why do we have to take medicines at the same intervals everyday and not just take them for example 2 times whenever we like? Is there a specific advantage to it being spaced out over a longer period of time or is it just to keep track of what I’m taking?
In: Biology
It really depends on the meds, but to generalise think of it like a sand timer, when you turn it over your body has the full cap of sand and it slowly trickles out until there isn’t enough to provide the medications desired effect, your next dose flips the timer over and starts again.
We take medicine at certain times each day to maintain a specific amount of that medicine in the blood/body compartments. In order for medications to have their intended effect, we have to maintain a specific amount within our bodies at all times or they don’t work. If you space out your dosing of medication over a longer a period of time (more than you were told to) this gives your body the opportunity to “use up” the medication to the point that when you take your next dose, the amount of medicine in your body doesn’t reach it’s target concentration. Taking your doses of medication in shorter time intervals might increase the concentration of medication to the point where they become toxic.
Just imagine a campfire keeping you warm at night. In order to keep the campfire burning (the medicine’s effect) at a good level, you have to constantly and regularly add wood (the medicine). But if you add too much, the fire may burn out of control and hurt someone. If you don’t add enough wood at given time intervals, the campfire will go out and it won’t keep you warm anymore!
Drugs get cleared out of your body at a particular half life. So if a drug has a half life of 1 hour, after 1 hour it’ll be at 50%, after 2 hours, it’ll be at 25% and so on. To reach effectiveness in your body, the drug has to be at a therapeutic dose, meaning below this, it does nothing or just has side effects. There’s also a toxic dose, where above this, it causes the normal effects + more side effects.
Medicines are taken so that they’re finely balanced so that they’re above the therapeutic dose but below the toxic dose. And because there’s half lives to consider, spreading out your doses means that you stay within this range (therapeutic interval) longer and minimise time outside of it.
It’s to control the amount of medication in your system at all times. So that you have a constant and steady dose. For example, if you take the medication at 8 am and then again at 8 pm, then your body will have a steady and constant dose of said medication. If you take it at 8 am and then again at 6 pm instead of 8 pm. Then for 2 hours you will have a heightened amount of medication in your system. And in some instances this can have adverse side effects. Or if it’s a medial that effects the chemical balance in your brain, could alter your brain chemistry over time.
Also if you do over-dose on any medication, your kidneys and liver may not be able to filter it out of your system properly. Which could lead to complications. Especially if it is a regular occurrence. Something as simple as Tylenol when taking often enough in high doses without regulation can damage multiple parts of your body.
There are several reasons. For some meds taking it all at one time would make you sick. Even like Tylenol. If you took 8 extra strength at one time it could damage your liver. Taking them 2 at a time separated by 6 hours makes it safe.
Also, your body metabolizes them at different rates. Using Tylenol again, after 6 hours it’s pretty much out of your system. So if you don’t take it every 6 hours you won’t get the relief you seek.
Some meds metabolizes slower in your body so you only need to take them once a day.
Alright, got it! Thanks to everyone for the very informative answers and I wish you an amazing day
Think of it like food. You need to eat on a regular basis to maintain consistent energy to fuel your body, and if you eat too much at one time, you’re probably going to feel sick.
Medicine works the same way. If you’re taking Tylenol to deal with a minor injury, you can’t just take more Tylenol and magically heal it. You’re taking the medicine to reduce the pain, and you need a regular dose so your body is able to use it effectively.
In some cases, like with antibiotics, it’s especially important to follow the dosage guidelines to entirely kill off bacteria causing the disease. If you don’t, it could lead the surviving bacteria to become resistant, and then anyone else who catches it wouldn’t be able to treat the disease with the same drugs.
Everyone here gave good answers, but I will also add that the cycle of medication in the market is typically that the first person to come out with a new medicine gets it out ok the market without many features. So, you have this shiny new medicine that lots of people want to start using, but maybe you need to be taking a big capsule 3 times a day. Then other drug manufacturers come alone with the same or similar medication with better features like a more precise delivery method or a pill you only have to take once a day ect. Number of pills needed per day is one of the most common improvements we see drug manufacturers make post release.
It depends on the medication. For example, most modern anti-depressants doesn’t need to be taken at the same time every day (although it is recommended so you keep track), because they work over longer periods and the half-life is long. Mode stabilizers, on the other hand, requires a much stricter schedule because you need to keep the level pretty constant or you’ll loose the effect.
Because that’s not actually the same dosage. 2 pills per 1 day is very different from 1 pill per 0.5 day.
Think of if they were the same thing. Then you would be permitted to just take the entire medication you think you need at once, and the effect would last proportionally as long as what you took. That is, of course, not what happens.
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