Posted by zinya on July 20, 2003, at 12:13:26
In reply to Re: re: dividing granules,Rx note, posted by noa on July 20, 2003, at 9:50:52
Wow, thank you for this observation!.. Are you one of the monitors of this site? I had asked over a month ago in a post to Dr. Bob for one of the monitors here to confirm this for me or not soon after I started doing it and one wrote back saying he couldn't answer questions like that on the board.
I also had a second question at the time about the specifics of the claim at least one poster made on the board here that it's only at 150 mg that the second-system effects begin, on the norepinephrine / adrenal system. He told me I'd have to get the answers in "the monograph" allegedly somewhere on the site but I couldn't find a monograph. I wrote back asking for a site address and never got an answer. Do you know where this monograph is? Or could you say more about when and how the adrenal system effects "kick in"?
If I understand from the PDI which I finally got yesterday from the pharmacy, 92% of each dosage goes toward serotonin and only 8% toward norepinephrine. So would that mean that it takes getting up to 150 mg before that 8% becomes a sizeable enough amount to start showing a major effect? And, from what it also says, it's sounds like there's some metabolizing catalyst factor (called CYP2D6) (!?!?) that varies in each of us which could impact somewhat (?) how much each of us might need to take in order to reach that same degree of effectiveness for the norepinephrine 8% ?? Would that be an accurate conclusion to draw?
As to dividing the capsules, thank you. The minute I read your post here, I opened one again to look for myself and, sure enough, you're right. I think i'd half-consciously noticed it (I'm always doing this dividing up only at night before taking dose and probably not at my sharpest :) but i didn't register to think about what that implied. Your explanation helps me understand: so it's the degree of coating that even in those millimeters of difference of thickness which makes them "time release"? How interesting. Even the pharmacist didn't realize that, when I'd asked him.
I appreciate your info and had already been weighing whether I would make the leap next from 100 to 150 or try for 125 next. But given your info, i guess I'll go straight to 150 next for the added reason you point out, although I confess, given how sensitive my body has been, I am a bit apprehensive at such a leap since I've reacted each time I've just gone up even 20-25 mg at a time.
thanks again - and for any of these further questions you are able to answer!
zinya
> Yes, it isn't the outside gelcap that determines the time release, but....
>
> If you look carefully, the granules are of different sizes. I once broke one open and saw the varying sizes of the granules. I believe that the reason for this is that it is the coating on each granule that determines the time release--ie, the thicker the coating, the longer it takes for the active medication to be released.
>
> So, that would mean that you should be evenly distributing granules of different sizes into each of the portions you are making, which makes it a very involved task.
>
> So--this is quite different than the applesauce thing. If you break open the capsule and take all of the granules at once (eg, in applesauce), it is not a problem. But if you divide them up, unless you carefully divide the different size granules (I am not sure how many different sizes there are), you are not getting the proper time release action, and you might be getting very uneven levels from day to day. I think this is the reason for the warning.
poster:zinya
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030718/msgs/243675.html