Hot shower make ingested medication act quicker?

Posted by bigdave5659 @bigdave5659, Apr 13, 2022

I have searched the web to find out if what my son thinks is correct. He thinks taking a hot shower every time he takes it will help Tylenol become effective quicker. Is this true, and if so please post an article for anyone else who may be confused? I have seen info online that suggests taking meds with very warm water will help them be absorbed quicker, is that true?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Chronic Pain Support Group.

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Apr 13, 2022

Welcome @bigdave5659, I have no medical background or training but I think I'm with you on this one. I have read that a hot drink will speed up the absorption. This is an older article from 2014 and a small study.

Does a Hot Drink Provide Faster Absorption of Paracetamol Than a Tablet? A Pharmacoscintigraphic Study in Healthy Male Volunteers: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4153977/

I do think this would be a good question to ask his doctor. Did your son mention how he found out that it helps the Tylenol work better when he takes a hot shower after taking the tablet? Did he read about it?

ZeeGee | @fourof5zs | Apr 14, 2022

@bigdave5659

I don't have brain enough to look up articles this morning… not much sleep last night. .. my feeble thoughts:

Yes, medications of any sort can be enhanced or not by a warm shower. .. medications act differently in different environments. I always take my pain medication (oxycodone) and sometimes generic Tylenol an hour or more after or before my shower. Food and drinking warm beverages can also cause medications to be absorbed more quickly. With my oxycodone it is sweets… so I am careful about when I eat sweets too. I read of an overdose years ago of a woman I believe who had used some type of opioid patches and died after a shower. It pushed too much of the medication into her body at once.

Tylenol does have very serious side effects and you should read up on them and talk with a pharmacist. They are more educated in how medications work than most personal/family care doctors.