does eating actually block pills from getting into your body?

[falsifiedhypothesi]

I've always wondered if eating near the same time as taking a pill by mouth actually lowers the amount of the drug that enters your system. It definitely takes longer to kick in but does it actually lower blood concentrations?

I'm specifically talking about tramadol right now but this question applies for all drugs. I'm trying to stave off withdrawals for this week since I'm going sky diving and don't want to be hazy from withdrawal while jumping from a plane.

 

[MrRoot]

If it is absorbed through GI tract then taking it on empty stomach will definately lower the tMax (meaning time for highest amount in your blood) and taking it with meal might as well affect AUC (Area under curve=total time and amount of drug in your blood).

These are pretty well documented during different trials and animal tests and you can find info for any specific drug by typing "spc drug name" into google, opening a link with summary of product characteristic (=spc) and then going into pharmacokinetics part of it.

 

[Kittycat5]

Depends on the drug. For many, just the rate but not the extent is decreased. Some, like griseofulvin, an antifungal actually have increased absorption with fatty foods.

For tramadol, it makes no difference.