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splitting capsules of antibiotics - question(s)

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Posted 8/16/2015 5:24 PM (GMT 0)
My LLND prescribed Rifampin - 300 mg twice daily...so...I am supposed to start 300 mg once daily.
I have decided on my own to start half of that - 150 mg daily...
No problem - bought the veggie caps yesterday, but not the 'machine'.

Big problem - I tried my first one today...over a bowl. pulled it apart...and it's this fine powder...no way can I get exactly or even close to half of it into another cap. I thought it would be coarser - more like granules. I'm not going to buy the machine, not even sure if that would help splitting things evenly anyway.
I scooped up what looked like about half and put it in the cap and took it.

My question is this: If it's approximate...is that not good...for instance if today it was 125 mg...and tomorrow it's 110, and the next day 140....you get my drift...

I was just going to do the 150 for a week. Should I just abandon the idea...and go with the 300 mg?
Is changing the 'half-dose' each day for a week not good?

And, what do I do with the extra product? I don't want to put it in the sewer system... I can't get all of it from inside the bowl into another cap. It's all over my fingers...etc.
Posted 8/16/2015 6:01 PM (GMT 0)
Since you are ramping up slowly to keep from herxing - and not really trying to actually "treat" at this point, it should be good enough in my opinion.

If you are interested, you could get a scale that measures mgs and weigh out the doses. First open a full cap and weigh just the contents - then you'll know what half will be and you can measure that out if you wish. If you use a small piece of paper to dump the contents of the pill on, then you can easily get all of each dose.

If it doesn't taste horrid, just lick it off your fingers. If it tastes horrid (which is what I'd expect), you can get a small glass of water and rinse your fingers and the bowl with it, then drink the water to get the rest of the powder into you.

I've been filling capsules for about 5 years now and that's how I deal with those situations.
Posted 8/16/2015 6:10 PM (GMT 0)
I have no advice about the capsule issue but can tell you what my mail order pharmacy told me to do with the erroneous prescription they sent:

Put the pills, tablets or capsules and/or their contents in a plastic bag with either coffee grounds or kitty litter and throw it in the trash.
Posted 8/16/2015 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
Than you trav - yes, paper - what a good idea!

I don't think I'll buy a scale to measure...and I don't need to save the rest after I've gotten my "150" because it's just 'extra' to what he's prescribed. But, I just didn't want to put the antibiotics into the sewer system...and out into the water system.

Now, if I do it on paper, I can fill two caps.

Another good idea - rinse my fingers and the bowl in a glass of water and drink it....

You are such a resource of information...thank you!
Posted 8/16/2015 6:28 PM (GMT 0)
Ya just never know what will pop out of my mouth - or my fingers in this instance!!! Giggle!!! turn
Posted 8/16/2015 6:34 PM (GMT 0)
cd - For my extra meds...we just take them to the Pharmacy...and they deal with them.

Do you not have that service in the U.S.?


I don't like throwing them in the trash..as it ends up in our landfill...but who knows...maybe that's what the Pharmacy does with them anyway...I guess they have to go somewhere..


LOL...Trav!
Posted 8/16/2015 8:27 PM (GMT 0)

Girlie said...
cd - For my extra meds...we just take them to the Pharmacy...and they deal with them.

Do you not have that service in the U.S.?

Not that I'm aware of. You'd think the mail order pharmacy would offer a return mailer or something but that costs money. I know local police departments sponsor collection days.


Girlie said...
I don't like throwing them in the trash..as it ends up in our landfill...but who knows...maybe that's what the Pharmacy does with them anyway...I guess they have to go somewhere.

US pharmacies either have the meds incinerated (depending on the med) or they use proper disposal procedures so, yes, they often wind up in the landfill :(
Posted 8/16/2015 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
I just took the medication full throttle 600 mg once per day. Lol. It wasn't too bad to be honest. I think 150-300 mg rifampin doses is just bacteriostatic for bart. 600 mg is bacteriocidal... Well I am just saying that from what I think, I got no references on that. I read somewhere 4ug/mL dose is bacteriacidal for bart and lower is just bacteriostatic. So the 600 mg dose I believe would be more likely to get to that concentration...

It just seems like a lot of work to me lol. Splitting 300 mg capsules into 150 mg doses that is. But if you like you can do that.
Posted 8/16/2015 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
So LP if 600 mg is bacterialcidal for bart - doing 300 mg twice daily won't do it then.

But, that has been the standard dose of bart for the past years, right? Isn't it just recently that the thought of 600 mg all at once is better?

What did you do the first go-round at treating bart? Was it 300 twice?
Posted 8/16/2015 8:38 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, it's work...but, I don't want to be miserable...or should I say more miserable...lol

You're much younger than me...maybe you can handle the full dose right off the get-go.


I also wonder about me getting the same dose as a 200 lb man. I'm only 135 lbs.

Also, there was a study done on sleeping meds - apparently the testing is done on males, not females...as they women have hormone issues that can interfere with how they are metabolized.
They found out that many women on the regular prescribed dose are over medicated by morning...and some are too impaired to drive.

so...I keep wondering as I gulp down my antibiotics...if I'm taking more than I need...because of my weight being less than your average male, plus just the fact that I am female...

What say you about that...?
Posted 8/16/2015 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
Not to mention that ramping up slowly is the way to avoid major herxing. Many have bodies that don't detox well enough to handle a large rush of toxins into their blood stream. I know that I didn't.
Posted 8/17/2015 12:39 AM (GMT 0)
Ya good point... I can't say for sure if 300 mg or 600 mg gets to that concentration. I assume it would vary person to person. But I did read in test culture 4ug/ml of rifampin kills bart.

Also I think the herx for bart is different than it is for lyme... Lots of connective tissue herxing in tendons.

Also as mentioned by Dr.M... Elevated liver enzymes can also occur as they are killed.

Girlie... True I'm 30 but only 145lbs. I'm also a light weight.

My first shot at bart was the 600 mg all at once as advised by Dr.R... Dr.C prefers the 300 mg twice daily
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