Sublingual administration

[Stefani2]

Okay, so I've been taking Estrofem under the tongue for exactly 18 days (woot woot, that's exciting). When it works it usually takes about a half hour to fully dissolve. BUUT for me the majority of the time it ends up getting moved around broken up stuck to the sides of my teeth flushed away by saliva or flat out swallowed before it even has time to fully dissolve.

So yes I'm rather lousy at this method of administration but my question is this: is the medicine that gets stuck to the sides of my mouth or teeth, absorbed by saliva, and swallod still absorbed into my system? Cuz I heard "if you taste it you waste it" and I don't want to think I'm sitting here wasting this stuff and then it won't have any effects and I won't find out for months that I've been doing it the wrong way and will have lost all that time and progress. So, yeah...

Should I just swallow? Or should I give transbuccal a go? How long does that take to absorb?

[ZoeM]

The way I think about it, any part of it you sublinguate (sp.) is more effective. So at the least you're breaking even, and any part above that is an improvement.

[Stefani2]

@Miss Bungle,

I try that but it never works. *Sigh* I'll try again. But this seriously seems like it's going to be a pain in the ass to do for....the rest of my life.

@Zoe,

So it is still getting absorbed even it gets stuck to the sides of my mouth/teeth or swallowed? Cuz that's what I'm really trying to find out. I just want to make sure I'm not wasting it (per the saying).

[ZoeM]

@Miss Bungle,

I try that but it never works. *Sigh* I'll try again. But this seriously seems like it's going to be a pain in the ass to do for....the rest of my life.

@Zoe,

So it is still getting absorbed even it gets stuck to the sides of my mouth/teeth or swallowed? Cuz that's what I'm really trying to find out. I just want to make sure I'm not wasting it (per the saying).

Well, it's not directly absorbed, but... It goes through the same process as swallowing it, right? So it's at least as effective as non-sublingual.

[Stefani2]

Well, it's not directly absorbed, but... It goes through the same process as swallowing it, right? So it's at least as effective as non-sublingual.

Well, that's good. I hate to think I've been wasting it all this time. This made me feel better.

Also I may ask other annoying OCD questions like this because I am so anxious about doing this RIGHT. Just thought I'd give you a heads up, lol.

[Megan S]

No need to worry. The estrogen is released fairly quickly, say 10 minutes or so. What you have leftover is the filler, or what held the estrogen itself. This takes a lot longer to dissolve. So when you feel like you aren't getting most of estrogen, you probably are getting most to all of it. It is the saliva (or the mild acidic property of the saliva) which separates the estrogen from the filler. If you have a bunch of mushed up medication in your mouth, the estrogen has been released.

[GendrKweer]

What Megan said, plus: the inside of your cheeks is at least as good as under the tongue for sublingual medication. It's called Buccal administration...basically, most anywhere in the mouth, apart from the teeth, will pretty well absorb anything.

http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/sublingual-and-buccal-medication-administration

[KayCeeDee]

I didn't have good luck sublingually, so I tuck it down in front of my lower teeth and just let it sit there between my gum and lip.

[Sammy]

Huh, and I thought that You should swallow Estrofem, whereas Progynova is for sublingual administration...