Escitalopram · Lexapro · Cipralex · 10 mg tablet
See exactly where to cut your tablet, down to the milligram.
An interactive 3D model of a 10 mg escitalopram tablet. Pick a cut point and read the precise dose of each piece, worked out by volume and mass rather than length. Made to support a taper you are doing with your prescriber, not to replace their plan.
Reading the cut
The bright piece is your dose
Drag the slider or tap the tablet to place the cut. The bright part is the piece you would take, the greyed part is what is left over, and the blue line is where the blade goes. The reading updates live in milligrams and as a percentage. You can also work backwards: type a target dose or a percentage and the cut line moves to the spot that produces it.
The one number that matters most is the dose, and that is why this tool calculates by volume and mass instead of length. A tablet is not a uniform bar. It domes up in the middle, so a cut at the visual quarter point actually removes less than a quarter of the drug. At the score line you get a true half, 5.00 mg, and everything off centre is corrected for the doming.
Limits worth knowing
Where cutting works, and where it stops
Splitting a tablet is most reliable in the upper range, roughly 10 mg down to 5 mg and then to 2.5 mg. Below that, accuracy falls off fast. Escitalopram tablets are small and oval, and oval tablets tend to shift in a pill cutter, so the smaller the fraction, the harder it is to cut it cleanly and repeatably.
For the final steps of a taper, many guides move people onto a liquid formulation (commonly 1 mg per mL), because a syringe measures small reductions far more precisely than a blade can. This matters because of how the drug behaves at low doses: the same one milligram drop has a much bigger effect near the bottom than near the top. That is the idea behind hyperbolic tapering, taking smaller and smaller reductions as the dose gets lower, and it is why the last few milligrams are usually the hardest part.
The math
How the dose is calculated
The model matches the originator's published shape: an oval, biconvex, scored tablet of 8.0 by 5.5 mm, with an E and an L on either side of the score. To work out a cut, the tool integrates the tablet's three dimensional volume from one end up to the cut plane, then divides by the total volume. That fraction is the fraction of the dose, assuming the active drug is distributed evenly through the tablet, which holds for an immediate release tablet like escitalopram.
Two honest caveats. The percentage describes an ideal, perfectly placed cut, and a real cut by hand will be rougher, so treat the numbers as a close guide rather than a guarantee. And thickness is taken as a typical value, since the published figures give length and width but not depth.
Before you change anything
This is a guide, not a prescription
This page is for information only. It is not medical advice, and it cannot account for your history, your reasons, or how your body responds. Stopping or reducing an antidepressant too quickly can cause real discontinuation effects, so a gradual taper planned with the person who prescribes for you is the safest path. People review escitalopram for many reasons, including planning a pregnancy, and those are exactly the conversations to have with a clinician rather than to settle alone.
Use this tool to understand your options and to make that conversation more concrete. If you are struggling, please reach out to your prescriber or a local support service.
Common questions
Escitalopram tapering, answered
How much escitalopram is in half a 10 mg tablet?
Cutting along the score divides a 10 mg tablet into two 5 mg halves. The score sits at the middle, so a clean break there gives an even split. Cutting anywhere else changes the amount in each piece, which is what this tool lets you measure.
Is a quarter of a 10 mg tablet really 2.5 mg?
Only if each piece is a true quarter by volume. Because the tablet is thicker in the middle, a cut at the visual quarter mark removes less than a quarter of the dose. Type 2.5 mg into the tool and it shows you the cut position that actually gets there.
Can I cut a Lexapro or Cipralex tablet to taper?
These are brand names for escitalopram, and the tablets are scored and can be divided, which many people use while tapering. Below about 5 mg, a liquid formulation is often easier and more precise for the final steps. Plan any change with your prescriber.
Does breaking the tablet change how it works?
For a standard immediate release escitalopram tablet, splitting a scored tablet is generally fine. It would not be appropriate for extended or controlled release products, which should not be cut. If you are unsure which you have, ask your pharmacist.
Sources and further reading
- Royal College of Psychiatrists, Stopping antidepressants. rcpsych.ac.uk
- NICE NG222, Depression in adults: treatment and management. nice.org.uk
- Horowitz and Taylor (2019), Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms, Lancet Psychiatry. doi.org
- Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, Horowitz and Taylor (Wiley, 2024).
- Deprescribing.org, evidence based deprescribing resources. deprescribing.org
- Community support: Surviving Antidepressants and The Inner Compass Initiative. survivingantidepressants.org