How To Take Medication While Fasting

Managing medications while fasting often comes with confusion for many patients, especially for those who are managing a chronic condition. The good news is, for many medications, you can safely fast with proper planning and guidance from your healthcare provider.

The type of medication, the disease condition being managed, the nature of the fast, and individual factors like your age and general health status have to be taken into consideration while planning around medication schedules during fasting.

Why Medication Timing Matters During Fasting

Fasting affects medications in the following ways:

• Side effects: It increases the risk of side effects such as severe nausea and stomach irritation for medications like antibiotics and certain painkillers.
• Drug absorption: It can either reduce or enhance absorption of medications hence reducing their effectiveness.
• Timing conflicts: Certain dosing schedules may not align with fasting windows and may require to be adjusted.

Changing how you take your medications without proper guidance from a medical provider can be dangerous and can reduce how well the medicine works. You must always take your medications exactly as advised by your pharmacist.

General Rules for Fasting Safely While on Medication

• Consult your doctor or pharmacist before you start a fast. Do not stop taking medications without their guidance.
• Plan ahead and align dosing schedules appropriately with regard to your fasting window.
• Set alarms and reminders to ensure you do not miss any doses.
• Ensure you maintain proper hydration so that medicine can absorb well and reduce the risk of side effects.
• Watch out for side effects like dizziness, severe fatigue, weakness and confusion.

Medications That Usually Can Be Adjusted

1. Once-Daily Medications

If your medication is dosed once daily, you can take your doses early in the morning before you start your fast, or in the evenings after your fasting window. This applies to medicines such as blood pressure drugs, some painkillers and cholesterol drugs.

2. Twice-Daily Medications

Depending on how many hours you are fasting and the type of medicine, it is possible to safely space the two doses evenly before and after the fasting window. It is important to take the doses at the same time every day in order to maintain steady drug levels in the blood.

3. Multiple Daily Doses

If you are taking your doses three or more times daily, your doctor can switch you to long-acting formulations that need to be taken only once a day. You can also ask about other non-oral formulations such as patches, sprays, or injections where possible.

Medications That Need Extra Caution During Fasting

1. Diabetes Medications

Do not fast without consulting your doctor or pharmacist especially if you are on insulin. Insulin and other oral diabetes medicines often cause low blood sugar when taken on an empty stomach. There is need for extra caution if you must fast while taking these medications. Dosage adjustments and timing frequency are often necessary. You will also need to monitor your blood sugar more frequently to avoid severe hypoglycaemia.

2. Diuretics (“Water pills”)

Fasting can significantly alter the body’s chemistry resulting in dehydration. This can be amplified if you are taking certain medications such as diuretics. Diuretics help the body to get rid of excess fluid, hence severe dehydration can happen if you are not taking sufficient water during the fast.

3. Medications That Must Be Taken with Food

Certain medicines such as NSAIDs, most antibiotics, and iron supplements are best taken with food to reduce side effects. If these are taken without food, severe nausea and stomach irritation can occur.

Vitamin supplements (A, D, E, K) require fat to be absorbed properly. You must therefore ensure you take them during your eating window.

4. Medications That Must Be Taken on an Empty Stomach

Taking medications on an empty stomach means you take the medications one hour before or two hours after food. It is, therefore, wrong to assume that any time during a fast is okay. If you take your medicine too close to your eating window, food will interfere with how the medication is absorbed. You therefore need to carefully plan your doses with regard to your fasting and eating windows.

5. Medications That Must Be Taken at Exact Times

Some medications have very strict dosing and timing requirements for them to work effectively. These include anti-epilepsy medicines, some antibiotics, blood thinners and heart medications. Do not skip or delay doses, as doing so may interfere with how the medicines work.

What About Inhalers, Eye Drops, and Injections?

Most fasting traditions allow for non-oral medications to be taken. However, always consult your religious authority for proper guidance. Non-oral medications that do not break a fast include, topical creams and ointments, eye drops, inhalers, injections including insulin.

When You Should NOT Fast

Avoid fasting if:

• You have uncontrolled diabetes.
• You are pregnant or breastfeeding.
• You have a severe heart, kidney or liver diseases.
• You are recovering from a recent illness of surgery.
• You are taking multiple drugs with strict dosing schedules e.g. anti-epilepsy drugs.

Final Dose Of Clarity

Fasting while on medication is possible, but it might not be safe for everyone. If you plan to fast, talk to your doctor or pharmacist to help you adjust your doses and timing safely, identify any medications that require special considerations and advise when not to fast.

Always watch out for warning signs such as dizziness, weakness, fatigue and confusion while fasting and taking medication. If you feel unwell, break your fast immediately and seek medical attention. Your safety comes first.

Disclaimer: Health information shared here is for education only. Please speak to your doctor or pharmacist before making decisions about your health or medications.