Health
These medications could make driving dangerous, the FDA warns
It’s become common knowledge that drinking and driving don’t mix — but should you get behind the wheel after popping a pill?
It depends on the type of medication, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
While most medicines are safe to take on the go, some may cause side effects that can interfere with the ability to operate a vehicle or heavy machinery, the agency warned in a notice on its website.
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These side effects can include drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, fainting, lack of coordination, nausea, inability to focus or pay attention, and excitability, the FDA noted.
“Some medicines can affect your driving for a short time after you take them,” the notice stated. “For others, the effects can last for several hours and even into the next day.”
Some medications may cause side effects that can interfere with your ability to operate a vehicle, the FDA warned. (iStock)
Some medicines come with a warning to not operate a vehicle or operate heavy machinery for a certain period of time after taking them.
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“Many different types of medications — such as antipsychotics, anti-epileptic medications, stimulants, muscle relaxants, opioids, benzodiazepines, sleeping pills, some antidepressants, and even over-the-counter medications like antihistamines — can cause side effects that impair mental and motor functions, including fatigue, headaches, nausea, blurred vision, delayed reaction times and visual impairment,” Katy Dubinsky, a New York pharmacist and the CEO and co-founder of Vitalize, a private supplement company, told Fox News Digital.
“These side effects significantly reduce alertness and clear vision, which are crucial for safely driving and performing everyday tasks,” she added.
Some medicines come with a warning to not operate a vehicle or operate heavy machinery for a certain period of time after taking them. (iStock)
Dr. Shana Johnson, a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician in Scottsdale, Arizona, noted that central nervous system depressants can be particularly dangerous for driving — as these medications exert their effects by calming the brain.
“Side effects associated with this calming include sleepiness, loss of focus and fuzzy thinking,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Common examples of this class are medications for muscle spasms (muscle relaxants), pain (opioids), seizures (anti-seizure medications) and anxiety (benzodiazepines).”
Two other classes of medications that have sedating effects are antihistamines used for allergy control and anticholinergics used for bladder control and chronic pain, Johnson added.
Medications that don’t mix with driving
The FDA website includes the following list of medications that could make it dangerous to drive.
- Antipsychotic medicines
- Anti-seizure medicines (antiepileptic drugs)
- Diet pills, “stay awake” medicines and other stimulants, including caffeine, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine
- Medicines that treat or control symptoms of diarrhea and urine or bladder control
- Medicines that treat or prevent symptoms of motion sickness
- Muscle relaxants
- Opioids, including some cough suppressants containing codeine and hydrocodone
- Prescription medicines for anxiety (for example, benzodiazepines)
- Sleeping pills
- Some antidepressants
- Some prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) cold remedies and allergy medicines that contain antihistamines, nighttime sleep aids or cough medicines
- Products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds, including CBD
Some medication side effects can include drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision, fainting, lack of coordination, nausea, inability to focus or pay attention and excitability, the FDA noted. (iStock)
Taking sleep medicines at night can sometimes cause impaired driving the next day, the FDA warned.
“If you take sleep drugs, talk with your health care professional about ways to take the lowest effective dose, when to take the medicines before bedtime, and when it would be safe to drive again after taking a sleep medicine,” the agency advised.
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Allergy medications may contain antihistamines that can also impede driving ability, the FDA added.
“Antihistamines can slow your reaction time, make it hard to focus or think clearly, and may cause mild confusion even if you don’t feel drowsy.”
One doctor tells patients to try a new medication when they don’t have plans to drive — so they can see how it affects them and potentially avoid any dangerous situations. (iStock)
Johnson said the impact of medications on driving abilities may vary from person to person.
“One person may feel no sleepiness with an antihistamine, while another may feel sleepy the whole day,” she told Fox News Digital.
“Seeing how a medication affects you is important to know before driving on it.”
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In her practice, Johnson said she tells her patients to try a new medication when they don’t have plans to drive — so they can see how it affects them and avoid a dangerous situation.
“The risk of medications impairing driving increases if you are on multiple medications with sedating side effects and with older adults,” she added.
Preventing impaired driving
For those who are taking medications, it’s recommended to consult with a health care professional for guidance related to driving.
For over-the-counter medicines, the agency recommends always following directions for use and reading the warnings on the Drug Facts label.
For those taking medications, it’s recommended to consult with a health care professional for guidance related to driving. (iStock)
For prescription medications, the agency recommends following the directions and warnings on packaging, as well as reading the FDA-approved labeling.
“Your health care professional might be able to change your dose, adjust the timing of when you take the medicine, or switch the medicine to one that causes fewer side effects for you,” the FDA stated.
It’s also important to tell your doctor about other medicines, vitamins or supplements you are taking, as it’s possible that they could impact any side effects.
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Researchers have shed fresh light on how a simple, centuries-old Chinese practice could be almost as effective as some medications in lowering blood pressure.
Baduanjin is a form of exercise that’s been widely practiced in China for at least 800 years. It involves a series of eight slow movements, gentle breathing and meditation — and typically takes only about 10 minutes to complete.
In a clinical trial, researchers studied 216 adults age 40 and older with Stage 1 hypertension. Over the course of a year, participants performed either baduanjin, self-directed exercise or brisk walking.
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Researchers found that participants who practiced baduanjin five times per week experienced lower blood pressure within three months.
The results were “comparable to reductions seen with some first-line medications,” they wrote in their report published by the American College of Cardiology.
High blood pressure, if left untreated, can lead to heart attack and stroke. Now, researchers have shed new light on how a simple, centuries-old Chinese practice could be almost as effective as some medications in lowering blood pressure. (andreswd/Getty Images)
Baduanjin also showed “comparable results and safety profile to brisk walking at one year,” the researchers further reported.
“Given its simplicity, safety and ease at which one can maintain long-term adherence, baduanjin can be implemented as an effective, accessible and scalable lifestyle intervention for individuals trying to reduce their [blood pressure],” said the senior author of the study, Jing Li, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Matthew Saybolt, medical director of the Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s Structural Heart Disease Program, said he was surprised by an aspect of the study’s results.
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“I was biased and expected that higher intensity exercise like brisk walking would have resulted in greater improvement in blood pressure than baduanjin, but the effects were the same,” Saybolt told Fox News Digital. (He was not affiliated with the study.)
Dr. Antony Chu, clinical assistant professor at Brown University’s Warren Alpert School of Medicine, was born and raised in the U.S. to immigrant parents — his mother is from Hong Kong and his father is from Taiwan.
Practitioners of baduanjin, such as those in this class, incorporate slow movements with mindful breathing. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)
Having spent a lot of summers in Asia, Chu told Fox News he experienced “the best of both worlds” concerning Eastern and Western medicine, including exposure to the benefits of baduanjin.
“[These researchers] are taking a lot of things that have been commonplace for many, many centuries or millennia and then just applying mathematical modeling and statistical analysis to sort of give [them] some credibility,” Chu said.
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“Western medicine is reactionary,” Chu also said.
He compared the philosophies to a house on fire: Eastern medicine practitioners are more invested in preventing the fire, whereas Western medicine is more focused on “all those things that it would need to do to try to put that fire out,” he said, sharing his opinion.
A new study shows how people with high blood pressure can reduce it without medicine. (FG Trade/Getty Images)
Left untreated, high blood pressure has dangers that are “too numerous to count,” Saybolt said. The risks include increased risks of stroke, heart attack, atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure.
Baduanjin, Chu said, is effective at reducing blood pressure, which he likened to “the water pressure and the pipes of your house,” by calming the nervous system and reducing stress.
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“People are totally stressed out,” Chu said. “And stress reduction is huge.”
Saybolt said the study offers hope for people with hypertension — “and that hope doesn’t immediately have to include pharmaceuticals.”
Baduanjin is easily incorporated into most lifestyles and can be done without equipment almost anywhere and at any time. (Getty Images)
Saybolt added that he’s always advocated for lifestyle modifications, including healthy diet and exercise, “as key therapies for treatment of diseases and to improve longevity.”
With the baduanjin data, Saybold said he is now “more optimistic than ever,” as “we have evidence that a very low impact exercise with mindfulness can yield a benefit.”
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Chu said that translating overwhelming medical guidelines is a big part of his job.
“It’s not to just tell somebody, ‘Hey, your blood pressure’s too high, pick a pill,” he said.
Baduanjin has been a preventative health practice the Chinese have been incorporating into their routines for centuries. (Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images)
“Lifestyle changes” can be daunting for many people, he added.
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“They always make it sound like you have to live for seven years in Tibet on a mountain somewhere, and it’s really not that.”
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His simple translation for the baduanjin study is this: “Close the door in your office and just say, ‘I can’t be bothered for 10 minutes,’ and just focus on breathing slowly and moving your arms or legs around.”
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Gabe Poirot says he ‘met Jesus’ during an 18-day coma
Kayleigh McEnany interviews Gabe Poirot, who shares his extraordinary near-death experience during an 18-day coma in October 2021. Poirot describes leaving his body, encountering Jesus, and witnessing how heaven is a person rather than a place. He also discusses his book, ’18 Days in Heaven,’ detailing his spiritual journey and message of hope.
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Rudy Giuliani, 81, is recovering from a severe case of viral pneumonia that led him into a coma in early May.
The former New York City mayor returned to his online talk show “America’s Mayor Live!” on May 13 and opened up about his health status.
“I feel like I’ve recovered 100%,” he said. “I’ve been home a few days and doing really, really well.”
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Giuliani reflected on his time in the hospital, revealing that he had a “very significant spiritual experience” while he was in a “state of out of it.”
“I would equate it to a dream of being on line headed for — I can’t say headed for heaven — headed for a trial with St. Peter,” he described.
Rudy Giuliani attends the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City in September 2024. The former New York City mayor, 81, is recovering from a severe case of viral pneumonia that led him into a coma in early May. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“And there was a very, very significant intervention by my Peter. I have my own Peter, Peter Powers. Peter J. Powers, my friend of my lifetime.”
During this dream state, Peter said some “very significant words,” which Giuliani made sure to repeat and have others record when he woke up, he shared.
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“As soon as I could, I wrote it out so that I wouldn’t forget it, and it’s meant a lot to me, and I’ve been reflecting on it quite a bit,” he added.
Giuliani was able to discuss his experience with a priest — and plans to share more at a different time.
“I don’t want to embellish it,” he said. “I don’t want to deny what was there.”
Powers and Giuliani reportedly became friends in high school. Powers later served as Giuliani’s campaign manager and his first deputy mayor. He died in 2016 at 72 years old from complications with lung cancer, according to multiple news outlets.
Giuliani was hospitalized in critical but stable condition on Sunday, May 3, due to severe breathing issues.
Giuliani’s doctor, Maria Ryan, told Fox News correspondent Danamarie McNicholl that the former mayor began feeling ill after returning from a trip to Paris, with his breathing deteriorating to the point that he was placed on a ventilator.
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Ryan said his condition turned critical, prompting a priest to be called to his bedside to perform last rites. But by Tuesday, Giuliani’s condition had improved enough for doctors to remove him from the ventilator.
According to political strategist Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s response and exposure to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks later led to a diagnosis of restrictive airway disease.
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani stands with Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and Emergency Management Director Richard Scheirer before dedicating a public viewing platform overlooking the World Trade Center attack site in New York on Dec. 29, 2001. (Kathy Willens/AP)
Although Giuliani and his doctors have not confirmed that he had a “near-death experience,” similar encounters are often reported by people emerging from critical medical situations.
In a 2023 review published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers analyzed more than four decades of reports of near-death experiences, involving more than 2,000 studies and nearly 500 individuals.
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Near-death events were categorized into four types of experiences: emotional, cognitive, spiritual/religious and supernatural.
The research identified common traits in these reports – especially having out-of-body experiences, passing through a tunnel, having heightened senses, seeing deceased people or religious figures, encountering a bright light and reviewing life events.
A detailed view of the 19th century statue of Saint Peter the Apostle holding a gold key, symbolizing the key to heaven, located in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, Rome. (iStock)
Although these experiences can differ by interpretation, the researchers concluded that the heightened senses and improved consciousness indicate that “these experiences are neither dreams nor sleep, nor the disorders caused.”
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“This phenomenon is medically inexplicable,” they wrote, adding that the research points to a consistent pattern that “supports the clarity and authenticity of near-death experiences.”
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed reporting.
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