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Pill Cutter/Splitter
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Posted by dadoes (My Page) on Sun, Feb 24, 08 at 16:49
| I need recommendations for a pill cutter that works, consistently! I've tried four. The best thus far has a soft rubber cutting bed with a V-shaped matrix to hold the tablet, but it sometimes breaks one of the halves or chips off one or more fragments of varying size.
Just this afternoon I tried another that has a set of "templates" to fit tablets of various sizes/shapes. It's a joke. The blade doesn't cut deep enough. The tablet and template stick to the blade when the cover is lifted, and the tablet ends up partially crushed instead of cut cleanly. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pill Cutter/Splitter
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| I gave up on these years ago for all the same reasons you're reporting. I now use single-edge razor-blade. Technique is use two hands; thumbs and index fingers of both hands at the blade-edge and touching/stabilizing the pill as easy downward pressure exerted. I get clean breaks every time. The blade never cuts through the pill but does produce clean, consistent break with minimal chips....much superior to pill-cutters tried. Obviously not an an alternative for those with poor eyesight or compromized finger-feeling or coordination trouble. |
RE: Pill Cutter/Splitter
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| We use one that has a V-shaped guide for the cutter. WOrks for round pills, not oblong-shapes, but works very well. Especially appreciated for the extra-tiny pills my DH has to cut in half because they only make 20mg pills, not a 10mg pill! I think I got it by mail, unfortunately so long ago I don't remember where I got it. None of my sources seem to currently carry it. It's a red plastic cylinder: cuts the pills on top, the bottom is a divided cap that holds 4 split pills, which is a handy feature. No looking for spare little plastic baggies to hold the halves. |
RE: Pill Cutter/Splitter
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| I haven't had any problem cutting pills with a cutter. If they are not scored you should not cut them in half. Maybe that is why they are crumbling. |
RE: Pill Cutter/Splitter
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| Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I'll consider trying a razor blade, but I'm afraid I'd have halves flying around the room! Otherwise, the cutter with the rubber V-shaped holder at least works most of the time. Seems like crumbling happens more often when the weather is damp. We're following the doctor's instructions for dosage. One of the pills involved is scored, one is not. Interestingly the one that is not scored, an oblong tablet, splits better than the one that is scored ... perhaps because placed horizontally \-/, it's held tighter. Also, the online merchant tested the template-cutter after I contacted them about it. They weren't satisfied with the performance, said they'll stop carrying the item, and refunded the purchase price without asking for it to be returned. Excellent customer service! |
RE: Pill Cutter/Splitter
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| what I read in the paper is that splitting pills not scored will give you uneven doses, a large dose one time, a low in the other half. If they are scored you will get halves that have equal amounts of meds in them. |
RE: Pill Cutter/Splitter
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| dadoes, I don't have any advice, but I just want to offer a hug. You are always so helpful with Fisher Paykel advice and I hope our community can reciprocate when you call for us. Best of luck with your Grandmother. |
RE: Pill Cutter/Splitter
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| I think if a tablet is not cut EXACTLY in half, but the two halves are taken the same day, it probably will not matter, as long as the daily dose is unchanged, and the two pieces of tablet are APPROXIMATELY the same size. If one of the pieces crumbles, but the other one stays in one piece, you should take the crumbled pieces first, and save the whole piece for the next dose. But you should check with your doctor to confirm that. The point is: you should not have to worry needlessly about something that does not matter that much. Dealing with illness is hard enough. I hope things work out for you. |
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