Can you drink water right after taking cough syrup? 99% of people do it wrong!

Recently, the comment section of a video about coaxing a baby to drink syrup exploded, with more than 90,000 comments. What sparked heated discussion was not the video itself, but the question "Is it possible to drink water immediately after drinking syrup?"

Some netizens said that it is not advisable to drink water immediately after drinking the syrup, otherwise it will affect the efficacy of the medicine. Netizens who hold opposing views believe that the medicine will only take effect after being absorbed into the human body, and drinking water will help promote drug absorption.

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Whose opinion is more reliable? What are the precautions when taking medicine and drinking water? The question is indeed a bit complicated and needs to be discussed in different situations. Today's popular science article will let us have a good chat.

Can I drink water immediately after drinking the syrup?

Regarding this issue, we should still analyze the specific situation based on the actual drugs used.

In the 2020 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, syrup is defined as "a concentrated sucrose aqueous solution containing raw materials." The reason why sucrose needs to be added to syrups is mainly to cover up the unpleasant taste of the drug itself, improve the taste, and increase the adaptability of oral drugs.

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For cough syrups, if they contain some cooling cough syrups that can directly act on the throat, it is recommended not to drink water after drinking the syrup. Drink a small amount of warm water 15 minutes after drinking the syrup, so that some of the medicine can be kept in the throat and take effect as soon as possible, such as Chuanbei cough syrup, Jizhi syrup, etc.

However, for some syrups that do not contain throat-clearing ingredients but only contain therapeutic ingredients, you can drink warm water to rinse your mouth immediately after taking the medicine. This can not only prevent excessive sugar from stagnating in the throat and irritating the throat, but also allow the medicine to be concentrated in the stomach as soon as possible to promote drug absorption. For example, the commonly used expectorant ambroxol hydrochloride syrup.

There is another situation that although some syrups are very sweet, the medicinal taste is still relatively strong. If children take such medicines without drinking water, it will cause nausea and vomiting in children, affecting the effectiveness of the medicine. It is better to feed warm water immediately after drinking the medicine to alleviate the unpleasant taste of the medicine and reduce the incidence of vomiting.

We have organized it into a table, you can take a screenshot and save it:

In addition to syrup drugs, what are the precautions for taking other drugs with water? We have also compiled a table, you can screenshot and save it:

Let’s analyze it in detail below.

It is not advisable to drink water immediately after taking these medicines

First of all, there are some medicines that require special administration, such as the lozenges we often take in daily life, sublingual pills, and some new drug dosage forms, such as orodisintegrating tablets, orodispersible films, etc., which are not suitable for drinking water immediately after taking.

Take oral ulcer lozenges as an example. The drug works by directly contacting the wound. If you drink water immediately after taking it, it will affect the efficacy of the drug. Another example is the orodisintegrating tablet. After this type of drug enters the mouth, it will disintegrate under the action of saliva. The drug can be administered through swallowing and does not need to be taken with water.

Secondly, drinking water immediately after taking some medicines may weaken the efficacy. For example, some medicines for treating stomach problems and diarrhea, such as potassium bismuth citrate and montmorillonite powder, will form a protective film in the stomach or intestines to exert their efficacy after oral administration. If you drink a lot of water at this time, it will affect this protective effect. You can take the medicine with a small amount of water.

For some antidiuretic drugs, it is not advisable to drink too much water after taking them orally, otherwise it may cause water retention and pose a health and safety risk.

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Drink plenty of water after taking these medicines

It is not advisable to drink water or drink more water immediately after taking some medicines, but on the contrary, you should drink more water after taking some medicines to better ensure the efficacy of the medicine and improve the safety of medication.

For example, drugs that lower uric acid, especially those that promote uric acid excretion, such as benzbromarone, should be taken with plenty of water after taking the drugs to promote uric acid excretion through frequent urination, so as to avoid accumulation of uric acid in the urinary tract and reduce the risk of drug-induced uric acid stones. In terms of medication time, such drugs should also be taken in the morning. In addition to drugs that lower uric acid, some drugs that promote stone excretion also have the same principle. During medication, you should drink 2 to 3 liters of water every day to dilute urine and promote stone excretion.

There are also some antibacterial drugs that may cause greater irritation to the gastrointestinal tract, such as tetracyclines, sulfonamides, fluoroquinolones, etc. You should also drink plenty of water after taking the medicine to reduce the possible damage of the drugs to the intestines or metabolites to the urinary tract.

For other antipyretic drugs or drugs that replenish electrolytes for diarrhea, you should also drink plenty of water after taking them. Fully replenishing water can reduce gastrointestinal irritation and the risk of dehydration.

These medicines should not be taken with hot water

Many friends like to take medicine with hot water, thinking that this is the correct way to take medicine, but in fact, many medicines are not suitable for taking with hot water.

First of all, hot water may destroy the ingredients of certain medicines, so such medicines should not be taken with hot water.

For example, some probiotic drugs and oral live vaccines (such as polio sugar pills) may be inactivated by hot water, thereby reducing or losing their efficacy.

Vitamin C, B vitamins, and amoxicillin-type antibacterial drugs should not be taken with hot water. Capsules should also not be taken with hot water, as hot water will damage the capsule shell, causing the capsule to adhere to the esophageal wall or the capsule shell to rupture, causing the drug to be released suddenly, affecting the safety and effectiveness of the medication. All of the above drugs should be taken with warm or cold water below 40°C for better results.

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Finally, I would like to remind everyone that the safest way to take medicine is with water. All kinds of drinks, including juice, tea, coffee, milk, alcohol, etc. may affect the efficacy of the medicine.

Grapefruit juice, in particular, contains furanocoumarins that inhibit liver enzymes. It will significantly increase the concentrations of statins, antihypertensive drugs and other drugs, increasing the risk of medication, so special attention should be paid.

In addition, tea contains a lot of tannic acid, which can combine with certain drugs and affect their efficacy. The protein in milk can form clots with certain drugs, affecting absorption and increasing the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.

If you are not sure whether the medicine will interact with the above-mentioned beverages, the safest way to take the medicine is to take it with warm water.

Author: Li Jin, deputy director and pharmacist, deputy leader of the Youth Studies Group of the Medical Committee of the China Science Writers Association

Review丨Liu Guiyang, Chief Pharmacist, Fourth Medical Center, PLA General Hospital