The cellulose idea sounds good too, in fact, it would probably be way easier. Just mix the supplement with the powder, and stick it in a capsule. Part of it would release immediately, and part would be trapped in the sticky mass.
The lecithin/wax idea would be like a stomach-acid-proof coating, if you need to deliver something (like selegiline) that doesn't handle acid very well. If you want to do this, you could use a double-boiler to heat the wax and lecithin together. Now that I think of it, liquid lecithin would probably be a better idea, because you wouldn't have to complicate the proportions by also adding oil. I'd start with about 3/4 paraffin wax with 1/4 liquid lecithin, and see if that melts somewhere around or just above body temperature.
Really, what you want is for the wax/medicine/lecithin mixture to be very soft at body temperature, so the bile acids in the small intestine (which are like soap or detergent to dissolve fatty foods) can gradually dissolve it, but not so quickly that it behaves like an instant-release. That's why a final melting point of around 100-105 would be good, because if it was liquid at body temperature, the sustained release wouldn't be very sustained.
As for neutralization, I'm now thinking that this wouldn't really be necessary. It would create far more problems than it would solve. So forget about that, because it complicates things for no good reason.
Really, I think the cellulose idea is easier than the wax idea, and would work quite well for many substances. I'd try it first if I were you. It would be really simple -- mix powdered medication/supplement together with powdered cellulose, and stick it in capsules.
The only problem would be with substances that are very bulky, since you'll need to use way more cellulose powder than supplement powder to extend the release. If you wanted to make a sustained-release piracetam dose of 4 g, for example, you'd have to mix it with something like 10-20g cellulose powder. God only knows how many pills you'd have to take! But for something like caffeine or picamilon, with doses in the tens to low-hundreds of milligrams, you could fit a hefty dose into 1-3 medium/large capsules. (I forget whether those are the 0 or the 00 capsules... I'm thinking of the ones that usually fit about 800-1100mg piracetam per capsule... surely someone here knows which size that is?)
You are a fricking genius. Cellulose sounds like a bad idea by itself because the mixture I want is about 660mg medicine currently in my ADHD stack: 350mg DMAE Tartrate, 200mg Pramiracetam, 50mg Picamilon, 25mg Hordenine, 25mg DMAA, and 10mg Huperzine 1%. A 000 capsule will hold about 1350mg. I was thinking that I could take two capsules at a time 2x a day.
The main reason for this is the sustained hordenine release is a crazy cheap NRI, especially when mixed with caffeine or DMAA due to it's MAO substrate qualities. The second reason is that the DMAE effects as a light circulatory stimulant diminish fairly quickly. I could eat that stuff all day. I think it goes right through me, so a sustained release would help keep it in my blood stream a bit longer, possibly providing better long-term benefits like lipofuscin removal, DNA repair, and antioxidation. Lastly, the Pramiracetam effects seem to only last 4 hours, and I'd like that to be more like 8.
On a side note, Picamilon seems to be a great supplement to take the edge off stimulants... haven't found this quality in many other things besides plain old B Vitamins and a good meal. 100mg was almost knocking me out, so I cut back and saw a huge increase in energy and mental capacity. It's like a balancing act with GABAergic supplements. To get these all released at the same time would be saweeet, so that I can have that synergy all the time and not have everything bell curve at different times.
Anyhow, I can't wait to try the lecithin/wax combo. Would adding a little cellulose to the outside harden it up for a timed release? What about tapioca dextrose?
Edited by devinthayer, 16 June 2011 - 03:35 AM.
