Injection vs oral equivalent

Medications
1

Hi. I have been on Risperdal consta injections of 37.5 mg every 14 days. This equates to approximately 2.67 mg/ day.

I am now switching to oral medication, and my psychiatrist is telling me I have to take 2mg in the morning and 2 mg at night, meaning 4mg a day. This is about 56mg/14 days, way above what I was getting by injection.

My psychiatrist said some of the medication gets lost when it is digested. Does this seem like an appropriate conversion?

Thank you,
Andrew

2

It is true. Direct injection is the best rate of absorption, followed by liquid medication, followed by pills.

3

Also, with pills, you need a bit extra because things like what you ate, what time you took the pill, how much water you’ve had, etc, all affect the rate of absorption for pills.

4

When I was on risperidone tablets I only took 1 in the morning. I’m on injection now.