Stacking (medication)

Stacking (from the English stack, stacking ) is a common method of combining several drugs one after the other to achieve a greater effect than with one drug alone. This makes it possible to minimize the total dosage (and thus undesirable side effects). Stacking is e.g. B. common when using anabolic steroids in order not to burden the liver too much or to unnecessarily increase the costs by lower doses of various substances . Since there are 17 different subgroups of these performance-enhancing substances, there are a number of possible combinations. Stacking must be distinguished from the simultaneous use of several drugs, which can easily lead to multiple drug resistance .

When stacking insulin , it is important to ensure that the various drugs have a different duration of action ( half-life ). Even if the use of different active ingredients is recommended because of the fewer side effects, the different duration of action complicates an appropriate dosage.

In post-operative pain therapy , the stacking method is used in order to be able to keep the total amount of opiates within limits through the simultaneous use of different substances with different receptors. Stacking is seen in health economics as a method to reduce drug consumption.

Individual evidence

1. ^ AJ Trenton, GW Currier: Behavioral manifestations of anabolic steroid use. In: CNS Drugs. 19 (7), 2005, pp. 571-595; Steve Gallawax: The steroid bible. 3. Edition. BI Press, Sacramento 1997, ISBN 1-890342-00-9 .
2. ^ T. Heise, LF Meneghini: Insulin stacking versus therapeutic accumulation: understanding the differences. In: Endocr Pract. 2014 Jan-Feb; 20 (1), pp. 75–83.
3. ↑ Simon Law: Achieving postoperative pain control. In: Phoebe Syme et al. (Ed.): Challenging Concepts in Anesthesia: A case-based approach . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, pp. 201-216.

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !