When Is The Right Time To Take Daily Medications?

When is the right time to take daily medications? 

June is the National Safety Council’s Home Safety Month. One important aspect of home safety focuses on preventing prescription drug abuse. While taking the right prescription drug is important, it’s just as essential that medications are managed properly. Even though the pill bottle may simply state, “take once a day,” the specific time of day you take your medications may make an important difference. Modifying the timing of drugs to achieve the greatest benefit with the lowest risk of unpleasant side effects is called drug chronotherapy. Your prescriber or your pharmacist can advise you on best times to take your medications.

According to Sharon Roth Maguire, the BrightStar Care Chief Clinical Quality Officer and a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner, “Medications should be carefully managed by a qualified and informed professional since as the number of medications an individual uses can dramatically increase the potential for bad outcomes, including serious health consequences and in some instances have fatal outcomes. Be sure you seek the input you need and deserve.”

According to the AARP, here is the best time to take your meds for various illnesses.

High cholesterol

Buildup in the arteries of LDL, or “bad cholesterol,” can lead to stroke, heart attack and other problems. Statin drugs are used with diet and exercise to reduce LDL levels.

When to take medicine: Take statins at bedtime, advises the British Heart Foundation. Why? Cholesterol production in the liver is highest after midnight and lowest during the morning and early afternoon, so statins are most effective when taken just before bedtime.

High blood pressure

When to take medicine: Take at least one blood pressure-lowering medication at bedtime. Drugs called ACE inhibitors and ARBs are the most effective when taken at this time. Non-dipping is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack and kidney disease. Taking one or more of the prescribed medications just before bedtime normalizes daily blood pressure rhythm and significantly decreases the risk, studies have found.

Osteoarthritis

When to take medicine: NSAIDs, such as naproxen and ibuprofen, are the most widely-used medications for osteoarthritis. According to French researchers, it’s best to take shorter acting versions of these medications four to six hours before the pain is at its worst, so that they’ll kick in at the appropriate time. For afternoon pain, for example, take meds around mid-morning to noon. For evening pain, schedule them for mid-afternoon; and for nighttime pain, take them with your evening meal.

Timing NSAIDs according to their peak action so that the highest blood levels of the drug coincide with peak pain will offer the most relief.

Visit our website for additional information at:  www.brightstarcare.com/eastvalley