Can Vitamins Interfere with Prescription Medications?
When you take prescription medications, following the instructions provided by your doctor and pharmacist is essential. However, one thing that you may overlook is the impact of over-the-counter pills on your prescriptions. This extends to vitamins. Vitamins can affect the way your medication works, making it less effective or even causing dangerous interactions. When you get a new prescription, you should always check with your pharmacist about any vitamins you currently take, and if you decide to add a vitamin to your regimen, you should clear it with your pharmacist first. Here is a closer look at how vitamins can affect your prescription medications.
Changes in Medication Effects
Vitamins can change the way your medications affect you by increasing or decreasing its impacts. Both of these situations are dangerous. If the effects of your medication are increased, you could experience more intense side effects or you may get a dangerous level of efficacy. For example, if vitamins increase the effectiveness of your blood pressure medication, your blood pressure may drop to a dangerously low level. In some cases, such as vitamin E and blood thinners, the vitamin has some of the same effects as the medications, which also increases the risk of dangerous interactions. On the other hand, vitamins that make your medications less effective than anticipated will prevent you from getting the effects that you need from your medicines.
Special Concerns for Children
Children in particular are at risk of experiencing dangerous interactions between vitamins and medications. This is because the rates of metabolism in children are highly unpredictable and because so many children take multivitamins that contain vitamins that parents may not even be aware of. Any time a child takes a new prescription, be sure to review all of the over-the-counter supplements he or she also takes with the pharmacist.
Downtown Health Mart Pharmacy is committed to ensuring customers get all of the information they need to take their medications safely. Speak to a pharmacist in Ellensburg, WA, by calling (509) 925-1514.
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