So it technically depends on the extended release formulation, so from a layman’s perspective, yes you should likely ask your doctor or even better ask a compounding pharmacist (as a general rule if you have questions about medication you’re better off asking a pharmacist rather than a doctor.)
Given that…
From a technical perspective the only definition of extended release is a lag phase after ingestion. This means there’s no immediately discernable difference between delayed release through anti-dissolution coating and slow dissolution through a hard-to-dissolve substance. (Even when you read something like two different pills saying delayed release vs extended release, there’s no legal difference and the FDA doesn’t give a fuck about the naming. This might be different in other countries so Americans benefit from other Country’s health systems in naming. I’m not sure.)
Coating-type pill formulations should not be crushed.
Suspension-type formulations actually can be crushed to a certain degree. Typically humans aren’t going at the pills like crazy in a mortar and pestle and don’t have the strength to separate the suspension properly so it’ll still have a slowed release effect. But yea if you smash them too hard then yea you can actually mess up the way that works.
There’s ER and other formulations you wouldn’t want to crush, it’s not just EC to avoid.
So it technically depends on the extended release formulation, so from a layman’s perspective, yes you should likely ask your doctor or even better ask a compounding pharmacist (as a general rule if you have questions about medication you’re better off asking a pharmacist rather than a doctor.)
Given that…
From a technical perspective the only definition of extended release is a lag phase after ingestion. This means there’s no immediately discernable difference between delayed release through anti-dissolution coating and slow dissolution through a hard-to-dissolve substance. (Even when you read something like two different pills saying delayed release vs extended release, there’s no legal difference and the FDA doesn’t give a fuck about the naming. This might be different in other countries so Americans benefit from other Country’s health systems in naming. I’m not sure.)
Coating-type pill formulations should not be crushed.
Suspension-type formulations actually can be crushed to a certain degree. Typically humans aren’t going at the pills like crazy in a mortar and pestle and don’t have the strength to separate the suspension properly so it’ll still have a slowed release effect. But yea if you smash them too hard then yea you can actually mess up the way that works.