Experimenting & Preparing for Micro Titration

I am currently on X only. Dose is 3 x .5mg/daily. I take no other medication (except wine, bad I know).

 

I am experimenting to prepare myself for a micro titration. From what I’ve read on BB I need to abstain from alcohol, that is the first obstacle it seems I must conquer. Aside, is it possible I can limit myself to say 3 glasses of wine a day and still begin titration? The wine takes the place of one dose of X.

 

In the mean time I need to understand the process, so without reducing my dose yet, I have been experimenting with liquid dosages. I have found that 40ml is a comfortable amount of liquid to swallow.

 

I noticed many here say the changeover from tablet form to liquid has affected them adversely. So, my first experiment was to dilute one dose of X into water and drink it (I crushed and mixed well and swished the solution around in the glass as I took it, and for safe measure I then swished again with more water to wash any residue that remained from the glass). I found for me there has been no difference between taking X in liquid form than tablet form.

 

Today I made 2 liquid doses side by side. One a suspension of .5mg X with 1ml of Vodka (80 proof). The other .5mg X with 1ml of water. When “dissolved” I added 39ml of water to each to make up two lots of 40ml of liquid. When first dissolved, (in concentration) the two liquids appeared very different; the tablet seemed to distribute better in the 1ml of vodka than when dissolved in a 1ml solution of water. The thing is that once I added 39ml of water to both the solution and the suspension, visually you could only small differences between the two when the liquids settled.

 

Surprisingly once the concentrations settled, the water solution appeared to have less residue than that of the vodka suspension. Of course, that is going only by sight, not by chemical testing. I am assuming this may be due to each tablet varying in its individual proportion to drug and fillers? I read Builder thinks there can be up to a 10% variation!  I think to be on the safe side, having seen the difference between the two “concentrates”, I’ll opt for the suspension.

 

Any feedback much appreciated!

 

Thanks everyone  Harmonee

 

1)  Observing the reaction of the tablet in either liquid tells you nothing about whether the Xanaxis dissolving.  Most tablets will break down/disintegrate in any liquid, including plain water.  That's because the binders (the "glue" that holds all the ingredients together) breaks down, and the pill falls apart.  This process is NOT dissolution, it is not evidence of anything being dissolved.

 

2)  Xanax, like most benzos is NOT water soluble, but is soluble in alcohol and propylene glycol. 

 

"Alprazolam is a white crystalline powder, which is soluble in methanol or ethanol but which has no appreciable solubility in water..."

 

https://www.rxlist.com/xanax-drug.htm

 

3)  Only a very tiny percentage of your tablet (possibly less than 1%) is actually Xanax.  The rest of the tablet is binders, fillers, colorants, and other inactive ingredients.  The residuals you see settling out are simply insoluble inactive ingredients.  When dissolved in alcohol, the Xanax will absolutely dissolve and form a true, uniformly distributed solution.  It will NOT dissolve in water.  But once dissolve in a true solvent, it can then be diluted with water.

 

4)  If you follow the threads about scale tapering, you will find many posts detailing the tablet-to-tablet weight variation.  A 10% range is common.  And the actual FDA standard for both weight and purity is only +/- 15%, although most mfgrs do manage to hold closer to +/- 5%

 

 

Hi Builder,

 

Your reply is very instructive. Thanks!

Thanks Builder and thanks Jim!! I've read a lot of what you have both written here and really happy you both replied!! So each pill only captains a minute dose of the API, no wonder I can't see it  Can I ask, how much vodka (80 proof) is the most efficient to dissolve .5mg tablets? I noticed Builder suggests 2ml for 1mg tablets. Since the physical tablets are basically the same size, should I still dissolve my .5mg tablets in 2ml vodka? Also should I mix the residue in with the clear liquid when drawing up my dose with an oral syringe? Your advise is greatly appreciated and thanks again!! Harmonee

Thanks Builder and thanks Jim!! I've read a lot of what you have both written here and really happy you both replied!! So each pill only captains a minute dose of the API, no wonder I can't see it  Can I ask, how much vodka (80 proof) is the most efficient to dissolve .5mg tablets? I noticed Builder suggests 2ml for 1mg tablets. Since the physical tablets are basically the same size, should I still dissolve my .5mg tablets in 2ml vodka? Also should I mix the residue in with the clear liquid when drawing up my dose with an oral syringe? Your advise is greatly appreciated and thanks again!! Harmonee

 

1)  If your .5mg tablet weighs 150mg (typical), then only .3% is actually active ingredient.

 

2)  My suggestion of "2ml for 1mg" has nothing to do with the tablet dose rating, or the tablet weight.  The solubility is a ratio of the active ingredient (Xanax) to the amount of solvent.  The 1mg:2ml rule applies whether you have .5mg tablets, 1mg tablets, etc.  If you are using .5mg tablets, you need to use 1ml vodka for each tablet.  If you are using 1mg tablets, then you would need 2ml vodka.  Its the ratio of Xanax to the amount of solvent.  It will be 1mg:2ml, no matter what dose tablets you use.

Hi Builder, . I read in another post you thought Jim Hawk's daily reduction too complex but also good in an ideal world. I don't want to go by Jim's table as it means I need to make up 1 liter of liquid (not practical in my circumstance). Would you know an Excel formula where I can achieve a reduction of 10% of 1.5mg over a 14 day period in daily increments? What % would the daily reduction be? I would be grateful for your help.

Hi Builder, . I read in another post you thought Jim Hawk's daily reduction too complex but also good in an ideal world. I don't want to go by Jim's table as it means I need to make up 1 liter of liquid (not practical in my circumstance). Would you know an Excel formula where I can achieve a reduction of 10% of 1.5mg over a 14 day period in daily increments? What % would the daily reduction be? I would be grateful for your help.

 

1.5mg X 10% = .15mg

.15mg/14 days = .0107mg/day  (round down to .01mg/day)

 

The percentage daiy reduction would be .01mg/1.5mg= .6% per day.

 

Thank you Builder, that makes perfect sense.