Type of XR tablet - has cellulose?

[Solipsis]

I know there are different kinds of retard / extended release tablets like complexed / insoluble salt drug / large particle size drug / the ones with a lasered hole... from what I understand some of them can be a real bitch to turn into instant release while others just have a coating to scrape off.

I have morphine pills which contain methylhydroxypropylcellulose. Do you have any idea if I can tell from that or another ingredient which type of extended release formula it is and how/whether I can 'beat' the formula? It doesn't seem like there are other materials listed that indicate that there is a matrix used that is tough to break down... The rest is just coloring agents etc.

Is that cellulose type stuff just a coating or binder / filler? How do I figure out if I can make them instant release?

The pamphlet says to take every 12 hours, compared to 4 hours for instant release morphine tablets. So it would seem that the extension is a factor 3. So worst case scenario is to just take 3 times an instant release recreational dose and just have it last nice and long?

(It didn't seem like BDD territory with the specific compound / matrix materials discussion)

edit:

I am seeing that it is a gelling agent and retention aid... so it is indeed the compound responsible. Is this just as difficult as Oxycontin new formula?

Also I always wondered about those kinds of matrices, can you just simulate stomach conditions with warm acid, or are enzymes necessary to break it down?

 

[sekio]

I have morphine pills which contain methylhydroxypropylcellulose. Do you have any idea if I can tell from that or another ingredient which type of extended release formula it is

Nope. Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose is basically a water-soluble pill bulking agent, it is not itself an extended release matrix... at least I wouldn't expect it to function that way on its own once it's been smashed!

See if there's a line on the package insert that says "don't split these pills". That's a good giveaway that it's breakable by crushing, increasing surface area and facilitating morphine's release.

There's not enough info here to say whether you can or cannot break the ER. I'm pretty sure that unless it's a new-style OP release you can just smash the pills into dust, dissolve as much of the dissolvables as possible in a rather large volume of water, to avoid colloid formation, and filter to remove insolubles/gels. Then remove the extra water I suppose.

 

[Solipsis]

Thanks very much.

Any reason you can think of why the resulting aqueous solution couldn't be worked up for IM? Like say if first crudely filtered with a coffee filter, then vacuum-filtered (I have 4-12 micron filter-paper and glass-filters as well), and finally 0.2 micron filtered?