11 replies to this topic

[Marnie]

Trey. . .is there any reason other than the ability to monitor correct dosage, that it is recommended to NOT split a Sprycel tablet?  Seems like it has some sort of lactate coating, but that certainly isn't a huge factor, is it?

I'm thinking about an electronic powder scale and a razor blade. . .

[Happycat]

Marnie,

Can't state for sure any changes to treatment outcome splitting the Sprycel may induce (I'll leave that to Trey), but you'd need to weigh down to at least the 0.1 mg level to get decent accuracy.  That gets expensive, at least $1.5K and easily up to $5K.  I wouldn't trust one that goes to 1 mg level, not when you need to weigh out 70 mg.  (As a chemist, I'm pretty picky on the accuracy.  You  might want to ask a pharmacist what type of scale they use.  That would better indicate your need.)   I'm sure you can find a scale online that purports to do that for under $500, but remember you get what you pay for. 

Also, from the materials viewpoint, the coatings on tablets often protect the ingredients from moisture.  Once exposed to air, some of the ingredients may get wet and sticky.  That wouldn't be a problem for the first day's dose, but the 2nd day, after the powder has been sitting around awhile, it may be difficult to handle.  Speculation on my part, don't know that Sprycel will get sticky on air exposure, but it could.  Lots of drug compounds do, at least the ones I've handled in the lab. We sell the research quantities as powders, and many are stored and packaged with dessicant.  Of course, if you can dissolve the sticky powder in water and drink it, then the potential stickiness is not an issue.

HTH,

Traci

P.S.  I still like your idea to alternate 50 and 100 mg dose, although I don't know if that works well when one considers the half-life of the drug.  If the insurance company refuses to fill the 70 mg until the 100 mg 90-day supply is used up, then that would be the option I'd push with the doctor.  You've got to do what you can afford to do.

[Trey]

Just hard to split precisely.  Otherwise the drug dispersal is uniform throughout the pill. 

If I needed to do it, I would.  Traci makes good points, but sometimes "ya gotta do what ya gotta do", even if it means measuring with a micrometer and cutting with a meat-ax.

Lick the split end and tell us how it tastes.

I understand Norwegians lick off the tablet coating and spit it out.  But they also live in Norway, so go figure.

[Marnie]

The split end cannot taste worse than the Gleevec split end.  Tried that. . .yuck.

I have a scale that measures to the nearest tenth of a grain.  1 grain equals about 65 milligrams, so that should work reasonably well. . .I'd be within 6 mg or so.  Tablet has a mass of .41 grams.  Find 70% of that. . .should get me close enough. . . .

The trick will be to not mix up the Sprycel powder with the gun powder.  I don't think Sprycel has enough propellent in it to get the bullet out of the pistol.  Ingesting the gun powder might take care of the cml, however.  Among other things.

[Marnie]

Now if it were Gleevec instead of Sprycel the mixup wouldn't matter so much.  As I recall, Gleevec had a fair amount of propellent in it.  Things were propelled out of the body at an amazing speed.

[Trey]

Something else Norwegians might do is to dissolve two pills in water, and drink 1/3 of a glass each day.  Optionally lick off coating and spit it out.  70 + 70 = 140 divided by 3 = 46.6   Close enough. *

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[Marnie]

The Sprycel split end is pretty much tasteless.  I tried to see how many licks it would take to get to the center of a sprycel pill, but the outside shell came off.  So I spit it into a glass of water, divided it three ways, and invited my Norwegian friends over for the holiday.

My razor blade and scale technique has been fun.  My doc would not approve.  So far, my dosages have ranged between 70 and 79 mg each day.  Yesterday I had to lick the crumbs off the plate to get it up to 70 mg. 

Insurance did pay for 20 mg pills, but I'm having so much fun with the scale that I think I'll finish off this bottle of 100s before going to the 50 + 20 technique.

My doc would really not approve.

I'm not sure my p.e. is resolved.  Last x-ray was not 100% clear, and breathing is still a little funny when I lay on my left side.  Or maybe it's my imagination.

[hannibellemo]

Billie,

You crack me up! 

Marnie,

As long as you're messing with your onc, why not just take 50mg.?

Pat

[Marnie]

Even the new math won't stop 50 from rolling around in February.  Dang.