Posted by chicago77 on October 26, 2003, at 12:01:16
In reply to Re: Don't Cut Your Pills in half children...... » Larry Hoover, posted by SLS on October 10, 2003, at 19:56:22
I don't know if this issue has been resolved yet, but I used to work in pharmacy and know why they say not to cut tablets in half. If a tablet is scored (that is, it has an indentation/line across on side), the med is perfectly safe to "break" in half (I say break b/c you should be able to hold the tablet and break it with your hands). The reason you should not CUT a tablet that is not scored is because the active medication may not be distributed evenly throughout the pill. Scored tabs are manufactured that way... so if you have a 50 mg tab and break it in half, you should have 25 and 25 in each half. If the tab is not scored, you may end up with 20/30, or 10/40, or who knows what. It's really a matter of consistency in your dosing regimen. You shouldn't be bouncing around on your dosage.
Capsules are similar in that it would be nearly impossible to measure out half, but that's not the biggest concern. The powder, liquid, "sprinkles", etc are placed in that nifty little gelatin casing because you are not meant to take the medication "straight" like that. The capsules (as well as other coatings on tablets, syrups, etc) are meant to get the medication to where it needs to be in order to be metabolized properly. So, that's what I know about cutting pills in half. It's not a ploy by the drug companies to make you have to spend more money or anything like that (the drug companies have plenty of other scams). It's a matter of drug safety and efficacy.
I would also like to add that CR, SR, XR, XL, etc. (any medication the has an controlled release) should NEVER be cut in half! This especially goes to anyone who is switching from WB SR to XL. I went from 150 SR bid to 300 XL and was amazed to see that the tablets are actually smaller than the 150s. Then I realized that the active medication is inside this neat little case and will be released over about 20 hours. That's why they mention (and most people don't actually know this for whatever reason) that you should not be worried or alarmed if you see what looks like the tablet you took (but is actually only the coating/casing)... in your stool! I've never personally seen it, but I haven't really looked!! Point being, controlled release tablets and capsules (even if they are not coated- one just popped into my mind) and NOT meant to be cut. If you need a lower dosage, find a lower dosage. If that is not possible, talk to your health care provider or your pharmacist (they can be very helpful and tend to know more about the meds) to see what you're other options are. Hope this has been helpful!
poster:chicago77
thread:50878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031025/msgs/273625.html