Posted by Miguel (209.42.216.170) on February 13, 2000 at 00:29:42:
In Reply to: Observations posted by Todd on February 12, 2000 at 20:01:34:
"If anyone can explain the chemical differences between the injections, nasal spray and tablets, I'd love to learn. The way I read the leaflets,
it's all the same stuff. So how can one form work for you and the other not?"
Well Todd, it is like this:
Injections - Directly into body tissue, without interference from digestion, or nasal mucosa. Very quickly absorbed by the blood stream, and is equally as fast in being distributed systemically. The amount of drug lost prior to getting in the blood stream, or after it has entered the blood stream is the lowest of the three methods. Also, you may attain a higher plasma concentration than with any of the other two methods, thus more durg available to fight the fight.
Nasal Spray - It is absorbed through the nasal membranes, but has to fight mucosa, which will take some and may become either dried up buggers, or if you swallow your stuff, end up in the stomach (sorry for he visual), which leads to the next method
Pills - It usually takes at least 15 minutes for orally-administered drugs to be absorbed and perhaps have an effect. This depends on how readily absorbed, and water-soluble is a drug, and how it associates with other contents in your stomach, your digestive system efficiency, etc... Also, not all the drug taken orally is absorbed. Depending on the "Absorbtion Rate" of the drug, and again how soluble it is in water, you may end up excreting most of the drug as unchaged, or digested (cooked to death by digestion process - break down of the molecule), or urinating some too as it is cleared from the blood stream by the internal organs. This is the slowest and least effective of the three methods you inquired about. It involves several extra-steps before it gets into your blood stream, as well as the time it takes to get there. The amount you take orally is likely a much larger dose than the injectable form, at least in most cases, so it clears the intestinal wall into the blood stream, at least whatever may manage not to get broken down, associated with other contents of your gut, or evacuated in your feces.