Dissoving Lipitor

[snow95]

I was percribed Lipitor, 40mg. I have been breaking them in half and now see you should not do that. I can not swollow pills and dissolve most in my mouth with water. Why can't I do that with the lipitor? I have been trying to swollow them but by the time I get them down they are pretty much dissoved. I can't find an answer on line. Thank you

[ed34]

It all boils down to the pill itself, exactly as Jon said. He hit the nail smack bang on the head when he mentioned the coating. Some chemicals are altered by stomach acids/enzymes and so they are especially thickly coated to get through this nightmare part of the journey. I picked up my renewal prescription of plavix a week ago, and although the box stated 75mg, they were HUGE. They were at least 4 times larger then before so I took them back to the pharmacy to complain they must be a higher dosage than the packaging states. He said that the same amount of medication was in the middle of the pill, they simply increased the coating. The only people who can really answer questions about whether you can dissolve pills or crush them etc, are the drug manufacturers because they hold all the details about delivery and break down times etc. I wouldn't just risk it. I take 40mg of Lipitor and have again found they seem to come in a variety of forms. My last ones were very large, shaped like capsules, but this time they are not much bigger than my aspirin. Perhaps the pharmacy can ask their suppliers to give the smaller ones? making swallowing a lot easier?
I would like to see someone break my 1.25mg beta blocker in half lol. They are so tiny, I end up dropping half of them on the floor trying to grip them.

[oldie]

maybe two years ago I read of a doctor advising his panic attack patient to take her pill, alprazolam, sublingually for speedy results. I've followed this ever since. With this drug it works, incontestably, for me. Could Snow95try this with Lipitor instead of dissolving in water in the mouth?

[ed34]

You obviously had lipid blood tests to check if the lipitor was having the desired effect. Was it?
This has amazed me because I would have thought it would have a much lower effect dissolving the pill before it hit the stomach.

[erijon]

The coating on the pill determines how fast the pill dissolves and that determines how effective it is. There is considerable debate about just splitting pills to save money. Say your doctor puts you on 20 mg of Lipitor, you get the same number of pills as you would with 40 mg at the same cost. Why not split the 40 mg pills and save money? That's the debate, Pfizer says it affects the effectiveness of the med but doctors say it's OK.

Have you asked your doctor? They can make that determination for you, it's their job.

Hope this helps,

Jon