Breaking Open Pentasa Capsules

Hi all,

I can't seem to find a good answer to this: Can you break open the Pentasa capsules and swallow the granules inside or not??

The Pentasa website says that you CAN do this, but I know these are supposed to be delayed release pills so it seems like not a great idea. My GI says he doesn't know (thanks dude). I assume that if the official website says it's ok, then it must be. But if that will make the medication less effective, I may have to continue trying to choke down the gigantic Lialda 4 times a day.

Does anyone have experience with breaking the Pentasa open? Is it the same as taking the Pentasa/Salafalk granule packets? Unfortunately I'm in the US and the Pentasa granule packets are not available here.

Thanks!

My GI said that I could even chew the Pentasa granules if I wanted to. He said that as I have experienced anxiety around taking the oral meds so he was relaxing my 'rules' around taking them a little. But that shows that it's not dangerous even if it's less effective. I guess the idea is some of them will get there even if not the whole lot. He is a fantastic GI btw. I suppose he's not a Pentasa specialist though - in theory he could be wrong but I find it unlikely.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10651656

I agree with DBwithUC and with quincy: you can swallow the granules, but don't chew them.

The capsule shell around the granules is just a vessel to get them into the stomach. The capsule shell dissolves there and the granules are released.

I've been taking Pentasa for years. I sometimes have problems swallowing these horse pills.

I have never tried but have heard you can open them and sprinkle them things but not to chew them.

Hi Andrina,

I'm a little confused about what you're saying. Pentasa granules ARE available in the US as sachets? Or do you mean it's available in capsule form and can be broken open to get the granules that way?

Thanks!

Andrina said...

~ chicken wings ~ said...
My GI said that I could even chew the Pentasa granules if I wanted to.

Sorry but he's wrong. You can't chew those.

I've had a lot of "you can't chew those". Yeah, it says that in the leaflet, and I'm guessing if you chew them and therefore break a lot of them open, a lot of the drug won't go where it's intended, but what is the evidence you guys have that it's actually dangerous to chew them? Do you have any? You know, I've chewed them numerous times, I ain't got no side effects from doing that.

iPoop said...
I know coated mesalamine package inserts say to discard broken and damaged tablets. I've also seen this stated in prescribing guidelines: "The enteric-coated tablet has a special coating to protect your stomach. Breaking the pill could damage this coating." I'm guessing that's the thing uncoated mesalamine is much more likely to upset the stomach or cause stomach pains. I couldn't find as much solid evidence to that as I'd like.

Thanks for looking into this. Yeah, the stomach was the thing that I thought would be the problem if any. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it could irritate the stomach or even cause problems with long term use. I haven't chewed the tablets long term so I wouldn't recommend that. Hell unless you have strange anxieties and psychological issues like I seem to I would recommend just taking them as the doctor ordered :D