How long is too long to wait when taking a pill that requires food?

You’re ok.

Thanks @Dutchess_III By the way the potatoes were almost perfect. I will let cool longer, and use more extra virgin olive oil next time.

You can just eat a couple of crackers with it and it’s plenty. You don’t need a whole meal. Drink several ounces of water too. The food is just to protect your tummy. With food you shouldn’t wait long, within 5 minutes if you want it to help.

I wanted to come back and say the pill is probably in your stomach 15 minutes, so food within 15 minutes might still help, but the pill might be out of your stomach before that. You can eat 10 or 15 minutes before the pill also. But within 5 is going to be better.

I’m specifically talking about ibuprofen. Other drugs might be with food for different reasons.

If you ate much later don’t worry about it.

Always take it with food. Back in the day when I worked in pricing at a grocery store and I would have to be in at 4:00 a.m., I remember this one time I took ibuprofen before I left the house. I had about a 30-minute drive before I got to the store and I hadn’t eaten anything. My stomach was not happy at all by the time I got to work and quickly bought a candy bar at the cash register to have something to eat. Never again!

I always eat first, then take the pill.

I believe that 30 min after eating is the recommended time, but you should still be OK at an hour. When in doubt, I drink a glass of milk to coat my stomach as a buffer. Then I take my meds.

^^what recommended time? The pill is already dissolving within those 30 minutes, and if it is an irritant on an empty stomach, it is getting a chance to irritate the stomach lining in those 30 minutes.

There might still be oatmeal in his stomach after an hour. Still, I usually take ibu just as I am eating something. I don’t wait until I’m done eating.