Posted by Cam W. on May 3, 2000, at 7:20:35
In reply to Re: Pill Splitting saves $$, but do it right, posted by JohnL on May 3, 2000, at 3:27:13
John & John - Take care with splitting some tablets and actually (although I've done it) I don't recommend splitting capsules.
If you do split capsules, you will have to check with the manufacturer as to which liquid you can use to properly disolve the capsule. The time-released nature of something like Effexor XR might be lost in most liquids, especially if it did dissolve (I am not sure about this with Effexor XR, though). I do not see how you can get an exact dose without some good scales (and what are you doing with scales that good?).
All pill-splitters suck. I find that a sharp-edged knife works the best, but then again, I've never seen a $5 pill-splitter in action.
Caution must also be taken in splitting any drug with a coating. The coating may be a time-release mechanism. It may be an enteric coating made to dissolve in the alkaline environment of the intestine, rather than the acidic stomach (preventing gut-wrenching pain). Or the coating could be protecting the ingredients from sunlight and/or air.
Zyprexa, when split (exposed to air) will start to darken and lose it's potency within a week. Also Zyprexa is fairly caustic to sensitive membranes (Do not get any powder in the eye). On the brighter side, Zyprexa can be mixed with most any liquid (alcohol, I am not so sure about). Actually, mixed in cola, the potency slightly increases (go figure)
All in all, splitting of tablets does usually save money. In the case of Celexa, the 20mg tablet is exactly the same wholesale price as the 40mg tablet (eg minus the dispensing fee). It is much more cost effective to buy the 40mg tablets and split them, especially when precise dosing of a drug is not necessary.
Some tablets (or capsules) are just twice as much for twice the number. A pharmacy can only fill the number of dosages at a certain strength (eg. 15 tabs at 100mg or 30 tabs at 200mg). So, in this situation you save no money and add hassle. Check the prices with your pharmacist first.
The splitting of drugs requiring a more precise dosage (eg many heart meds) should not be done,in my opinion, just for safety reasons. The same goes for drugs with a narrow therapeutic window (where effective dose and toxic dose are close together).
Just some in-house pharmacy chatter - Cam W.
poster:Cam W.
thread:32004
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000429/msgs/32014.html