According to Circadin Summary of product Characteristics tablets should be swallowed whole to maintain prolonged release properties.Crushing or chewing should not be used to facilitate wallowing. Crushing a Circadin® tablet will not damage the active ingredient (melatonin). There are no safety concerns with crushing Circadin®, however it will affect prolonged-release properties of the product.
The tablet matrix maintains its prolonged-release properties as long as it is ingested as a whole. The prolonged-release properties will be maintained to some extent also if the tablet is halved or divided into 4 quarters. If it is crushed it will release melatonin similarly to an immediate release formulation.
Posted in: Dosing and administration
