I have a friend who is on various meds for blood pressure, cholesterol, acid reflux, etc. He is in somewhat of a financial bind right now so he decided to take his meds every other day in order to make them last longer.
I am wondering if it would be better to take half-doses every day than to take a full dose every other day. Any ideas, suggestions?
I take meds for blood pressure/cholesterol/lipids/acid reflux/MDD/panic anxiety, etc. He really needs to take them everyday as prescribed. I know it sounds like I am being a doctor, but many meds must build up in your system to be effective. I am going to guess he takes Nexium (Xrtmy Xpnsv), but missing a day can hurt you.
I am sorry, no wrong, that is not what I really mean to say. I am pissed off that in the only “Superpower” remaining we do not have universal medical and prescription insurance, that children go to bed hungry and people do not have a roof over their head.
My biological father was killed in Nam, I was put up for adoption. My adoptive father had a purple heart from Korea. What were they fighting for? So the rich can get richer, the middle class has disappeared and the poor get worse off each year.
I lost my Patriotism a long time ago, but it went to absolute rage when GW/Cheney and Rumsfeld ran this country (All of them indicted War Criminals).
I was reading posts about the dropping of the bombs on Japan and everyone has a right to their opinion, but I would find a way to vote a 1000 times for a Leader like Truman today. The Buck Stopped With Him, he took the resposibility, even lost a good friend in Gen. Marshall over his dogged stance on Israel. But he was not a politician, he was a leader and if he lost friends, so be it, Truman would make the call. He left office with the lowest approval rating up until that time. Eisenhower refused to meet with him and have the ceremonial tea and fingerfood (which had been done for decades). In the end History vindicated him, but he was not alive and would not have cared. He did his job.
If we had Leaders instead of politicians this Empire might still have a chance to survive, but as it is, we are going to go down as the shortest Empire ever. So, so tradgic for the men and women who have given their lives for this country. God Bless Them!
I would suggest your friend talk to his doctor and explain his circumstances. Perhaps there is another less expensive drug that can be substituted, or perhaps the doctor has coupons or samples, but your friend shouldn’t mess with the changing the timing of his medication without his doctor’s knowledge and approval.
And I think some drugs are not meant to be cut in half.
Moderator Action
Since this question relates to medical advice, let’s move it to IMHO.
Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.
A lot of drugs are available for cheap if you just think to ask. Usually, if you tag a .com to the drug name, you’ll find its website, and there’s probably a discount program available.
Just a few examples - diovan.com (a hypertension med) has a $4 per month plan emblazoned across their site that you can’t miss. Astra Zeneca (maker of Nexium) has a rather more subtle program they call AZ&Me, and there’s the more or less industry-wide PPARx.org
And yes, definitely ask the doctor about cheaper or generic options.
IANAD, regardless of my screen name. All else aside, do not split any pill without the express permission of the doctor! Some pills are formulated to release the medication over time, cutting, breaking or powdering can (almost certainly will) circumvent the time release mechanism. Dumping a dosage meant to be delivered over many hours into one’s system all at once can be deadly!
Nice political hi-jack there Luke. 
Another thing is that many drug dosages are determined by body weight- you need a certain concentration for them to be effective, and if you took half-doses, you likely wouldn’t get enough to work, or work right. As I understand it, prescription drugs are more likely to be determined this way- the Dr. may be putting him on 50 mg of something because he weights 200 lbs, and taking 25 mg would be the appropriate dose for an olympic gymnast, not a relatively big guy.
Agreeing with what others have said.
Now, some medications are candidates for pill-splitting. You buy the medication in a dose twice what you need, and take a half every day. So if your med is 10 milligrams but there’s a 20 milligram available, take a half each day (if it’s one that CAN be split - if it’s time-release of course that’s not workable).
Depending on what all he’s on, some of the meds might be a quality-of-life thing. Reflux for example: long-term, untreated reflux can cause serious issues in some people, but in the short term he might be able to get by (beware of rebound acid production though).
The drugstores that offer things like 4.00 generics are worth looking into as well.
I thank everyone for the responses. I agree that splitting a dose or skipping a dose is not a good idea, I just didn’t have any real reasons as to why it wouldn’t work. I am going to argue the points that you all made and perhaps I can make him change his mind. Thanks again…except to the guy who only wanted to make a political statement.
Tell him to shop around as well. One of my medications is less expensive at Walmart than at Rite Aid (though I don’t get it at Walmart because I like the people at Rite Aid better). Many pharmacies have lists of low price meds as well and different chains may have different lists ($4, $8 lists - stuff like that).
Also, look into loyalty cards. Do you have a Rite Aid near you? I have their loyalty card and I build up points all year long. At the beginning of every year I’m assigned a percentage off based on my points from the previous year. I have never once been lower than the max of 20% off. This is off of every purchase I make, including our prescription drugs. It really helps.
Little things like that can make a huge difference.