Antacids

[Papa Verine]

Hey everybody,

I read A lot about the acid blockers like Tagamet being used as potentiators, but will ordinary antacids like Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium Hydroxide (TUMS, Rolaids) work just as well?

Maybe this is a stupid question, I don't know...

[upstate_007]

Hey everybody,

I read A lot about the acid blockers like Tagamet being used as potentiators, but will ordinary antacids like Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium Hydroxide (TUMS, Rolaids) work just as well?

Maybe this is a stupid question, I don't know...

Not that I know of. I have no idea why, I guess its a specific chemical thing. I think it may be because stuff like Tums just acts on what is actually in your stomach while meds like Tagamet affect your body's production of acids and such chemically. That's my best guess.

[Poppylvr]

Hey everybody,

I read A lot about the acid blockers like Tagamet being used as potentiators, but will ordinary antacids like Calcium Carbonate and Magnesium Hydroxide (TUMS, Rolaids) work just as well?

Maybe this is a stupid question, I don't know...
Papa V. one of our pharm techs can explain it more precisely, but no, regular antacids wil not potentiate opiates. The reason cimetidine or Tagament does is that it alters the action of a particular enzyme in our bodies. That enzyme helps the body detoxify certain chemicals, so if the enzyme is busy doing other things, it cannot break down the opiate which will lead to an improved and longer lasting high.
HTH

[I-Nod]

^^^ But... (speaking particularly about poppy tea/ grounds) would the alkaloids be absorbed better if the stomach's pH is at a certain level? Just throwing this out there... I'm, by far, no expert in chemistry or biology.

[resorcinol]

Assuming that GI tract pH has no effect on opiate absorbtion (which probably isn't entirely true), antacids that are simple bases wouldn't work like tagamet. Tagemet works by inhibiting cyp2d6 enzymes.

Amphetamines and methylphenidate are greatly potentiated by simple bases though -- a high GI tract pH increases amphetamine uptake and decreases amphetamine excretion in urine. I find this potentiation to be quite potent; once when I took my daily Focalin with tums it was much stronger. I realized that night that it was probably the tums I took with my first dose that day.