this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2024
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Aren't there slow-release pills that shouldn't be crushed?
Only EC(Enteric Coated) pills and capsule interiors cause they protect the pill against stomach acid until it reaches the intestine.
If it's got a shiny exterior like an Advil it's Enteric coated. If it's a capsule with EC granules you're gonna have a hard time crushing it anyway.
You're probably not going to have a problem with those though because Enteric coating is super sweet and capsules are usually neutral in flavor, so there's not much reason to try and hide the bitterness. For everything else there's no real functional difference between a smashed pill and a whole pill in your stomach.
Edit: You should definitely consult with a pharmacist or even better a compounding pharmacist about this if you're not sure what kind of pill you're looking at, though.
I would suggest you [the reader] ask your doctor before actually doing this, just so you don't accidentally overdose someone (especially kids, who are more sensitive to dosage)
(I am not a doctor)
Yea I should have put an asterisk.
I'd go further and say you should ask a pharmacist about questions like these. Even better is to ask a compounding pharmacist, as a doctor or retail pharmacist might just recite the pharmacopeia to you while a compounding pharmacist will probably explain in more detail (likely as a play to offer their services lol).
There's ER and other formulations you wouldn't want to crush, it's not just EC to avoid.
So it technically depends on the extended release formulation, so from a layman's perspective, yes you should likely ask your doctor or even better ask a compounding pharmacist (as a general rule if you have questions about medication you're better off asking a pharmacist rather than a doctor.)
Given that...
From a technical perspective the only definition of extended release is a lag phase after ingestion. This means there's no immediately discernable difference between delayed release through anti-dissolution coating and slow dissolution through a hard-to-dissolve substance. (Even when you read something like two different pills saying delayed release vs extended release, there's no legal difference and the FDA doesn't give a fuck about the naming. This might be different in other countries so Americans benefit from other Country's health systems in naming. I'm not sure.)
Coating-type pill formulations should not be crushed.
Suspension-type formulations actually can be crushed to a certain degree. Typically humans aren't going at the pills like crazy in a mortar and pestle and don't have the strength to separate the suspension properly so it'll still have a slowed release effect. But yea if you smash them too hard then yea you can actually mess up the way that works.
Yes. Most ER/XR/CD/EC shouldn't be. There's some others that shouldn't. Good to ask a pharmacist.