OT: splitting a medicine tablet in half

[Guest guest]

I just thought I would pass this information along. I asked a doctor

I saw Friday for smallest dose of medicine he proposed I take and

then break it in half to try smallest amount to make sure I can

tolerate it before taking full dose. I do this all the time. Doctor

said okay and wrote Rx for smallest amount. After he left nurse said

if tablet is not 'scored', you may not be getting half a dose that

way. I've never been told this before. She said if medicine is

scored, each half is guaranteed to have the same amount of medicine

in each half. She said if it isn't scored, and you break it, the

half you take may only be filler, and the other half may have all the

medicine in it as there is no effort to distribute medicine evenly

through tablet and typically medicine has a lot of filler it in

because active ingredient is sometimes very small. Breaking the

tablet in half is a way one can save alot of money on medicine. I

buy a stronger dose of migraine medicine than I need, then break it

in half, so prescription lasts twice as long and cheaper for me,

since the lower dose of medicine is almost as high as the higher

dose. Sometimes the migraine medicine half does not work well but

never thought it was because there was no medicine in half I took.

She expressed exasperation with this as she said alot of people do

this save money and don't know it, and also said she felt medicine

doesn't need to be as expensive as it is. Nurses may have more of a

need to know this than doctors since they are usually the ones

administering the medicine in hospitals and nursing homes, and she

was there to take notes so probably didn't want to say anything since

I was talking to him, not her. Anyway, just thought I'd pass this

along. Actually I've often wondered why some tablets are scored and

some aren't. Hope this helps someone!

[Guest guest]

Great post. This is true and is especially when you may be dealing with

medacines that come in from other countries and generics. Best way I can explain

it is it is the difference of mixing a cake with a small spoon for a few seconds

and useing a blender. Most of all pills are fillers.

 

Thanks Barb