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Enteric-coated tablets are oral medications that have a polymer coating. This coating helps prevent stomach problems associated with pain medications like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
Enteric-coating also helps prevent your stomach acids from making certain medications ineffective.
This article discusses enteric coatings on medications like NSAIDs and what their purpose is.
What Are Enteric-Coated Tablets?
Enteric-coated tablets are coated with a polymer coating, often a derivative of cellulose or acrylic acid. The specific coating is chosen based on how and if it breaks down in different pH environments.1
Your stomach is very acidic, with a pH of between 1.5 and 2.0.2 The first part of your small intestine has a pH of around 6, which is much less acidic than your stomach.3
Some medications won’t work if they break down in an acidic environment. The purpose of the enteric coating is to protect the medication until it moves into your small intestine. This helps maximize its absorption and increase its effectiveness.
For some medications, the enteric coating also helps protect your stomach from becoming irritated and damaged by the medication itself.
How do I know if a pill is enteric-coated?
Enteric-coated tablets typically have the letters EN or EC at the end of the medication name.
Preventing Stomach Ulcers
When you take NSAIDs, an enteric coating helps protect your stomach from irritation. Examples of NSAIDs include:
- Advil (ibuprofen)
- Aleve (naproxen sodium)
- Bayer (aspirin)
- Zorvolex (diclofenac)
- Mobic (meloxicam)
- Celebrex (celecoxib)
NSAIDs are helpful for treating pain and conditions like musculoskeletal disorders and arthritis, but this class of medication is also associated with ulcers and other upper GI tract injuries.4 Along with these gastrointestinal problems, complications including hemorrhage and perforation often occur.
Between 15% and 30% of people who use NSAIDs long-term will develop stomach ulcers.5
One way the pharmaceutical industry addresses this potential complication is by coating the pills. Enteric-coated pain medication is coated with special ingredients that prevent irritation of the stomach lining. These pills usually come in tablet or capsule form.
Enteric-coated drugs do their work by keeping the drug’s active ingredient from releasing until it has gone all the way through the stomach and arrives in the small intestine. The word “enteric” means “relating to the intestine.”
Do you take enteric-coated tablets with or without food?
Most enteric-coated tablets can be taken with or without food, but ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you are unsure.
Increasing Medication Effectiveness
An enteric coating can also help prevent your stomach acids from degrading your medication and making it ineffective.
Examples of medications that can be made ineffective by stomach acid include:
- Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like Prilosec (omeprazole)
- Certain antibiotics such as EryPed (erythromycin)
- Pancreaze (pancrelipase), a medication used to replace enzymes normally produced by the pancreas
- Entocort EC (budesonide), a corticosteroid sometimes used to treat Crohn’s disease