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<\/p>\nAppearing on BBC Morning Live, Dr Kasim Ahmed said it can be ‘really, really dangerous’ for people failing to take the advice<\/p>\n
08:12, 27 May 2026Updated 10:05, 27 May 2026<\/p>\n
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Appearing on BBC Morning Live, Dr Kasim Ahmed said not taking medication with or without food depending on advice could be dangerous(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n
A BBC doctor has given a warning to anyone taking aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, metformin and lithium – and said that when you take it, it is vital. Appearing on BBC<\/a> Morning Live Dr Kasim Ahmed explained that some medications can cause serious stomach problems if not taken correctly<\/p>\n He said that drugs such as ibuprofen, neproxin, metformin and letharoxine are some of the worst for the issue – and emphasised that if the instructions and pharmacist say it needs to be taken with food, then people really need to take heed.<\/p>\n Host Gethin Jones asked: \u201cWhat are the medications that shouldn\u2019t be taken<\/a> on an empty stomach then to start with?\u201d Dr Ahmend said: \u201cSo these are big ones that you need to make sure you\u2019ve had something to eat beforehand. The biggest ones are things like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. So those are things like ibuprofen, naproxen, which are notorious for causing issues with gastric acid, potentially causing stomach ulcers, which can be really, really dangerous.<\/p>\n \u201cOn top of that things like steroids which again increased acid production in the stomach. Aspirin works in a similar way.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Prof Tim Spector’s warning for anyone who ate a burger over the bank holiday<\/a>READ MORE: Pharmacist warning for Brits on sertraline, fluoxetine, amitriptyline<\/a><\/p>\n The doctor also named other common drugs: \u201cSome of the NSAIDs<\/a>, such as ibuprofen. So that should be on a full stomach as well. So all of those things really want to have something to eat at the same time. And the other thing is making sure your diabetic medications. So, for two reasons, with diabetic medications, some of them drop your blood sugar.<\/p>\n \u201cSo actually you want to have some blood sugar, something there, so you\u2019re absorbing some sugar. But some of them like metformin, which is probably the most common medication for diabetes, can cause gastrointestinal side effects. So it can cause nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting if it\u2019s taken on an empty stomach. So you want to make sure you\u2019ve had something to eat at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n