Is it okay to break prenatal vitamins in half?

FrankieB226

Hi everyone! I am 4 almost 5 weeks pregnant and currently taking Rainbow Light prenatal vitamins. I am having a difficult time swallowing them whole and would prefer to stick with this brand as they don't make my stomach upset and the gummy kind does not seem to have all nutrients needed. Yesterday I split the pill in half, then took both, one at a time, back to back. Is that okay? Or do I need to wait in-between, taking one half in the morning, the other in the afternoon/evening? Any and all advice is appreciated! 

monkeybutt61612

I don't see why not. Sometimes though, breaking pills in half causes the medicine to enter your system faster. I doubt that's the case with vitamins

dragonfly711

Should be fine don't see why it wouldn't. You can take both halves at the same time. That should not effect anything. It is not like you are taking more than you should it is your regular dose.

SmileyJay

Yes, this is perfectly fine and the exactly same as taking it all at once. It will not make it enter your system faster, it will be digested and absorbed the same either way. The previous poster was referring to what you can do with gel tabs... The medicine can not absorb until the tab has been digested but you can break it open and take the contents directly (if it doesn't make you gag, which it likely would)

You should look into more palatable vitamins though. There are gummy vitamins and chewables available that make taking a vitamin less of a chore and more like eating candy. Taking two flintstones vitamins a day covers all of your prenatal needs.  Of course, it is more important to be getting proper nutrition and using the vitamins only as a safety measure. 

If you were to be splitting it in half and taking it on separate days I would say not to do that. Vitamins are not necessarily dispersed evenly throughout the vitamin so this would not work correctly. It would be like if you have a 20 mg pill but only need 10 mg, you can't just split it in half because the half you take may have far more than 10mg of medicine or could have far less. Hope this helps!

MMason12

Like PP said, it should be fine.  Usually it says so on the bottle if you shouldn't cut a pill or medication in half.