In order for a patient to get therapeutic, pain-relieving, or other beneficial benefits from a prescribed prescription, doctors and pharmacists must prescribe it. You or a loved one may benefit from these impacts and other prescribed therapies in the therapy process.
If you want to get the most out of your prescription, you must follow the directions exactly, taking it at the precise time of day, and for the prescribed length of time.
Medication Adherence, which are also known as patient compliance or patient adherence concerns, can lead to life-threatening and even deadly outcomes when drugs are not taken as prescribed. It’s also estimated that as many as 50% of patients don’t follow the dosage or frequency guidelines that come with the medicines they take. Dysphagia, a disorder in which patients have difficulty swallowing or taking oral drugs, is the most common cause of non-compliance. If these situations sound familiar, sublingual medications may be a good solution for you.
What is Sublingual Drug Administration?
Sublingual administration of drug refers to the placement of drug under the tongue (Rehfeld et al., 2017). The sublingual route bypasses the first-pass metabolism and hence facilitates rapid absorption of the drug into the systemic circulation. Drug directly reaches the systemic circulation using blood vessels.
Compounding pharmacies such as Myerlee Pharmacy can work with you or your physician to custom mix a variety of drugs in sublingual form, which eliminates the need to swallow them—making medication adherence easier than ever. As previously stated, medications that are well-suited for sublingual delivery may offer a desirable alternative to the more often used oral formulations of the same medications.
This concise guide to sublingual tablets will provide additional information about the most common oral medication issues encountered by patients, the benefits of sublingual medications in resolving them, the different types of sublinguals available, the best steps for taking a sublingual medication, and which medications can be taken sublingually.
Advantages of Compounding Sublingual Medications
Due to their sublingual administration, sublingual drugs present several advantages over the traditional formulations of the same medications. Advantages include:
- Quick absorption. Unlike oral drugs, which must be chewed, swallowed, digested, and absorbed through the gastrointestinal system before entering the bloodstream, sublingual pharmaceuticals are administered beneath the tongue. They swiftly disintegrate on the mucosal membranes behind the tongue and penetrate the small blood vessels directly. Sublingual medicines can enter the bloodstream considerably more quickly than oral medications do through these capillaries.
- Predictable potency. Oral drugs frequently lose their effectiveness when exposed to stomach acids and liver filtrations. In comparison, sublingual pills deliver the whole dose of drug directly into the circulation, bypassing the liver. As a consequence, physicians may prescribe lower doses with the assurance that they will achieve the targeted objective.
- Interactions with other drugs and meals are minimized. Sublingual doses of medication skip the stomach and its contents on their way to the bloodstream since they are delivered and absorbed beneath the tongue. As a result, sublingual medicines have no pre-absorption interactions with meals or other medications. The dose does not interact with other drugs or cause stomach upset as other oral medications do.
- Ease of administration. Individuals with swallowing difficulties or pill aversions may avoid taking drugs due to the stress generated by oral medications. Sublingual variants of the same pharmaceuticals can significantly simplify the process of taking prescription prescriptions, as the pill does not need to be swallowed. Sublingual pills, on the other hand, are appropriate for delivery in patients who are unconscious and unable to swallow.
What Should I Be Aware of When It Comes to Sublingual Drugs?
For all of the reasons described above, sublingual medications can assist you in achieving the degree of compliance essential to guarantee that you receive all of your medication’s therapeutic, pain-relieving, and other treatment advantages. However, to achieve the greatest therapeutic effects, you must still follow a few sublingual drug best practices.
Recommendations for effective sublingual administration include the following:
1. Drink plenty of water prior to administration.
10 to 15 minutes before to inserting a sublingual pill, drink lots of water. This step ensures that you create enough saliva to dissolve the pill.
2. Insert the tablet into the proper area of your mouth.
When it’s time to insert the pill, confirm with the pharmacist whether sublingual or buccal (cheek) placement is recommended. To administer sublingually, slip the pill beneath your tongue and wait for it to dissolve. Place the pill between your cheek and gums for buccal administration.
3. Avoid washing the drug away.
After the pill has dissolved, wait at least 30 to 45 minutes before eating or drinking. Food and liquids might dilute your dosage, resulting in diminished results or the recurrence of your symptoms.
4. Avoid blocking absorption.
Brushing your teeth immediately before or after placing your medication is not recommended. Additionally, for two hours before and after taking your prescription, refrain from smoking or chewing tobacco. Both of these actions may impair the medication’s absorption via the mucosal membranes of your mouth.
5. Learn what to do if you forget to take your medication.
While many medications may be taken within a one- or two-hour window if you miss a dosage, some require a more rigid regimen. If you’ve forgotten to take your medicine, contact your pharmacist to obtain exact instructions for your dosage and medication.
Which Medications Are Sublingually Administered?
If you have an aversion to pills, trouble swallowing, or any of the other side effects associated with standard oral medications, sublingual formulations may be an appropriate alternative. Regrettably, not all drugs are available as pre-made sublingual tablets. Many drugs, however, may be compounded into sublingual formulations by a compounding pharmacy.
The majority of drugs are created in this manner. Sublingual formulations are advantageous for testosterone, zolmitriptan (Zomig), estradiol, and, in particular, nitroglycerine tablets, which dissolve beneath the tongue in the case of angina or a heart attack. A compounding pharmacy can determine the optimal sublingual form for your requirements based on the kind and nature of the prescription, including:
- Tablets—similar to conventional oral pharmaceuticals, tablets are frequently packaged in pill bottles or blister packs. Tablets are administered sublingually and are easy for administration at any time or location.
- Paper-like or rubber-like film. The film is dissolved on the tongue to provide rapid pharmaceutical distribution.
- Sprays—medications in spray form are sprayed onto the cheek or tongue surface. Sprays, in many situations, enable for faster absorption since they cover a wider surface area of the mouth.
While many drugs are available in liquid form, sublingual liquids are specially formulated for sublingual delivery. Additionally, some are designed to be more quickly absorbed than standard liquid drugs.
Compounded Sublingual Medications in Fort Myers, Florida
The team at Myerlee Pharmacy offer great support and advice for your prescription needs. You can reach us by phone at 239-482-3022 or contact us for any sublingual medications.
