Do Cut Pills Lose Their Efficacy Faster?

Hi, Folks,

I'll be making my next step in clonazepam taper in about a week, reducing from 1/2 pill to 1/4. I have a bunch of quarter pills left over from when I first started the taper (at 3/4 pill) and was thinking I would just use these rather than cutting up newer pills. I'm not sure, though, if cut pills lose their efficacy faster than pills that have not yet been cut. The quarter pills I have will be about three months old when I start using them, but I'm wondering if they might have lost some of their effectiveness in that time frame.

Anyone have any info/ideas on this? If they're still good then I would just as soon use them, but obviously want to take the most effective step.

Thanks!


Mystery Reader

 

Hi @Mystery Reader That's a good question.
I've also got some left over pills that are a couple of months old now. When it comes to splitting I'd rather take no chances and split the newer ones instead. Not too sure about the older pills effectiveness after the bottle has been opened for a longer period of time. I think they would tell you it's just fine at the pharmacy.

I keep the older pills in case of emergency or if I run out of the newer ones. If everything goes well with the withdrawal I might even return the old pills back to the pharmacy store in the end. Just trying to minimize possible risks.

 

Pills are not tested when they are split like that by pharma. In general most pills are safe to split. Toxicity will not change but power/potency may change as the split pill is reacting to air which it was not intended for. Probably going to have to just test it and see.....

 

I would recommend never take drugs that are past their experation date. This will vary drug to drug due to its half life, which changes the chemistry of the drug. As long as you take before experiation date it should be fine. Speak with a pharmacist if you are unsure.

 

I seriously doubt that the potency would be affected after only 3 months. Just take them if you don't have any extra clonazepam to spare. It's great that you are getting off this stuff. Benzos should never be used long-term for anxiety. I hope your taper goes smoothly.

 

Some tablets maybe coated to protect the stomach and some could be slow release tablets so that would change if they were cut in half .
love glynis

 

@Jiri @dayma @Ping43 @TuneOut @glynis

Thank you for your responses, here. Hope you're all doing well.

Mystery Reader