Throwing up your meds

[valeriedl]

About a month ago I got really sick. About 3 hours after taking my meds I started to throw up, it was mostly dry heaving though so nothing really came up.

I'm worried because my husband and I stayed at his friends house for a few days. On the day we left his son got really sick and was throwing up almost every hour. Any time he drank anything it would just come right back up. I'm hoping I didn't catch what ever it was that he had, I haven't gotten sick yet, but if I do and end up throwing up my meds what do I do?

[Nakamova]

Call your neurologist if you "lose" more than one scheduled dose due to illness. Depending on the the half-life of your medicine, and how many doses you miss, your neurologist may advise you to go the hospital to get your meds via IV.

[Endless]

I have migraines and they make me nauseated a lot, sometimes throwing up.

I am not a doctor and this is definitely not medical advice, nor to be taken as accurate info until you talk to your own neurologist. My neurologist told me that it takes 1-2 hours for medication to enter the small intestine and be digested and into the system. He gave no advice to me on whether to retake a dosage or not, but my personal rule of thumb has been that if I throw up my meds in under a half hour of taking them and it's something I know will affect me if I don't get it, I take it again. But that may not be applicable to you. You really need to ask your doctor.

I also have strong anti-nausea meds on hand, which I take when it gets really bad.

Your doctor may tell you to do something altogether different. So before it happens try to ask so you have a plan in place.

[Trinity]

I'm on Epilim (aka Sodium Valproate) and my neurologist has told me that if I 'lose' my medication within the first half hour to take it again. Usually, in that case I can see if i've brought it up because it comes up whole but then again it would depend on the medication you take and what form you take it in (if it's medicine form it obviously won't come up whole).

[southernbell]

If I get sick within a half hour of taking my meds & I know that my meds came back up, I just take them again. If I continue to be sick, can't keep anything down etc. I always go to the ER or the walk-in clinic. They usually end up re-hydrating me via IV, giving me my pills to take & making sure that I can keep them down, then they send me home.

I'm not a doctor, but this is what I've done in the past/from the advice of a doctor.

[travel bug]

I just happened to have an appointment with my neurosurgeon for a check up one time when there was a bad stomach flu going around, and I asked him what would happen if I got it and wasn't able to keep my Keppra down. He said it probably wouldn't hurt to lose one dose, but if I was still sick when it came time for the next dose I should probably go to the ER or urgent care clinic for the same reason southernbell stated - re-hydration and ensuring that you get your meds.

But that was a surgeon, not usually the one to get advice about meds from.

I hope you didn't catch whatever it was your friend's son had.