Got prescription for verapamil immediate release. Want sustained release

Hi. I was just told to take 80 mg 3 x daily. I questioned this thinking it was too much to start. Then I asked about sustained release. The doctor just said they don’t know much about sustained release and didn’t want to give it. Should I not trust this doctor? I don’t know what to do now.

240mg is a whopper to start with in my opinion! I would just start with 40mg for a few days to get used to it and then slowly go from there. That’s what I did to get on Verapamil. Just split the regular pill in half (note you can’t do that with sustained release). I’ve used both regular and sustained release. If you are taking the regular pills three times per day it will feel very similar to taking a sustained release pill once per day.

Seems strange that they don’t know much about sustained release and won’t prescribe it though. My Neurologist didn’t bat an eye with switching from regular to sustained or vise versa, whatever form I wanted was fine.

I went from 40mg to 360mg of Verapamil in about 2 months. I started with regular and then switched to sustained release. Everyone is different, but the slower you go in titration, the less likely you are to fail the medication.

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Soo True !