Medications Made Especially For You

Health & Medical Blog

A compounding pharmacy is a pharmacy staffed with licensed pharmacists that combine, mix, or alter ingredients in medications to create custom medications tailored to the individual needs of patients. If you can tolerate the active ingredients of a certain medication but need to change the delivery method or dosage, a compounding pharmacy can accommodate your needs.

Compounding Pharmacies are licensed and accredited as follows:

  • As with other pharmacies, compounding pharmacies are licensed, regulated and inspected by the respective state in which they are located. 

If you have a problem with a medication, you can ask your doctor to send your prescription to a compounding pharmacy along with instructions on how to reformulate your medication into a form that is made especially for you. The pharmacist in a compounding pharmacy can separate the ingredients of your prescription then recombine them in a more convenient form. You can benefit from the use of a compounding pharmacy in the following situations:

  • You want to change the form of your medication onto a form that is easier to take. For example, you wish to change your medication from a pill form into a liquid form or vice versa. 
  • You want to combine two or more compatible medications into a single combined dose. This is often requested by someone who cannot easily take medications. 
  • You want to omit a certain inert ingredient in your medication because you are allergic to it or you have a bad reaction to it. This often happens with ingredients such as solvents, emulsifiers, propellants, carriers, fragrances, flavoring and dyes.
  • You need to take a certain medication that has been discontinued or no longer available. In this situation, the pharmacist can research and locate the ingredients for that medication and remake it especially for you. 
  • You need to have a certain medication reformulated for a lower dosage. Many times a small child or infant can tolerate the active ingredient in a medication, but not the standard dosage. Instead of relying on a parent to split a capsule or liquid dose of a medication, a compounding pharmacy can make a custom version of that medication in the dosage needed for a child. 

A compounding pharmacy will fully research, standardize, reference and store the formula for its compounded medications in a central database to ensure accurate and consistent ingredients and dosages. This database is available for inspection by state regulators of compounding pharmacies. 

If you believe you could benefit from a reformulation of your medication, ask your doctor about having your medication made especially for you at a compounding pharmacy. Your doctor can advise you as to the feasibility of your request and work with you to make taking your medication an easy task. To find out more, speak with someone like Premier Custom Pharmacy.

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20 October 2015

Take Your Health Into Your Own Hands

My name is Katie Langer. For a long time, I was bed ridden and I felt like I had no control over my life. I simply went along with what was instructed by my doctor and I didn't ask questions. It wasn't that my doctor wasn't willing to work with me, but I preferred to simply not think about the illness I was suffering from. I didn't realize that some of the symptoms I was suffering from were side effects of my medication and were not normal. After communicating more with my doctor, I was able to alleviate my symptoms. Since then, I've taken an interest in patient-doctor relationships and how to improve them.