Medicines and Dehydration “Medicine Sick Day Guidance”
Dehydration is due to a loss of fluid from your body. Vomiting, diarrhoea and fever (high temperature, sweats, shaking) can make you dehydrated. If you are sick once or have diarrhoea once, then you are unlikely to become dehydrated. Having two or more episodes of vomiting or diarrhoea or having a prolonged fever can lead to dehydration.
Taking certain medicines when you are dehydrated can result in you developing a more serious illness.
Medicines and dehydration information
Medicines that make dehydration more likely are:
- ACE inhibitors – Medicine names ending in “pril” (eg Lisinopril, perindopril, ramipril)
- ARBs – Medicine names ending in “sartan” (eg Losartan, candesartan, valsartan)
- NSAIDs – Anti-inflammatory pain killers eg Ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen
Medicines that can stop your kidneys working if you are dehydrated are:
- ACE inhibitors – Medicine names ending in “pril” (eg Lisinopril, perindopril, ramipril)
- ARBs – Medicine names ending in “sartan” (eg Losartan, candesartan, valsartan)
- NSAIDs – Anti-inflammatory pain killers eg Ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen
Medicines that make you more likely to have a side effect called lactic acidosis if dehydrated
are:
- Metformin – A medicine for diabetes
- SGLT2’s – Medicine names ending in “gliflozin” (eg Canaglifozin, Dapagliflozin, Empagliflozin)
“Medicine Sick Day Guidance”
If you develop a dehydrating illness, then it is important that you discuss your condition with a medical professional. This may be your GP, Nurse or Pharmacist. You may be advised to discontinue taking medications which lower your blood pressure for a short time and a blood test will be arranged to check your kidney function.
Remember to keep drinking small amounts of fluid regularly on your sick days too. If you are only passing small amounts of urine you may need admission to hospital and you should alert your GP to this. Please do not delay calling your GP or the out of hours service if your urine output decreases to only small volumes.
If you would like to know more and feel you are becoming dehydrated due to your medication, speak to your local pharmacist.
NHS information about dehydration
You can also visit the NHS website to learn more by clicking on this link today.
Clinical pharmacists
Learn more about clinical pharmacists and how they can help you by clicking on this link.
