Bit of context, I didn’t sleep very well because of allergies. I went to take some allergy medicine but realized my stomach is still heavy from the meal I ate last night, so it may not be the relief I am searching for. To my surprise, the allergy medicine started kicking in rather quickly (I can breathe again).
Does oral medicine bypass food in your stomach? Or does it dissolve and is more dense than the stomach acid and sinks to your liver more quickly? How can allergy medicine/anti-inflammatories/anything work as advertised on full stomachs?
In: Biology
Different routes of administration result in different timelines for therapeutic effects. Medications swallowed will be absorbed by your GI lining (not necessarily “digested” which is why it doesn’t take as long as digestion) and then it has to go through the liver where part of it is broken down (first pass effect) before it returns to your heart via the inferior vena cava and it pumped to the rest of your body. Your stomach is the site of absorption here so it doesn’t have to make its way through your GI system for it to fully work.
Medications absorbed through the mouth mucosa (like under the tongue) get brought back to your heart via the superior vena cava and do not go through the liver. Therefore effects are much faster and typically requires a lower dosage.
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