Anti-depressants like Effexor, Prozac, and Zoloft can have a half-life of two to four days. A drug called Aimovig used to treat migraines has a half-life of 28 days. Most illicit drugs have short half-lives, making users more likely to become addicted. Heroin and crack cocaine, for example, can have a half-life for some of just minutes. Marijuana has the most prolonged half-life of about two weeks. If you take prescribed, over-the-counter, or illegal drugs of any kind, you must first understand what you are putting into your body.
Do not take medicine just because a doctor or someone told you it would help ease symptoms you may be having. For one, most drugs create more side effects. Ultimately, you are responsible for keeping your body safe. Therefore, you must educate yourself on everything you consume. Medication Half-life is essential when assessing the effects of drugs, like when they are working and when they are not.
This could lead to overdose. Or, you may take more of an amount than prescribed to avoid breaks in the effects. Again, this could lead to overdose, as well as addiction. Gathering more information on every substance you take is simpler than you may think. Researching medicines on the internet is one of the most common ways to get more information. That is likely how you found this post.
The key to successful internet education is to make sure the materials you read are from legitimate, professional resources. The best way, however, is to ask your local pharmacist for guidance. They are the experts when it comes to all pharmaceutical drugs. The next time you visit your local pharmacy, take time to ask your pharmacist about the medication half-life of the medicines you take. Doing so could prevent adverse health events.
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Factors Affecting Half-Life. Short vs. Long Half-Life. Drugs With Half-Lives. Why Understanding Half-Life is Important. Where To Learn More Share this:. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.
Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. When doctors write prescriptions for medications, they don't just jot down the name of a drug and send their patients off to the pharmacy.
Included on the prescription are details about how much of the medication to take at one time the dose and at what intervals. These instructions, which are very important for making certain the drug is effective and safe, are based in part on the half-life of the medication being prescribed.
As a patient, it rarely is necessary to know the half-life of a drug you are taking. But it can help to understand what this term means and how it might affect you during the time you're on the drug. A medication's biological half-life refers simply to how long it takes for half of the dose to be metabolized and eliminated from the bloodstream.
Or, put another way, the half-life of a drug is the time it takes for it to be reduced by half. For example, the half-life of ibuprofen the active ingredient in pain and fever relievers such as Advil and Motrin is about two hours. It's important to note that the expected half-life of a drug varies from person to person, depending on factors such as age, weight, genetics, and even specific health issues.
For example, the half-life of acetaminophen the active ingredient in Tylenol , can be significantly affected by a person's liver function, since acetaminophen is primarily processed through the liver.
The goal of any medication that will need to be taken on an ongoing basis, such as an antidepressant, is to get it to a "steady state"—in other words, to the point at which the amount that goes into the body is equal to the amount that's eliminated. No matter what the half-life of a medication is, it takes about four times that amount of time for the concentration of the drug to reach a steady state in the body. If the half-life is 12 hours, you'll reach a steady state at the beginning of the third day after 48 hours.
Drugs with a longer half-life take longer to work. But on the positive side, they take less time to leave your bloodstream. Those with a short half-life become effective more quickly, but are harder to come off of. In fact, drugs with very short half-lives can lead to dependency if taken over a long period of time. A drug's half-life is an important factor when it's time to stop taking it.
Both the strength and duration of the medication will be considered, as will its half-life. This is important because you risk unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if you quit cold turkey.
Withdrawal symptoms are caused by abruptly discontinuing some types of medication. When you stop taking one of these, your doctor will recommend a gradual tapering schedule, taking the drug's half-life into consideration. Those with a longer half-life will have a longer tapering period.
Medication side effects occur usually when the blood level of the drug is not in its steady state. That's why it's important to follow dosage and duration recommendations to the letter. Otherwise, the drug will be either toxic more than intended , or not therapeutic ineffective for treatment.
One impact of half-life is found in the SSRI antidepressants. Dealing with racing thoughts? Always feeling tired? Our guide offers strategies to help you or your loved one live better with bipolar disorder.
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