I’ve recently heard the phrase “anything that can be taken sublingual can be taken rectally”.

Is this true and can it be applied to estrogen tablets without a shell/coating? Seems like it would bet the swallowing effect from saliva.

And a follow up question, does it need to be jammed in all the way or just past the sphincter muscle?

  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    shell/coating

    That’s usually an enteric coating - basically protects the medication from your stomach acid so that it can be absorbed in your small intestine.

    For that reason, I wouldn’t think an enteric coated pill would actually be absorbed rectally - it wouldn’t have the acid bath to weaken the coating, and I have no idea how far they normally get into your small intestine before being fully absorbed. With those two factors in mind, my guess is you’d just poop it out eventually, miss your dose, and waste your money.

    …also an enteric coated sublingual doesn’t make sense - sublinguals don’t have a coating, they just dissolve under your tongue.

    follow up question, does it need to be jammed in all the way or just past the sphincter muscle?

    Only suppositories I’m familiar with only have to be inserted just past the sphincter.

    I’d run this by your pharmacist. Easy outcome is the possibility that estrogen is already available as a suppository (I’ve never heard it personally, but doesn’t hurt to ask).

    Different routes also often have different dosing. 10mg IV vs 10mg PO are going to hit different - unsure if it’s a 1:1 for sublingual vs rectal.

    But yeah, I’d take internet strangers’ advice (including this post) with a hefty grain of salt on this one, and instead go straight to your pharmacist.