Splitting Armour.....how!?.

[cat69]

Hi All,

Seeing as we are chatty about Armour etc today,....can anyone tll me how to split it successfully? It just crumbles to pieces.....i have a two pound

splitter from chemist with sharp blade.

Thanks

X

[Clarebear]

I bite mine - seems to work quite well what dose pills are you trying to split?

[cat69]

Hi Clarebear,

These are 1grain which are tiny. You are right biting is better as they don't seem to crumble but I can't always get it right.

I read every one of your blogs before Chrismas and it's really interesting - sorry that your finding it a struggle again, it's tough all this. Just wondered if I needed a better quality splitter but its just a blade..

X

[Mrsmoon]

I got a splitter from Boots. It worked brilliantly for T3 and accommodates different sizes. This was the only positive thing from a recent endo visit.

[Jackie]

Hi A good pill splitter, chemist and lots of practice! if not split well, make sure you takre the other half at the next time, then it will balance out.

Jackie

[helvella Administrator]

May I try the "not very helpful from where you are" answer?

Buy smaller dosages! Half and quarter grain tablets are available. See here:

frx.com/pi/armourthyroid_pi...

However, whilst genuinely meant to be helpful for the future, I do recognise that aspects such as cost and (if prescribed) GP co-operation might make this a non-starter.

Rod

[helvella Administrator in reply to helvella]

And when it comes to splitting, split one pill only. Take either "half". Take the other half as the next dose. That way, however unevenly they split, they balance out over a few hours. Mind, that does assume you don't lose any crumbly, powdery bits!

[cat69 in reply to helvella]

I know what you mean as the tabs are quite a lot cheaper in bigger doses.I like you say as long as you are getting the correct dose overall.

Haha I am like a drug addict licking the bits up :-))

[Hidden]

I use a scalpel kindly given to me by another user on the forum. Works perfectly. The pill splitters are useless. I cut 1grain into half, then cut the half into quarters as i am on 1 and 3/4. It is not precise, but good enough.

[Mrs_Somerset]

Dear Cat 69,

I have worked in labs and had to split pills for assays and I can highly recommend bluedaffodil's advice.

- you can buy scalpels online, the better ones to get are solid steel - you do not need the interchangeable blades as 1) you are not cutting different samples ( don't need to worry about contamination), 2) what you are cutting will not affect your blade (will not corrode or damage it) and 3) If you use the method below you are not going to dull the blade very quickly and can either sharpen it using a whetstone or buy another one - they are not very expensive.

When using the scalpel, I would recommend putting the pill on a contrasting non slip surface - a bit of coloured sugarpaper would do.

Also - try to use confident light strokes rather than one chopping stroke. Depending on the constituents of the pill, it may be detrimental to try to cut through in one go ( it may shatter) - a few strokes will get you all the way through without the risk of it falling apart on you.

Hope this helps,

Best of luck

M

[cat69 in reply to Mrs_Somerset]

Thanks for all the info I will see how I get on and may resort to ordering a scapel. My husband was cutting some up for me yesterday and kind of blew off the residue of crumbs!!

I'll be sucking it out of the carpet next!

:-))

[Dobby]

I always just bite mine in half and keep the other half for the next day, works for me!

[Gem5987]

I’ve tried to cut 1 gain of armour with a pill cutter, but it crumbles apart. What seems to work for me it to break it apart using my thumbs nails. Oddly enough it splits pretty evenly without crumbling.