Can you take famotidine orally?

Can Famotidine Be Taken Orally?

Yes, famotidine is specifically formulated and FDA-approved for oral administration, available in multiple oral formulations including tablets, capsules, and oral suspensions. 1

Available Oral Formulations

Famotidine comes in several oral forms designed for ease of administration across different patient populations:

• Tablets and capsules for standard oral administration 1
• Cherry-banana-mint flavored oral suspension specifically designed for pediatric use 2
• All three formulations (tablet, capsule, and suspension) are bioequivalent 3

Oral Absorption and Pharmacokinetics

After oral administration, famotidine is incompletely absorbed with a bioavailability of approximately 40-50%. 4, 3

Key pharmacokinetic characteristics of oral famotidine include:

• Peak plasma concentrations are reached within 1-4 hours after oral dosing 1, 4, 3
• Antisecretory activity begins within 1 hour of oral administration 4
• Duration of action lasts 10-12 hours after oral dosing 4
• The oral absorption is dose-independent within the therapeutic range of 5-40 mg 3

FDA-Approved Oral Dosing Regimens

The FDA label provides specific oral dosing recommendations for various conditions 1:

• Active duodenal ulcer: 40 mg orally once daily at bedtime or 20 mg twice daily 1
• Active gastric ulcer: 40 mg orally once daily at bedtime 1
• GERD (symptomatic): 20 mg orally twice daily 1
• Erosive esophagitis: 20-40 mg orally twice daily 1

Pediatric Oral Administration

Famotidine is FDA-approved for oral use in children aged 1-16 years at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day divided in 2 doses. 2

The cherry-banana-mint flavored oral suspension was specifically developed to facilitate pediatric administration 2

Important Considerations for Oral Administration

Antacids can reduce oral absorption of famotidine by 20-30% when coadministered, so timing of administration should be considered if antacids are needed 3

• Famotidine should be taken with food for optimal tolerability in conditions like GERD 1
• The oral formulation is well-tolerated with rare side effects 5
• No clinically significant drug interactions have been described that would preclude oral administration 4, 5

Clinical Efficacy of Oral Administration

Multiple clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of oral famotidine 1:

• 70% of duodenal ulcers healed by week 4 with 40 mg orally at bedtime 1
• 78% of gastric ulcers healed by week 8 with 40 mg orally at bedtime 1
• 69% of erosive esophagitis healed by week 12 with 40 mg orally twice daily 1