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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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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