What is ivermectin (and Stromectol)
What is ivermectin? An anthelmintic — a drug built to disrupt certain parasites. Oral tablets for people and veterinary pastes share a chemical family. They don't share a fill path.
Stromectol is the US brand film tablet many charts still name. Generic ivermectin is the same active. The chip on this site's lock is often 3 mg. You'll count tablets to a mcg-per-kg target. You won't invent a "one chip fits all" nightstand rule.
Topical ivermectin (head lice, some rosacea creams) aims at local mites and skin. Plasma exposure sits far below oral antiparasitic AUC. Don't swallow cream logic as fasting or weight math for an oral strip. Named uses: what ivermectin treats. Buy literacy: where to buy ivermectin for humans.
How does ivermectin work on parasites
How does ivermectin work on a worm: it binds an invertebrate glutamate-gated chloride channel, holds the gate open, and lets chloride flood the cell. The membrane hyperpolarizes. Nerve and muscle stop firing. The parasite goes flaccid. It doesn't explode on contact.
Secondary invertebrate GABA-gated chloride channels can add to the shutdown. Clearance of a disabled gut worm still takes your host immunity days — paralysis is prompt at the receptor. Stool clocks are slower. River blindness calendars repeat because adult Onchocerca keep shedding larvae. One pulse clears the larvae you have. It doesn't retire the nodule adults. Weight math: ivermectin dosage for humans.
Why labeled doses spare your nerves (P-gp)
You lack the parasite's GluCl isoform in peripheral muscle. Related channels that do exist in mammalian CNS sit behind P-glycoprotein (P-gp, ABCB1) at brain capillary endothelium. The pump throws ivermectin back into blood. Cortex occupancy stays low at the AUC the insert studied.
Collie MDR1 collapse taught clinics what a failed pump looks like: same molecule, different transporter, seizures at doses other dogs shrug off. You're not a collie. Rare ABCB1 variants, barrier injury, and strong P-gp inhibitors still narrow your margin. Ketoconazole, cyclosporine, quinidine, verapamil, some HIV protease inhibitors, amiodarone, clarithromycin — put those names on the same table as the blister. Full hold list: ivermectin interactions.
Empty stomach and the same milligrams
The oral insert wants empty stomach with water. That's exposure control for you. In a volunteer high-fat meal study at a high probe dose, bioavailability rose about 2.5-fold versus fasted. Same tablets. Different AUC. Different work for the pump.
If you've already eaten, don't invent a second swallow later to "catch up." Two wrong AUCs don't average into the studied one. Side-effect vs dying-larva itch: ivermectin side effects.
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Mechanism lives here. A viral indication doesn't. Cell-culture micromolar IC50 numbers sit far above human Cmax on DailyMed-style oral regimens. There's no viral GluCl to occupy. AMA and FDA consumer language stay blunt: oral ivermectin isn't an approved COVID treatment.
Livestock paste is concentrated for large animals. It isn't a human mcg/kg chart. If the bottle says horse, walk away from self-dose arithmetic.
Suspected overdose: Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222.
FAQ
How does ivermectin work?
It locks open parasite GluCl channels so chloride floods in and the organism goes flaccid. Host clearance follows over days.
A prescription antiparasitic. Oral human tablets (Stromectol / generic) treat named worms. Topical products are separate.
Brand oral ivermectin. Same active as generic tablets when the strength matches.
Why is it usually safe for humans at labeled doses?
Parasite GluCl is the primary target. Your CNS channels sit behind P-gp efflux at the blood-brain barrier.
Does food change how it works?
Food doesn't change the receptor story. A fatty meal can raise how much reaches your blood — about 2.5× in a high-fat study — and that narrows pump headroom.
Is ivermectin approved for COVID-19?
No. Not a named oral use for that disease.
Next step: Open what ivermectin treats or ivermectin dosage for humans, or where to buy ivermectin for humans for the Rx path.