The commercially produced and available medications will not suit everyone. Some will have allergies or be sensitive to certain ingredients in the medications or sometimes the form or dose of the medication may not be right. So in this case, you can visit a compounding pharmacy that will produce medication to fit your requirements. However, you will need a doctor’s prescription to obtain their services.
If you are wondering what is a compound medication, this is actually a version of the medicine you need but customised according to your requirements. There are many reasons to use compound medications. Sometimes the mass produced medications will not have the dosage that you have been prescribed by your doctor. These mass produced medications usually come with standard doses and if what you need is something different, then you will need a compound chemist to adjust the dosage according to your requirements.
This will also save you money as you don’t need to purchase a larger dose than what you actually need. Most of the time, compounded medication will cost less than the mass produced medication. And you will be able to obtain hard to find medicines. This makes certain medications more accessible.
Sometimes, when you try to split medicines, you may not get the exact dose as prescribed. This will be done safely by an experienced and licensed compounding pharmacist. This way you will never take a dose that is more than what you need. You can also be allergic to a certain ingredient in a commercially available medication. This can be gluten, lactose, dyes, preservatives etc. You can also let the pharmacist know of the things you are allergic to because sometimes you may not be aware of all the ingredients in the medication that you are taking. They will be able to reformulate the medication without the ingredient that triggers your sensitivities or allergies. This creates a safer experience when taking your medications.
Even if the dosage of the medication you need is available in mass produced medication, it may not be in a form that you can use. There are people who find it difficult to swallow pills and some tend to experience an upset stomach when they take pills. For example, children especially can be very difficult when it comes to taking their medications. So the compounding pharmacist can formulate the same medication in a form that you can easily take without problems.
They can change the form of the medicine into liquids, drops, pills, powders, ointments, chewables, gels etc. This is especially useful for elderly patients as well. Another issue when it comes to giving medicines to children or pets is that they will immediately take a dislike to it if it tastes bad. Many mass produced medicines don’t have a good taste as they are meant to be swallowed. But a child or pet may keep it in their mouth without swallowing that will further worsen the experience. In this instance, you can have the compounding pharmacist add flavouring to the medicine so that it tastes better.