Should I sell my Prilosec?

My doctor put me on a four-week course of Prilosec, taking half a tablet twice a day. But looking at the little instruction sheet inside the box, it says over and over again that you MUST swallow the tablets whole and absolutely NEVER break them.
A gastroenterologist prescribed this to help with some esophageal inflammation I've been dealing with.
What do you guys think about this? I’m planning on just splitting them—I mean, surely the doctor knows what they're doing when they write a prescription, right?

Prilosec is basically an omeprazole derivative used to tackle stuff like acid reflux esophagitis or those nasty gastric and duodenal ulcers. In most cases, people end up taking 40 mg once a day or splitting it into 2 x 20 mg doses. If you're just trying to prevent a relapse, 20 mg once a day is pretty standard. But look, if your specialist specifically told you to take 2 x 20 mg daily? Then stick to the plan they gave you. I mean, honestly, I don't see why you couldn't just split a tablet in half if you had to, right?😕

Thanks, mistyhound2.
They suggested I pick up some 40mg Prilosec and just take half a pill twice a day. But here's the thing: the instructions specifically say don't chew or crush the tablets.
The manual really hammers that point home multiple times.
I actually broke one open just to see, and the inside looks totally different from the outside—it clearly has this outer coating. Could cutting it make it dissolve too early? I'm not sure.

Those tablets that explicitly say "do not crush" really, REALLY shouldn't be crushed. I’m sure there are folks on this forum who know way more about drug formulations than I do—honestly, you probably do—but there are all these different types of coatings out there... they're designed to stop the pills from dissolving where they aren't supposed to, so if you break them, you basically ruin how they work.

My advice: instead of taking half a pill twice a day, just take the whole thing once.

My second—and much more important—piece of advice: go ask someone other than your gastroenterologist. You could even check with a pharmacist... or is that how those commercials put it? 🙂 )

Since Prilosec uses a MUPS formulation, you really shouldn't be cutting those tablets in half; doing so messes with how the active ingredient is absorbed by your body. I don't see the point in breaking them down when there's already a lower dose available—besides, anything under 20mg isn't even going to do much for you anyway.