Would one of our experts please clarify taking Adcal and Pred at the same time please. I currently take all of my Pred, Metamorfin, Lanzaprosal and adcal with my breakfast.
What should I be doing? Is the Pred ineffective if taken at the same time as Adcal?
Hi, no you should not take Adcal & Pred at the same time, the Calcium affects the body’s uptake of Prednisolone.
Remember Pred for Breakfast; Adcal Lunch & Dinner.
Thanks Mrs Nails I am straight onto that. Why don’t GP’s tell us that when the prescribe both tablets on the same prescription?🙈
Hi GF
Because they are not always aware of this, we’ve had several discussions over the years on this subject, l know my Consultant told me as l put it as a Reminder in my phone.....
There are often simple interactions with Medications such as Indigestion Tablets that can interact with Antibiotics for example.
A good tip is to always keep to the same Pharmacy & it’s a good idea to have a discussion with the Pharmacist about your Meds in general, so you take them at the optimum time.
Kind Regards
MrsN
I took your advice from previous discussions thank goodness. but I am now taking the 2.5 gastro resistant pills plus normal 5m. Do they make any difference to the calcium intake. Maybe I should take all calcium at night?
Hi Joan
They don’t recommend you taking all the Calcium together as your body can’t absorb it, what time do you take your Pred?
Coated Pred doesn’t start to work until it’s past your stomach but if you were concerned maybe take the 1st Dose of Calcium around about 2pm & then after your Evening Meal?
Hope you’re doing OK?
MrsN
As you recommended been taking it lunch and dinner 12.30 and 6.30. but then recently it occurred to me about the coated pred I’ve been taking more of. Trying to taper again. Had a bad flare 9 weeks ago. Terrible leg/buttock pain. Easing now thank goodness and walking more again. Hope you are ok.
It actually probably applies to a lot of things, not just pred: our calcium is as calcium carbonate which is the same stuff as in Tums, it is an antacid. A lot of medications need an acid environment to be absorbed properly. But as well as that it seems the calcium carbonate somehow coats the pred tablets and interferes with them breaking down and being absorbed.
Doctors seem blissfully unaware of these problems: my husband was put on one of the new anticoagulants instead of warfarin despite being on a heart medication that stops the body excreting the anticoagulant. The result is that the level doesn't fall as far as they expect and just keeps climbing - he ended up with 10x the level it should be, had a GI bleed and was very ill. Luckily the surgeons realised - even more luckily our hospital is able to do a blood test to estimate these levels! It took a couple of weeks for it to fall to a safe level.
It made me think about my anticoagulant - and the head of the lab at the hospital who was sorting OH's warfarin dose out offered to check what was happening with my medication. We found that with the dose I was on and taking both tablets at the same time, the anticoag was going up to nearly 50% higher than was safe. We switched from 150mg to 110mg - better but still far too high and worked out that I needed the lower dose and then had to take the heart medication at least an hour later, preferably 2. That means a very defined timetable for medications, 5x a day! It is a bit of a pain - but at least my anticoag is 2x daily as the level falls quite quickly anyway and there is an antidote! The doctor who did the tests circulated the results in the medical department as a warning - all they said was "Ah -so ..." I just hope it sank in!
This tablet timing is scary stuff. My timetable goes something like, Pred at around 02:00. 13mg at present, 2x30/500 Co-Codamols and 1x 20mg Omeprazole at around 04:00 ish sometimes a little later, never earlier and 1x 5mg Amlipodine, 1x5mg Rosuvastatin and one multi vitamin thing around 06:00 or slightly later. Is that a timetable I need to change?
Seems OK to me - unless you want some sleep!!! Is the cocodamol for something other than the PMR? Although, if the omeprazole is purely for the pred, it would probably be more effective before bed so it is acting before the pred hits your stomach.
I take the Co-Codamol just to keep the OA at bay, and yes the Omeprazole is purely for the Pred, so I have no problem with taking that in the evening. In reality I suppose I could probably move the 04:00 tablets to the 06:00ish slot and move all of that slot to the night time.
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