A Pill Question

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Texas Star

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I'm given some pills crushed, to ease swallowing them. I don't see how they'd dissolve at the same rate as normal pills, although the nurse says they do.

Can one of our pharmacy pro members or other suitable people explain the dissolution and absorption rates, in layman's terms?
 
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PILLS

Not an expert by any means but take a bunch of pills, especially right now. Powder dissolves faster than a solid form. One reason for the so called 'gel caps'. Trust your Nurse, they know what they are doing. :)
 
I think you could possibly answer your own question,,

If you have an extra,, soak that pill in saliva,, (spit)

and, time how long it takes to change to a state that looks like "crushed"

Most likely, that pill will dissolve in 2-5 minutes, whatever even 20 minutes,,

the time to dissolve is a small percentage of the time between doses,,
so, the crushing, in effect, has little effect on your dosage,,

NOW,, if the pill takes an hour to dissolve, ant you take the med every 2 hours,, yes, the dosage will be changed by crushing.

I have only ever looked up one pill (not capsule) that crushing would change dosage.

But, I have only looked at meds that I or someone close to me has taken,, so my research is limited,,
 
I'm not qualified but do have a limited amount of brain power.

It's about surface area. How long would it take to digest a one gram piece of rock candy verses the same piece crushed to a powder.

You're gonna get the medicine quicker but is that OK? Does it mean it's gonna last until the next dose?

It's not an easy question. Best of luck.
 
Rustyt1953 said:
I take 10 pills a day and I have done this experiment. 9 of them (one is a gel cap) will dissolve in water in less than a minute.
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And the pills you swallow aren't going to be dissolving in anything so mild as water or even saliva. They are going to dissolve in stomach acid, which is pretty corrosive stuff, so they should dissolve even faster.
Like SweetMk said, unless the dissolve time is large compared to the time between doses, I can't imagine pre-crushing them is going to make a significant difference.
 
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So, if the normal pill is taken twice a day, 12 hours apart, I'm probably not getting correct spacing/dissolution rates when crushed.

I'll call a pharmacy, but they may tell me to call a doctor, who may refer me to the pharmacy. I've had it happen.

It's just heck to have health problems that require meds...

Elmer Keith told me when in his 70's that it's tough to get old. I believed him then, and more now.

I'm supposed to see a neurologist soon. Maybe he'll have good answers.
 
Hmm. Two pills, 12 hours apart, per each 24 hour day. Since Rusty says 9 of his ten pills dissolve in water within less than one minute, I think there should be no issues with spacing/dissolution rates. (Rusty’s one exemption is a gel capsule.) The dosage per day is the same and the difference in dissolution and absorption rates is negligible, if that, it seems to me.

I agree with BC38. It seems to me, crushed pill or whole pill should not make a difference. I think you need not be concerned.

(For what it’s worth, in Japan medicine/drugs often, not always, comes in little packets of powder which one rips the top off and pours into the mouth, followed by water. Initially struck me as a bit odd, but now I am accustomed to it.)
 
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Texas Star said:
So, if the normal pill is taken twice a day, 12 hours apart, I'm probably not getting correct spacing/dissolution rates when crushed.
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Actually just the opposite. If you take them 12 hours apart, even if the pill were to take 1/2 hour to dissolve, vs. being pre-dissolved (crushed) then the difference amounts to the same thing as taking a pill a half hour early or a half hour late. Since almost all pills dissolve in a minute or two it is really more like taking the pill just a couple of minutes early or a couple of minutes late. Do you ever manage to take them exactly 12 hours apart without even a couple of minutes variation? If not then taking the pill whole vs crushed amounts to less variation in dissolving/absorption rates than the normal time variation between doses.
Make sense?
 
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BC38 said:
Actually just the opposite. If you take them 12 hours apart, even if the pill were to take 1/2 hour to dissolve, vs. being pre-dissolved (crushed) then the difference amounts to the same thing as taking a pill a half hour early or a half hour late. Since almost all pills dissolve in a minute or two it is really more like taking the pill just a couple of minutes early or a couple of minutes late. Do you ever manage to take them exactly 12 hours apart without even a couple of minutes variation? If not then taking the pill whole vs crushed amounts to less variation in dissolving/absorption rates than the normal time variation between doses.
Make sense?
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Yes, and thanks. I guess even solid pills, as opposed to gel caps, dissolve pretty quickly in the stomach.
 
jeffrefrig said:
Some pills are slow to dissolve on purpose, especially those 30-40 mg oxycodone or oxyconton pain pills that are usually given to cancer patients. They usually say on the paperwork not to cut or crush them as it ruins the time-release benefits, which could be bad if it hits you too fast.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Timed release was my concern, although I don't use those specific pills.
 
Texas Star said:
Thanks. Timed release was my concern, although I don't use those specific pills.
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If you need to figure out how fast one of the pills you are concerned about dissolves, just drop it in a glass with 1/2 inch of water in it and see how quick it dissolves. You can still take it by drinking the water with the dissolved pill in it so you don't waste any potentially expensive meds...
 
As a daily taker of many pills, I can confirm what has been said:

If you are getting specific time-release pills, you should be told with suitable emphasis and it should clearly say on the bottle and instructions not to crush them and with what food and liquid to take or not take them.

If it doesn’t and your nurse doesn’t care either, it does not make the least difference whether they dissolve in five or 30 minutes. All that matters is that the stuff gets to the place in your body where it needs to go at the prescribed time intervals.
 
Also, every time I pick up a script they put a "small book" that tells you all about the pill, what not to take while using them, etc., etc. Too many words, not enough pictures! Strange how things change: 45 years ago the pill conversation would be quite different. A conversation in a bar would be one guy who got hurt at work or wherever, the other guy would say "What did they give you for pain?" Not "Are you feeling any better?" Another reason I quit going to bars. It's safer at home all the way around!
 
I don't think the dissolving rate is really the question. It should be, how fast are the pill's chemicals absorbed into the blood stream? As long as the pill's chemical stay in solution, they are just sitting in the stomach but when they enter the blood stream to be carried to where ever in the body is the important time.
 
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