From my understanding, an antidepressant being in a capsule changes it to an extended release. How? Wouldn’t the stomach acid degrade the capsule at the same time, leading to the medication inside being absorbed at the same time?
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My doc explained its the composition of the little pellets in the capsules. Some dissolve and get absorbed in your stomach, others at different parts of the intestines.
There are many ways to delay the release rate of medication with or without a capsule. Look at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified-release_dosage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified-release_dosage) for examples.
Capsules are also used to deliver medication without the intent to slow down the release. If the medication is a liquid it is a simple way to have a single dose. If the medication irritates your mouth and throat it can be a way to stop that and the capsule just dissolves in the stoma. There are other reasons too.
So if you what to know how it works for a specific druog post its name.
There’s a few different mechanisms for achieving a “slow-release” medicine, here’s an easy to understand one:
Some capsules will contain a casing inside that has a small aperture at the end. Inside of this aperture, you’ll find medicine with a spongy substance behind it. The capsule keeps this aperture safe and clear until it hits your stomach, upon which it dissolves and allows the aperture to release its cargo. As the spongy material in the casing becomes hydrated, it slowly expands, thereby pushing the medicine out of the aperture at a steady rate rather than all at once. The casing then eventually dissolves as the medicine runs out. Slow-release Ritalin often uses this sort of approach.
Here is an example of one of the earliest methods.
1. Take a medication that lasts for four hours and measure out five doses.
2. Form it into tiny spheres.
3. Take out a four-hour dose and set it aside.
4. Coat the remaining spheres with wax that will take about four hours to dissolve and release the medication.
5. Take out another dose.
6. Repeat until you have all five doses laid out.
7. Put them all in a capsule.
So, when you take the medication, you get a four-hour dose, then another one when the first coated spheres dissolve in four hours, then another in eight, and another in twelve, and so on.
These days it is not uncommon to create a powder that is actually sponges that just release slowly for 20 hours, or to mix powders each of which dissolves at a different rate.
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