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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Is Glipizide Absorbed In The Body?

hi doc, my wife been taking this glipizide xl 10 mg,a round whitetablet for the last 6 months or so,till she found out accidentally that this tablet came right back out from her stool,without dissolving the whole thing, except just the white part outer layer of the tab. The inner orange and brown parts together was as hard as a rock. I put a tablet into the water to test it out and found that the outer white part dissolved after an hour or so, but the orange part of the drug took about 2 days to dissolve and it was like a thick mucous sticking on the glass surface. The brown part of the pill did NOT dissolve at all even after 3 days as of today, and it seems like there is a thick membrane coded on it........! Is this medication suppose to work like that or does it really work in your body at all to control the sugar level...?Thanks so much, Paul Wong
Tue, 3 Jun 2014
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Diabetologist,  's  Response
Hi sir, I had gone through your query and understood your concerns.

Sir, Glipizide is an oral diabetes medicine that helps control blood sugar levels by helping your pancreas produce insulin.

The Glipizide XL means extended-release tablet. It is designed to provide a controlled rate of delivery of glipizide into the gastrointestinal lumen which is independent of pH or gastrointestinal motility.

The function of the Glipizide XL extended-release tablet depends upon the existence of an osmotic gradient between the contents of the bi-layer core and fluid in the GI tract. Drug delivery is essentially constant as long as the osmotic gradient remains constant, and then gradually falls to zero.

The biologically inert components of the tablet remain intact during GI transit and are eliminated in the feces as an insoluble shell.

This inert nut shell is what you have seen.

Hope this guides you. For any other queries you can write to us. we will be happy to help you. Thank you.
Dr Phanindra Dulipala
Diabetologist.
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How Is Glipizide Absorbed In The Body?

Hi sir, I had gone through your query and understood your concerns. Sir, Glipizide is an oral diabetes medicine that helps control blood sugar levels by helping your pancreas produce insulin. The Glipizide XL means extended-release tablet. It is designed to provide a controlled rate of delivery of glipizide into the gastrointestinal lumen which is independent of pH or gastrointestinal motility. The function of the Glipizide XL extended-release tablet depends upon the existence of an osmotic gradient between the contents of the bi-layer core and fluid in the GI tract. Drug delivery is essentially constant as long as the osmotic gradient remains constant, and then gradually falls to zero. The biologically inert components of the tablet remain intact during GI transit and are eliminated in the feces as an insoluble shell. This inert nut shell is what you have seen. Hope this guides you. For any other queries you can write to us. we will be happy to help you. Thank you. Dr Phanindra Dulipala Diabetologist.