication correctly sometimes seem difficult?  Why can't all medicine be taken the same way?  Many prescription medications have specific administration guidelines for specific reasons.  Here are some examples:

Take medication on an empty stomach, 1 hour before or 2 to 3 hours after a meal unless otherwise directed by your doctor
Some medicines may be inactivated by the acid produced in the stomach in the presence of food.  The medicine will not be absorbed properly and will likely be ineffective.

Take at bedtime
Some medicines are used specifically to help people sleep.  However, some medicines may cause drowsiness and that side effect can be minimized by taking the drug at bedtime.  Interestingly, some medicines are taken at night because they will possibly be more effective.  For example, certain cholesterol-lowering agents are taken at night because the body makes its own cholesterol during the night and the medicine can possibly interfere with that process.

Take with food or milk
Some medicines cause stomach upset.  Taking the medicine with food can help reduce this side effect.  On the other hand, some medicines need food to help facilitate their absorption.

Do not crush or chew
This is very important.  Some medicines have an outer coating protecting them from being digested in the stomach.  If crushed or chewed, they will be completely inactivated before they can be effective.  Some medicines are made into a slow-release formulation.  If crushed or chewed, the entire dose could be absorbed all at once.  This could be dangerous.

Finish all this medicine unless otherwise directed by prescriber
This sticker is often placed on bottles containing an antibiotic.  Finishing the entire course of the antibiotic will help prevent antibiotic resistance from occurring.

There may be many reasons for those stickers on the prescription bottle.  If you're unsure about how to take your medicine in the most appropriate way, ask your physician or pharmacist.  Take medicine exactly as prescribed in order to help medication work best for you.