Can you cut OxyContin in half?

I was just sooooooo fkg glad to see the posts abt the fibromyalgia. I say the samecshit every day. It actually gets so frustrating I just tell them I wish I cld just lay hands on them and hv them get a taste of what this sh*t us like. More...later abt my part'lrs on my pain, but it is exactly what you're talking about & areas and then some more weird sh*t...

Given the protective qualities of the new Oxy OP, if you cut, say a 40mg tab in half, does it still release the drug slowly? I noticed there is no warning label on the bottle saying do not chew. In other words, given the new formulation, if cut in half does it still retain its slow release quality?

This is not true. There is not a split on the pill to show or "let you know" it's safe to cut in half... They are many pills you can cut in half that have no split nor line in them at all and are and are not narcotics....

not recommended and the new ones are hard and have a coating on them, i would ask for a smaller mg if there is one for you.

They don't become fast acting as the entire pill contains the slow release component, not the outer shell.

They are made so the people who abuse the cannot, Those people ruined it for those of us who are in real pain. The new abuse proof pills can be cut, but cannot be crush by any means. Which is a good thing. This stops the chance of people who OD. The substance they put in it , even if they were to find a way to crush, keeps them gummy and unable to be used in a way that is dangerous to the person with the wrong intentions. So cutting one in half seems to be OK. The time release is still in effect.

Ok. To clear this up... I work as a Med Tech at work.. you can cut the op in half and it be safe, now the oc u can overdose on if cut in half... As stated earlier there is a waxy substance mixed with the op version a good pill cutter is required, which we use at work.. so for safety op-yes oc-no....

I suffered severe spinal cord damage after falling 30+ ft onto a concrete slab while at work in 1999. I was paralyzed for 6 months and screamed myself to sleep and woke up from the pain after only 15 mins of sleep.This went on for 3 months before I was prescribed oxycodone. I was not a candidate for surgery due to inflammation and narrowness of my spinal canal. 5 yrs later I would be able to lift my arms over my head and do part time work again. I took oxy IR (instant release) for the past 16 yrs and weaned my self down from 80mg daily to 20 mg daily. Then recently a car hit my car going 70 and all of the pain had returned and now back up to 35-40mg. Suddenly this crackdown on opioids happens and my insurance is no longer covering my visits so the pain management doctor gives me a weaning script so i can stop taking them in 1 week.
The university hospital will take over and informed me it is impossible to stop in a week considering my long term use and want to now put me on sustained release oxycontin which upon further research cannot be cut into halves in order to cut my dosage down again. (this is a bunch of c**p and I will fight the decision) So that is why I was looking up this question. So once again.... "Non-sustained release can not be gauged by the size of cut pieces." You should not try to cut a higher mg dosage as you have no control over what part of the pill has the most active ingredient. Also the gel effect that happens still leaves you wondering if it is working and you may be prone to accidental overdose due to impatience or withdrawal. The IR type can be cut and used in pieces and usually have a score on the tablet. These include Roxicodone, Oxy IR and Percoset (contains tylenol) available from 5-20 mgs last time i checked, time or sustained release types can take up to an hour to reach effective blood levels. So know about what you take and how it works.
For those not with chronic intractable pain.... This is not a recreational drug , and is very, very addictive to many ; it is not worth playing Russian roulette with opioid addiction. Even as a legal user it is severely stressful worrying about traveling and always making sure of having a supply readily available. So hope this helps someone to be safe and make proper decisions about this extremely useful yet stigmatized drug.

Ive cut my oxys in half to taper off no ill or side effects. Tapering down is ok. DONT CRUSH The Pill. That could kill you fast.

Don't tell this man what a doctor did or didn't tell him. Responses like yours from high-and-mighty wannabes are only part of a problem, not a solution.

And, why are you on here if you're not trying to give a decent amount of respect? They're not a junkie, and you're no better than anyone else. i would rather be them and careful than be that way.

Hi. My heart cries for you. I've had Fibro and Chronic Fatigue for 25 years. I was at a Pain Clinic for 14 years and on Oxy 20's plus up to 8 Percocet /day to try to control pain. Walking was my thing too but there were days I thought i was going to die with the pain. Now 11 years later, I am coming off the Oxy and Percs because my doctor told me he was leaving the clinic and I was on my own to find another doctor to write my meds. Okay! Scary but I was on my own. It has been hard but I did find another doc who said she would help me, thank God. I tried Cymbalta on the comedown and it did nothing for the pain so last week my doc switched me to Lyrica. It works! It really works! So now after 4 months of comedowns- Percocet is gone and I am down to 2 10 mgs of Oxy left to go. Tomorrow I go down to 2 of the 5 mg and I'm scared of the withdrawal pain again but I am determined to do this. I'm almost there. Yes, it is hard but if I can do it, believe me sweetie you can. Try the Lyrica. I'm 65 yrs old and have lost 25 years of my life to pain and drugs. My husband passed 3 years ago and I'm finding it difficult doing all this alone. But I'm doing it and so can you. I also am trying something I never ever thought I would ever try. Medicinal marijuana oil in pill form. It helps with the pain a lot and with the withdrawal of the Opeoids. CBD oil - I don't want to get high - I just want the pain gone after all these years. Give it some thought Sweetie. My heart is with you in your pain. Fergie52

I was able to cut them in half with a pill splitter.

Its the people that but sell their pain meds to people that just have a bad habit of being a junkie...this is why doctors are shy about jepordizing their DEA license and writing scripts , and in turn makes it really Difficult for patients that honestly NEED PAIN MEDS.....

Ur 1000% right, Michael.