Do you know why melatonin (Circadin) is listed to have with food? Hint: the answer is not in your AMH (Australian Medicines Handbook).
First, let’s look at why we take certain medicines with food. In the majority of cases, it’s to prevent gastrointestinal (GI) upset. And the most obvious examples of this are certain antibiotics (e.g. amoxycillin with clavulanic acid) and anti-inflammatory drugs (eg diclofenac).
Probably the next most common reason, to take certain medicines with food is to enhance absorption; for example, isotretinoin.
However, we don’t take melatonin (Circadin) with food for either of these reasons. Is there a third reason we take some medicines with food? Can you think of it?
What about decreasing a medicines absorption rate? Is there ever a time we would want to do that?
“The rate of melatonin absorption following Circadin 2 mg oral administration is affected by food.” And ingesting with food helps to slow down the breakdown of melatonin. This is a desirable effect and the reason why we take melatonin (Circadin) with food. As Melatonin (Circadin) is taken 1-2 hours before going to bed, we don’t need it to work quickly.
In short, melatonin (Circadin) is a prolonged release tablet, designed for sustained release throughout the night and having it with food assist with this.
Posted by Memorise Medicine on August 1st 2018.
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