cutting up pills any suggestions?

I just wondered if anyone has a better way of cutting up pills than the one I've kind of cobbled together. I've been advised to take 100mg and 75mg on alternate days, which is good as I was being over treated taking 100mg and 125mg on alternate days, my problem is that I've got a years supply of 100's and 25's, I don't want to take 3 of the 25's as 1, I'll quickly run out and 2, they could easily add up to 90 or 60 because of the variation allowed by law in the make up of the pills, so what I'm doing is cutting one of the 100's in half and taking that and a 25, (stay with me there is a point to this question) cutting them using a knife or pill cutter is a bit like trying to feed an elephant strawberries, very fiddly, and the kitchen must be full of bits that have pinged off never to be seen again, where do they go??? . I've found that if I just press down on the pill with my thumb it will break along the fault line, but one of the halves always breaks into two and I also get quite a lot of dust, so god alone knows how much thyroxine I'm actually taking, I know that I should go back and just ask for 50's but it was all I could do to get them to give me a years supply in one go as changing brands makes me ill, so I don't want them to revisit why they are giving me a years supply at once as they may decide that they don't want to do that. I suppose what I'm asking is, is their a better way of dealing with breaking up the pills, should I just grind them to powder perhaps and mix with water or will that cause absorbency problems? Any thoughts or suggestions gratefully received.

[HarryE]

All chemists will sell a pill cutter

[Hidden in reply to HarryE]

hello I know I've got one they don't work, at least not the one that boots supplied, I think it depends on the consistency of the pills, the ones I take seem pretty soft and don't cut well at all especially with a pill cutter far better with a sharp knife, but then not that good at all really which is why I was asking for suggestions.

[HarryE in reply to Hidden]

Sorry, I didn't read your post properly! Just jumped to conclusions. But my pill cutter works fine with all sorts. Maybe try another type?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Tesco pharmacy sell a brilliant one for £2.50 x

[Pinkpeony in reply to Hidden]

My hubby cuts mine with a clean Stanley knife without a problem .

Pp

[Treepie]

Amazon has a range of pill cutters.I got mine from local chemist.Only problem i have is cutting equal halves. Needs a bit of care.

[Hidden in reply to Treepie]

thanks, I got a pill cutter from Boots but to be honest its not as good as using a sharp knife and even then tends to just crush the pill in half rather than cut so the amount you get seems a bit hit and miss. I actually thought it may just be better to crush the whole thing and half the amount and take it with water but didn't know if that was an OK thing to do or not.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I have this one amazon.co.uk/Safe-Sound-Pil... which I bought from my local Rowlands pharmacy. It cuts my small T3 pills in half successfully, even manages quarters but that's a bit fiddly. I find it best to not put too much pressure in when depressing the blade, a light touch does the job.

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

thanks for that, it's not like the one I got from boots so I'll give it a try.

[galathea]

I have always bitten tablets in half.... Granted its not that accurate, but seeing as taking t4 in one go once a week, works for some people just fine, i fugured that what i am short of one day is made up for the next day.

You couldnt try 1 and a half 100 tablets plus one x 25 every two days? What difference would it make? Its an inert storage hormone.

G x

[Hidden in reply to galathea]

thanks for the reply that sounds like a plan, it's def something to think about. Thanks again.

[galathea in reply to Hidden]

Here is the link to more about weekly dosing, but if you google dosing levothyroxine once a week, quite a bit comes up... press.endocrine.org/doi/ful...

Xx

[Isaacnewt]

A fine razor blade (double edged blades work well since they're so fine but don't press the top!) and a small mirror work very well, but I always just bite nowadays.

If you go for the razor and mirror method, you can pretend you're at a party with Keith Richards too.

[Hidden in reply to Isaacnewt]

Well being very old fashioned I actually use that type of razor, or at least I did till I grew a beard! So I've got packets of the things in the Bathroom Cabinet, thanks for the suggestion another good idea, but seems biting is coming up as the most easy, mind you with my very expensive dental work (could have bought a car for the cost) don't know if biting is such a good idea

[humanbean]

I use a scalpel with replaceable blades. Each blade lasts for months. A hobby knife is another possibility, but they tend to have oddly shaped blades, so I prefer a scalpel.

Search for "scalpel" on Amazon. You'll be surprised how many there are to choose from, and they cost very little.

[Hidden in reply to humanbean]

thanks for that! Being the "arty" type i actually use a scalpel for sharpening pencils, so there's one on my desk as I type, with fresh blades in the draw, I'll be giving that one a try, you see I knew that there must be other ways I just hadn't thought of! many thanks Mart.

[Clutter]

Mart123, I also take 75/100 alternate days which means taking 3 x 25mcg alternate days. Not sure why you aren't doing this. I use a Pillmate pillcutter and can quarter a 100mcg tablet if necessary. Keeping tablets in a moist bathroom or kitchen isn't recommended and may be why your tablets are soft. I occasionally get a soft tablet which breaks when I pop it from the blister pack but in the main tablets aren't soft and don't break.

[Hidden in reply to Clutter]

Hi thanks for the reply, I don't keep pills anywhere damp I'm on MP, only pop them the week before so I can put them in my weekly pill dispenser and try and cut them as soon as popped, I'm sensitive to slight changes in dose so really like to keep things constant, as drug can change 5% either way of what it says on the box taking 3, 25mg means you can be taking 90mg or 60mg its enough to make me ill. i get a years supply at one time, suggested by Endo because I'm sensitive to changes in dose, but been over treated so am cutting down but GP didn't change px, which I get yearly and I don't want to upset this as changing brands makes me ill. just try to keep everything at constant as possible any change makes me ill, so cutting pills is a bit of nightmare as its not an exact science and you can end up with god knows what amount and if like me that makes you unwell, well, you don't want to do that, hence my question can I crush pills and half them and just mix with water and drink. this would seem the best way to get the correct amount.

[Clutter in reply to Hidden]

Mart123, certainly you can crush the tablets and take them that way.

[Hidden]

thank you for your reply but I don't know anyone who does this, are there people who do and if so is it OK?

[Babette]

I had problems with pillcutters so a colleague recommended using a sharp paring knife lined up down the score on the pill and press evenly with your hand. It works well unless the knife isn't vertical.