Why Titration when a compounding pharmacy will make 10 percent reductions for u?

I want to get the word out that if you go to a compounding pharmacy with your doctors prescription, they will make up your meds with 10 percent reductions so you don't have to use the titration method. Im down to .3 mg of Valium and I taper 10 percent per week. The last part of the taper is the most difficult, but my withdrawal has been minimized due to the pharmacy making up my last bit of medication in 10 percent reductions so I didn't have to use titration. No one seems to know about this service the compounding pharmacy offers. I have am able to work and function like I used to because of this slow taper and the pharmacy made it so easy!

I'm glad this has worked for you, and that your dose is now so low. Well done.

 

I think the reason why a lot of people prefer to handle their own titration is because they want to be totally in control of how much they cut at any one time. Allowing a pharmacy to control their taper may feel a bit like having the doctor controlling their taper, and that doesn't always work out very well for a lot of people, because in a lot of cases doctors think you can reduce quicker than you really can.

 

When you already have your meds made up for a certain percentage cut, that doesn't give you any leeway if that amount is too much. A lot of people prefer to do the gradual reduction of a daily taper anyway so they can be totally flexible about their cuts, even on a daily basis.

 

Also, let's be honest, compounding pharmacies don't always come cheap, and it's much easier and cheaper to make up your own titration. There isn't anything hard at all about titration, so I wouldn't like to give anyone the impression that it is a difficult process. In most cases, making up a titration batch wouldn't take anymore than about 60 seconds - if that. To be really honest, when I was tapering I would have found it incredibly annoying and frustrating to have to rely on someone else (a pharmacist) to dole out my doses to me, while making my own daily titration was really easy and quick.

 

However, like I said, I'm glad this has worked for you, and it may give someone food for thought. I'm just giving the other POV.

Thanks for your response. Just want to clarify a few things. You mentioned that most people wouldn't want to use a pharmacy to handle their reductions because it would feel like the doctor or pharmacy is in control of their taper. Maybe my situation is different, I don't know, but I have been 100 percent in control of my taper. I told my doctor exactly what I wanted to do and told her how to write my prescriptions ( at 10 percent reductions every two weeks). She allowed me to be totally in control of my taper. The pharmacy just fills the prescription. At one point I needed to slow down my taper so I went back to my doctor and she wrote me a prescription based on how I instructed her to do so. I went in to my appointment very knowledgable and she was open to learning about the tapering process from me. Maybe my situation is different than other peoples in that I have a doctor that is willing and open to learning from me?

As for the water titration, I found it totally overwhelming. I could not have done this without the compounding pharmacy. I have now weaned down to .1 mg of valium and I will be off it completely in another week. I have minimal side affects because of the slow taper. Im so looking forward to being off this horrible medication.

Whatever works for you is the right method!