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Splitting Cialis pills

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Posted 3/8/2013 4:40 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor has me on daily Cialis during my HT to keep everything in good working order for when I eventually get the urge to use my equipment again. My insurance pays for six pills per month and I pay for the other 24 out of pocket.

As has been suggested in other posts, my insurance doesn't care about the dosage of the pills. I've been prescribed 5 mg/day and I'm thinking of asking the doctor for a prescription for 20 mg that I can split. This raises the question: just how easy is Cialis to split? Based on the 5 mg pill that I currently have, it's an odd shape and it would be pretty hard to slice that properly. Anyone have any advice here?

BTW, I'm thinking the odd shape was specifically chosen to avoid pill splitting.
Posted 3/8/2013 4:46 PM (GMT 0)

BTW, I'm thinking the odd shape was specifically chosen to avoid pill splitting.

i've been splitting the 20s for a couple of years, and i've heard this complaint before.  the trick is to not get too hung up on perfection because you're going to be taking the other half or 5/8s the next time anyway.  getting hung up on little things like the exact halving of a pill could possibly have a detrimental effect on your erection cool .

just take a razor knife and do the best you can.  works for me!

ed

 

Posted 3/8/2013 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
I've split them before. I think the odd shape is, in part, designed to make that difficult but it doesn't make it impossible. The good news is that if you don't get even quarters it won't matter much. Cialis has a long half-life in the body and taking it every day the daily doses overlap so if you get a bit more on Monday and a bit less on Tuesday it will tend to average out.

Here's what you can try. Every four days split a pill into four pieces. Take the piece that looks biggest -- three pieces left. Next day take the piece that looks smallest -- two middle-sized pieces left. Third day take the larger of the remaining two pieces. Fourth day take the remaining piece. On the fifth day start over.

That should give you a dose that wobbles a bit but is fairly steady at 20mg every four days.
Posted 3/8/2013 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
I get 8 (any size, any type) "covered" - until my deductible is paid out, I still pay 100%.

Anyway, to cutting - I have a small cutter box from a real pharmacy (the ones that depend on pharmacy as a business, rather than the corner of the big box store) that helps you position the pill. The 20mg is the same shape, much larger, but the challenge remains.

I cut first across the narrower width, then cut the "halves". Clearly this is not a balanced quantity, but since I cut up several at a time, and put them in daily pill boxes, I just use a best visual guess at arranging them in order to balance the dose. Smallest piece one day, larger the next.

Since Cialis builds up for a few days in your system, the scheme does not have to be even close to perfect. There are a few times that I really mess one up. Put the fragments aside and take those one day.

Posted 3/8/2013 5:12 PM (GMT 0)
i forgot that you want to take 5 mgs a day.  i just started taking 5 mgs a day but i have a few months worth of daily pills stashed from previous uro visits.

my uro asked me earlier this week if the daily dosage is working as well as 10 mgs every other day.  i told him i hadn't been taking the daily dosage long enough to tell -- in the short term i'm terrible at things like that unless the change is dramatic.

my answer now is the daily dose works but so far but not better than taking 10 mg every other day.  and i think it's possible that every other day was slightly better but i'm not sure.

so if/when i'm dealing with the ovoid 20 mg pills again i'll just take 10 mg every other day.

ed

 

Posted 3/8/2013 5:21 PM (GMT 0)
Ive got the same issue with Tricare.(retired Military plan)...I'm only authorized 6 pills a month so my doc gave me the max at 100mg for Viagra. he told me to cut it in half. Viagras got the diamond shape as well but like someone else said.....go get the little blue pill cutter from the pharmacy....makes it a perfect cut every time and most places will probably give you one free if you ask.
Posted 3/8/2013 5:40 PM (GMT 0)
Michael: I have been taking "oversea Cialis" and for the past 18 months and it has worked nicely for me. It cost me about $1.00 per 20 mg. tablet including shipping and it comes factory sealed in a blister pack. It is made by a major "big Pharma" firm in India. I buy about 200 at a time. At first, I was cutting it with a razor blade to get my 5 mg. maintenance dosage, but now when I need a 10 mg. dose for intimacy, I simply bite off half. I seem to be quite accurate. The nice thing about Cialis is that it has no taste. In biting, I kind of just nibble off a little and then look at the tablet. If need be, I just bite off a little more. When you bite, there is no waste-no dust left behind. That's just me, but I don't look at it as a big deal since I will be probably taking it for another year or so. Good luck.

Bill K. from NJ
Posted 3/8/2013 6:17 PM (GMT 0)
Any of you guys having any SEs on Cialis?
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