Food-medicine pairings

[Pan]

I've had a respiratory illness for over a week. Today, my cough acted up and I've had to take two doses of hydrocodone (codeine) syrup. Earlier in the week when I took that syrup, it immediately upset my stomach, but that hasn't happened today. I'm not sure why, though.

Does any of you have a strategy for drinking or eating things in such a way as to avoid bad side effects from medicines you have to take on either a sometime or everyday basis? Talk about it here.

[Ling]

I am getting over my pneumonia and had to take codeine cough syrup before switching over to antibiotics. When I was REALLY sick, the only thing I could stomach were soft scrambled eggs. I tried eating other foods but I would end up spitting it back out because the smell made me naseous. Thankfully, I'm much better now. One can only eat so many eggs in a day.

[Pan]

For the record, today, I ate a large order of tripe soup with unbuttered rye toast accompanied by fresh orange juice, delivered from Teresa's, my local Polish diner. For whatever reason, or maybe for some reason having nothing to do with the food, I haven't had an upset stomach so far today.

I'm glad you're better, Ling.

[Behemoth]

I've had a respiratory illness for over a week. Today, my cough acted up and I've had to take two doses of hydrocodone (codeine) syrup. Earlier in the week when I took that syrup, it immediately upset my stomach, but that hasn't happened today. I'm not sure why, though.

Does any of you have a strategy for drinking or eating things in such a way as to avoid bad side effects from medicines you have to take on either a sometime or everyday basis? Talk about it here.

←

I kind of like the codeine side effects...light a couple of candles and flow with it, man.

[Gifted Gourmet]

News item from Reuters recently

Taking certain cholesterol-lowering drugs at the same time as grapefruit juice can increase the risk of potentially life-threatening muscle toxicity, British regulators warned on Tuesday..... the risk was greatest with Merck & Co Inc's Zocor, or simvastatin, which recently went on sale without prescription in Britain, and Pfizer Inc's Lipitor

I guess this certainly qualifies for food and medicine news alerts!

[fifi]

I have read that grapefruit can affect the blood levels of lots of things. The major drug emporiums here issue a rather lengthy fact sheet and have started including known food interactions and instructions to take with food or on an empty stomach. On the rare occasion that I have to get a prescription I have actually started reading the things.

[ghostrider]

I had the same experience in the past with the codeine cough syrup. I theorised that one simply became acclimatised to it after a few days. I couldn't figure out any correlation between diet, nausea & syrup dosage.

[jsolomon]

One of the more common side-effects of morphine and other opium-derived analgesics is nausea. Sometimes it can be quite intense.

We've had several threads about what to do to counteract nausea and the like. People seem to always come back to ginger tea... perhaps you ought to try a cup of that before you partake of the cough suppressant.

[StudentChefEclipse]

I'm rather hesitant to bring this up, but... here goes: certain drugs on the order of codeine and morphine and so on will bring on constipation. In a BIG way. So I suppose my recommendation is not to eat too many things that are noted for their... errr.. binding effect.

(And my family wonders why I never pursued medicine.)

[ladyyoung98]

fifi said:

"I have read that grapefruit can affect the blood levels of lots of things. The major drug emporiums here issue a rather lengthy fact sheet and have started including known food interactions and instructions to take with food or on an empty stomach. On the rare occasion that I have to get a prescription I have actually started reading the things"

i can definitely vouch for the grapefruit thing....bad for diabetics..which im really sad about since i love grapefruit..but being a diabetic makes it a major no no for me....same thing goes for orange juice...orange juice will send my blood sugar levels way up......

[Pan]

I kind of like the codeine side effects...light a couple of candles and flow with it, man. 

←

It probably helped me fall asleep and sleep pretty soundly for some 12 hours. That's a good side effect, under the circumstances. Nausea is a bad side effect. Yes, StudentChefEclipse, I've also sometimes had trouble with constipation from codeine. In fact, I just ate some Metamucil Cinnamon Spice fiber wafers. I don't like their apple crisp wafers but find that the cinnamon ones are relatively palatable and make the medicine go down a lot better than the terribly chemical-tasting powdered versions.

[hillvalley]

Check out day three of the EGCI course on Cooking for/with a disability. There are a number of suggestions for nausea as well as eating while on medication.

[Pan]

Thanks. That's a really informative course. Sorry I missed it the first time.

[NancyH]

When I had to take prescription pain medicine after foot surgery, I asked the doctor what I could do to address the nausea. He explained that food won't have much of an impact - as part of its action is helping you cope with pain, the drug affects a part of the brain that controls nausea. So, coedine, etc. makes you sick to your stomach from your head, not your belly. Taking it with milk, food etc. helps stretch out the time and intensity of absorbtion, so it hits your head a little slower. So said the doctor; I have no idea if he was right.

[MichaelB]

I've had a respiratory illness for over a week. Today, my cough acted up and I've had to take two doses of hydrocodone (codeine) syrup. Earlier in the week when I took that syrup, it immediately upset my stomach,

←

Don't have an answer for you; but my wife cannot take any medicine with codeine in it. It comes back up almost as fast as it goes down.

Took her a little while to figure out. Once determined, she just gets something else prescribed.

[Smithy]

I have read that grapefruit can affect the blood levels of lots of things. The major drug emporiums here issue a rather lengthy fact sheet and have started including known food interactions and instructions to take with food or on an empty stomach. On the rare occasion that I have to get a prescription I have actually started reading the things. 

←

My mother was really bummed when she learned this. I forget the medicine in question, but the instructions said specifically not to drink grapefruit juice. She questioned the doctor, and he thought that even one grapefruit's worth of juice was likely to cause problems. There they were, fine grapefruit tree in the yard, and she couldn't have any more of her favorite breakfast fruit.

[FistFullaRoux]

The old doc I went to for my entire childhood perscribed saltines and Coca Cola along with any needed medicine for a stomach ailment. The saltines absorb the stomach contents and neutralize them, and the Coke raises the blood sugar and creates a sense of fullness. It has always worked for me. I'm guessing Diet Coke would work for those with blood sugar issues, but I'm no doctor...

If you are taking a medicine that has potential stomach effects, you should eat something either absorbent (bread or crackers) or liquid (soups or stews) to dilute the concentration. Both will reduce the effects on the stomach. The medicine will get absorbed a little more slowly, but it will still get there. But, in most cases (at least for me) dairy is out.

And lastly, I've also found that if I eat half of whatever I am eating, then take the medicine, then finish the food, I have far fewer issues.

[snowangel]

For those of you who don't have the time to checkout the course that Hillvalley linked, reminder to check with your pharmicist to see if there are any medication contra-indications with foods or other meds.

My daughter Heidi takes a lot of neurological medication (to control seizures), and diet pop and all OTC cough preps are no-nos.

My grandmother always said that if you were nauseous or had a cold to only drink things you could see through. She swore than stuff like milk just increased mucous.

[jgm]

If you can use the nausea caused by the medicine as an excuse to eat something you really like, go with it. Otherwise, I'd call my doctor and see if there were alternatives. I have a feeling there are other things out there that would work as well, without the side effects.

When I was in college, I had to have oral surgery. The surgeon gave me Tylenol with codeine, and when he called the dorm later in the day to check on me, the staff found me in the bathroom, upchucking um... somewhat uncontrollably. He became alarmed and directed the staff to get the pills away from me and flush them down the toilet. Since he knew I wouldn't be taking any more of the stuff, he may have been adamant about getting rid of it simply because I was on a college campus and he didn't want others to get hold of it. But if you're really nauseous, I think you should let your doctor know.

[jgm]

I've heard doctors talk about the BRAT diet for children recovering from stomach illnesses:

Bananas

Rice

Applesauce

Toast

(not necessarily all of the above, more like any of the above)

I've used it at those times, and find it useful. Although designed to follow a viral illness, it would probably work just as well for drug-induced nausea.

[StudentChefEclipse]

My grandmother always said that if you were nauseous or had a cold to only drink things you could see through.  She swore than stuff like milk just increased mucous.

←

This is actually true; dairy is a well known increaser of said stuff. Anyone I know with a respiratory issue swears off all dairy until it passes.

[fifi]

Don't forget, guys, that "natural herbal tea" could be a problem as well. I don't care how you spell natural, herbal anything can contain powerful agents. It is by a quirk of law that the FDA hasn't gotten into that game... Though they continue to try. Anyway, the best thing to do is consult your doctor or pharmacist. When discussing any current drug use don't forget that herbal stuff or supplements in any form. And, don't neglect the pharmacist. After all, s/he may be more up on this stuff than the doc. It is their business, you know.

Ginger is a powerful anti-nausea remedy. Many years ago, I used to run around on big sportfishing boats pestering big pointy nosed fishes. There was always some guest that would have a really hard time while we were rolling around in the Gulf. Before we left on a trip, I would get fresh ginger and cut it into little cubes. When a guest got green, I would instruct them to crush the cube in their back teeth and immediately chase with ginger ale. (Otherwise, it is pretty hot on the tongue.) The effect was often immediate. It worked faster than the powdered ginger capsules or the tea or ale. I don't know if this would work with a codeine induced nausea or not. Maybe not if that is a brain thing. (I never have had that problem with codeine. )

[docsconz]

One tidbit I would recommend is that if you are nauseated (Nauseous is something that makes one nauseated) do not eat. If you are ill with a stomach bug or side effects of a narcotic pain medication do not eat unless you are hungry. Thirst is not sufficient, although by all means drink if you are thirsty. If one persists in not being able to hold fluids down, one can become even more dehydrated creating a vicious circle that results in even more nausea and vomiting. In this situation IV fluids may be necessary. Hunger is the best indicator of a settling stomach. That is the advice I give to my post-op patients.

Nausea is a potential side effect of any narcotic. Codeine and morphine are related so that if one has a problem with one of them they likely will have the same problem with the other (codeine is a bfreakdown product of morphine). If one class of narcotic is a problem try a different one as some people are more effected by one than another.

[snowangel]

One thing I remember well from the one time I took codeine was that it made some nasty taste in my mouth that made food taste icky.

Administering meds can be tricky, too. One of Heidi's meds is a really, really vile tasting liquid, one for which the "cherry" flavor doesn't really cover up. Imagine Robitusun that tastes 50 times worse. Her other med is a capsule, meant to be opened and sprinkled on food. We put the sprinkles on syrup (sticky) and this seems to obliviate the nasty taste.

And, she takes her meds in the am before she gets anything to drink, so the drink washes it all down nicely. She likes cranberry or OJ (strong flavors) to wash it down.

[jsolomon]

For some comments, it's important to remind people that roughly 1/3 of physiologically active drugs, prescription or not, tend to dry mucous secretions (think of benadryl). Another third tend to increase them (like milk). The final third doesn't really do a lot with them.

Also, following along with docsconz's advice, if you're on narcotics, or having digestive upsets due to acute illnesses, light foods such as clear broths and crackers are really going to be your friends. Once your gut flora get upset, you need to treat them gently until they get unriled. As well as the BRAT diet, there are several liquid to light diets that one might familiarize oneself with.

One should always keep in mind whilst ill that calories are our friends, and if you cannot take them in, you can get into dire straits. More than triply so for fluids.