You’ve probably found yourself in this scenario before: It’s the middle of the night, and you suddenly wake up with a pounding headache. You stumble around trying to find any kind of pill that will squash the pain fast, so you hopefully wake up feeling a bit better. Perhaps you “dry” swallow the medication without water—or you glug it with a drink but lie back down instantly.
But that’s a potentially risky thing to do, and a recent TikTok highlighting the possible dangers of taking medicine the wrong way explains one reason why. The video, posted by content creator and video producer Lucie Fink, shared the story of “a friend of a friend of a friend” who popped an over-the-counter pain reliever without water during the night, went back to bed, woke up with it lodged in their throat—and then had to be rushed to the hospital. The reason? The pill had burned a hole in their throat because “it was just sitting there.” “It really stuck with me,” Fink said in the video, which has garnered more than 459,000 views. And, well…same.
So, how (and why) does this happen? To find out why it’s so important to take pills with plenty of water, SELF spoke with a pharmacist for their tips.
Here’s why “dry” swallowing pills can be potentially dangerous.
It’s true, what happened to the person in the TikTok story can happen to anyone, Matthew Britt, RPH, a pharmacist at Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF. “Taking oral medications with water is important to ensure that the drug passes through to your stomach and small intestine and does not become lodged in your throat,” Britt says. “This will allow the medication to be absorbed properly in the body and produce the desired effect.”
You should also avoid crawling into bed, heading to the couch for a nap, or lying down at all right after taking any pills or tablets. That’s because “certain medications can cause irritation or damage” to the esophagus or your intestines if you don’t take them with a full glass of water and remain upright, sitting or standing, for at least 30 minutes after you swallow the drug, Britt says.
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In “extreme cases,” Britt explains, dry swallowing pills can sometimes lead to ulcers—which are crater-like sores that form when a layer of skin or tissue is removed—in any part of the digestive system. When this happens in the throat, it is called pill or drug-induced esophagitis, and a 2014 paper published in the Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology found that “almost every kind of drug” can cause this type of ulcer, especially doxycycline (a commonly prescribed antibiotic). Over-the-counter pain relievers like aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium, and acetaminophen are also frequent culprits. Why? The residue or coating from the medication also gets stuck in the throat when the pill doesn’t go down, which can have a toxic effect on the delicate mucosal lining of your esophagus. In other words: It’s definitely worth the effort to find and refill that water bottle.
Can taking pills the wrong way make them less effective too?
Absolutely, Britt says. For example, he says “some medications work best if taken on an empty stomach, and others are more effective when taken with a snack or meal; certain medications should be taken alone to maximize effectiveness,” which is important to keep in mind if you’re juggling multiple prescriptions.
To be on the safe side, you should always have a conversation with your prescribing doctor anytime your medication schedule changes. Then, check in again once you’re picking up your prescription. “Always consult your pharmacist when starting a new medication,” Britt says. “Pharmacists can help you determine a schedule to ensure you are taking all of your medications properly.”
Thankfully, this seems like the kind of thing you only have to hear about once—for Fink, that one story seemed to be enough to influence her habits. “Now every time I take a pill in the middle of the night,” she said, “I drink like 12 ounces of water to make sure I’m really getting it down.”
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Source: SELF
