I have been taking metoprolol 25 mg for a couple of months. I would split it in two and take one in the morning and one at night. Recently I asked dr if I could cut dosage in half. He said yes. Well, it is impossible to cut 1/2 pill in 1/2. I have the pill splitter with the v in it that holds the pill. It is a small pill. Even cutting it in half is not accurate. To cut half in half-I have to use a razor blade and it is not accurate. I was at the dr on Monday to check my bp. I told him it is hard to do. I asked should I go back to taking 12.5mg in the morning and again at night. He said no. I am hoping to stop taking this bp med and to avoid taking any other. Trying to eat right and exercise. He did ask if I would want to try another bp med like Coreg. Is that a smaller dosage med? I go back in June for bp check. Any help on how do you split small pills?
Thanks! Pam
Is the drug available in a 12.5 mg pill? I agree, it's difficult to cut a small pill accurately especially if it isn't scored. Maybe your Dr. could prescribe it in a 12.5 dosage.
As for comparing mg and different meds, it's impossible to do as far as I know.
For example, I take 20 mg of Lisinopril but my atenolol pill is 100 mg. You just can't equate the two mg-wise. I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear or not.
It is not available in 12.5 mg pill. I don't know why dr suggested Coreg. I thought maybe it was because it came in a smaller dose.
I will find out more next month. Thanks!
I've had to split a lot of pills including some very tiny ones. Here's what I do.
I use a very thin vegetable knife & wax paper. The knife comes in a package of 4 usually & is found most likely in one of the aisles at the grocery store or where the gadgets are.
Cut a piece of wax paper a little larger than the pill so that you can divide the paper into 4 pieces. On another piece of wax paper, place the pill. Put the whole thing on a dry cutting board.
I just tried cutting the brand name of your drug, Toprol. I found after cutting it in half that it is best to cut the half piece in half again sideways not the longer way. This is a small oval shaped pill so hopefully yours is similar.
You'll get better at doing this the more you actually do it. By putting the pill on wax paper, you can get all the grains of medicine. If one piece is larger than the other, take the large piece for your AM dose. Then you can take the smaller one for the evening dose when your b/p is lower anyhow because you will be sleeping. You can use applesauce or custard to gather any grains of medicine left on the wax paper.
Carefully wrap the other 3 portions of the tablet & put it in a closed medicine bottle or other dry container.
This method has worked well for me for the past 5 yrs as I have gotten off some difficult drugs.
Explaining this is difficult-let me know if you have questions. Fam
Hope it works for you. Clonidine was my hardest drug to withdraw from. The pill is a little smaller than a baby aspirin. It took two months & two tries.
Be sure & hold the pill on both sides with your thumb & index finger as you cut. I find pressing down with the knife works better than a sawing motion. Fam
Thanks Famd for the extra tips! What bp med are you on now? I think I have read some of your other posts but can't remember any on that. Did you ever find out more about parathryoid and calcium?
I had to go to jury duty today. Got to go back to tomorrow. Criminal case. My heart felt like it was pounding in my chest today! Talk about being nervous. Wonder if my bp went up! Thanks again!
I'm waiting until August to have a parathyroid level done because that's when I see my Endo. My highest calcium was 10.5. I see the E & T Doc & have a ultrasound in October so I have to have all my ducks in a row in case my nodules have grown. There's a blood test for an adrenal tumor that I had thought one Dr. had done but he didn't order it even though he made note of the need to do that in his notes.
I got called for Jury duty once but I was nursing my last baby so I wasn't about to leave my baby. It would be interesting to do jury duty but with my labile b/p I don't think my Dr. would vote for it. I was asked to testify for a case involving my daughter's car accident but I was called right when I started getting hypertensive so I told the lawyer he could use our phone conversation but I would have to pass on the court room part of it. Fam
