Posted by jlbl2l on June 3, 2004, at 15:47:50
In reply to Fastest way to absorb a tablet taken by mouth?, posted by don_bristol on June 3, 2004, at 12:38:08
Don,
If it comes in tablet form, you can place it under your tongue (this is called "sublingually")
and let it dissolve slowly (depending on your saliva), making sure to move it around in different positions so the drug absorbs equally throughout the blood vessels under the tongue - you want the blood vessels to absorb it directly into the blood stream - that is the goal... similar to an injection almost. this is common with vitamin b12 supplements because they have such poor bioavailbilty when taken orally.this is assuming it tastes tolerable, most meds dont, klonopin brand name for example has a mint-like taste so its bearable...most taste terrible i'm afraid....and some take awhile to break down as well, and it also depends on the size of the tablet, but usually, this works very well.
An empty stomach can be good for some meds, but read your prescription sheet or bottle or check rxlist.com and type in your medication. check what effects the bioavailbilty of the medicine (such as food - it usually gives percentages of the exact interactions food or no food will have), for example, i recently found out that if i take Aleve (naproxen sodium) with neurontin at the same time, it increases neurontins bioavailbility in the stomach by 12-15%! I tried it and it does indeed make 1 400mg pill more powerful, so i can reduce my dosage for neurontin...
As for capsules, you have more limited options. you can pull them apart (As LONG as they are NOT sustained release or EXTENDED release - SAME with tablets!) slowly pull them apart by the ends and the powder will come out, you can place this under your tongue like i said above, but be aware the taste will probably be bad, thats usually why they are in capsules.. this is harder to do, and requires practice (pulling caps apart and getting all the powder in your mouth sublingually without making a mess and then holding it there for quite a bit, and swallowing the stuff that doesnt get absorbed..yuck! - but it can work i have done it with neurontin, safely)
If its a sealed gelcap, there isnt much you can do, except check the bioavailbilty/interactions online, the best resource being rxlist.com - which gives extensive information on drugs...
Another thing people dont utilize (and one of the BEST IMO), is simply gatorade..... thats right.....gatorade. take your medicine on an empty stomach with lots of gatorade....the reasoning behind this is because gatorade is rapidly absorbed with its sugars/electrolyes and distributes whatever is in the stomach (your tablet/capsule) at the same time along with it directly into the bloodstream, sort of like a sugar high. gataorade is a GREAT carrier for many drugs. I have used it numerous times and it comes in handy, i always rec. it as a first line option for absorption.
YET another option is to increase your stomach acid so it breaks down quicker... This is simple. There is supplement called Betaine HCL Hydrocholride) This is stomach acid in a pill form, but its a supplement and inexpensive. Take this about 10-15 min before you take your medicine and your stomach acid will dissolve things quicker. (Keep in mind this may also "hurt" (not damage) your stomach if its empty of food and such...)
Finally, as for milk/water/oil's that is all a bioavailbilty issue (well, water really isnt..unless you dilute it insanely) so you would want to look at rxlist.com for that info or just look on your prescription or the information sheet that came with it - if it says take with food, it probably means that it inceases the bioavailbilty, then again sometimes its just to "buffer" any stomach pains (acid etc..) related to the med, so i would check rxlist.com as well.
Hope this helps, i study bioavailbilty of meds a lot, especially recently, and how to reverse tolerance, which i believe i have found several successful methods recently (with my experimenting with neurontin, i have found how to re-regulate receptors that are up or down regulated) so for all the benzo people (and others) out there, I may be able to help though im still just "reserching" the up and down regulation of meds, we all know time is a variable with many..
My email is jason@triplecow.com if anyone would like to discuss anything further.
Hope this helps!
kind regards,
jlbl2l
poster:jlbl2l
thread:353395
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040602/msgs/353456.html