Gabapentinoids Gabapentin ER (brand name Gralise), can I just crush the tablets to turn them into 'instant release'?

[TastyGaba9992]

I've commonly been prescribed normal, generic Gabapentin but this time around I was prescribed Gabapentin "Extended Release", Gralise being the brand name.

From what I can tell (and my drug knowledge is extremely basic) the only thing making this "Extended Release" are the tablets are coated in a way that makes it take longer to break down. So therefore I should be able to just crush the pills and it'll be normal gabapentin correct?

I know that there also is 'Horizant' (another extended release version) which is a prodrug of gabapentin, but 'Gralise' is just normal gabapentin.

Gabapentin by itself already takes a while to kick in and I already have my staggering and dose routine down, so I'd rather not have to relearn how the ER version of this drug effects me.

Thanks.

 

[Just a little pinprick]

I've commonly been prescribed normal, generic Gabapentin but this time around I was prescribed Gabapentin "Extended Release", Gralise being the brand name.

From what I can tell (and my drug knowledge is extremely basic) the only thing making this "Extended Release" are the tablets are coated in a way that makes it take longer to break down. So therefore I should be able to just crush the pills and it'll be normal gabapentin correct?

I know that there also is 'Horizant' (another extended release version) which is a prodrug of gabapentin, but 'Gralise' is just normal gabapentin.

Gabapentin by itself already takes a while to kick in and I already have my staggering and dose routine down, so I'd rather not have to relearn how the ER version of this drug effects me.

Thanks.

Tell your doctor it’s not working and to prescribe the other,easy peasy…

 

[pharaoh]

Not the best advice from a harm reduction point of view but there's a reason that extended release tablets have a "do not chew" label on them. If you chew them or crush them (crushing them is harder IME, for example with ritalin as they don't want people snorting it), you will release the psychoactive chemical at a faster rate.

 

[Keif' Richards]

From what I've read, yes, the controlled-release mechanism is the traditional slow-dissolve mechanism without anything fancy.