Can't dry cut no more need some advice. Builder?

I can't dry cut no more, I am currently at 0.88 Ativan. I have a scale that reads 0,001 but I don't trust the damn thing anymore cutting those tablets can give you an anxiety attack of its own. And I am worried about the pill uniformity at this stage. Last few weeks have been pretty rough mentally, physically I have very little problems. But struggling hard mentally and have been at this taper 6months already so that wears me down. I am sick of it..

 

I am worried that the dry cutting dosing has not been consistent (scale and pill uniformity) so I am switching as I see no other way to keep dry cutting. But I am a bit worried that I get worse...

 

So I am using Vodka, I have read a lot already and made some dry runs.

 

I would dissolve 10x1mg tablets in 20ml Vodka and add 80ml water. This will give me 100ml of solution at 0,1mg I put this in a jar.

 

I dose 3x per day

 

9 am 0.38

6 pm 0.25

midnight 0.25

 

I want to slowly reduce all doses till 0 and I want to be done before the end of this year. I am currently holding and maybe if I switch to liquid I will need to hold a bit too.

 

My questions.

- Maybe I would rather have a bit more solution, now when I need to dose with above ratio it would be 3.8 ml or 2.5 ml right. If I add another 100ml of water my ratio would be 0.05mg/ml and I would dose 7.6ml or 5ml right? This should not cause any problems? I would like a little more liquid to work with. a 100ml solution is not that much my jars are not big but not small so if I get low in solution I would have to dig down with that tiny syringe.

 

-How long can I store this solution? Can I make a batch with 20 pills?

 

-I just dont want to drag this taper on too long, do you advise to reduce daily or cut and hold? As soon as I am used to the liquid I want to be done in 9 weeks. 0,1 mg per week or 1mg valium per week or maybe 10 days.

 

Some comments or advise would be very appreciated!

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

My questions.

- Maybe I would rather have a bit more solution, now when I need to dose with above ratio it would be 3.8 ml or 2.5 ml right. If I add another 100ml of water my ratio would be 0.05mg/ml and I would dose 7.6ml or 5ml right? This should not cause any problems? I would like a little more liquid to work with. a 100ml solution is not that much my jars are not big but not small so if I get low in solution I would have to dig down with that tiny syringe.

 

-How long can I store this solution? Can I make a batch with 20 pills?

 

-I just dont want to drag this taper on too long, do you advise to reduce daily or cut and hold? As soon as I am used to the liquid I want to be done in 9 weeks. 0,1 mg per week or 1mg valium per week or maybe 10 days.

 

Some comments or advise would be very appreciated!

 

Thanks

 

I always recommend making a 10-14 day batch, and either a .1mg/ml ratio, or a .01mg/ml ratio.

 

Based on the info you shared, here's what I would do:

 

Combine 10mg + 20ml vodka + 980ml water.  That's approx a 10-12 day supply, .01mg per ml.

 

Your plan to do .1mg/week is extremely agressive.  While taper rates are widely variable from one individual to another, most folks here on BB do somewhere around 7-10% per 2 weeks.  But all tapers should be symptom based (NOT "calendar" based), so listen your body.

 

 

My questions.

- Maybe I would rather have a bit more solution, now when I need to dose with above ratio it would be 3.8 ml or 2.5 ml right. If I add another 100ml of water my ratio would be 0.05mg/ml and I would dose 7.6ml or 5ml right? This should not cause any problems? I would like a little more liquid to work with. a 100ml solution is not that much my jars are not big but not small so if I get low in solution I would have to dig down with that tiny syringe.

 

-How long can I store this solution? Can I make a batch with 20 pills?

 

-I just dont want to drag this taper on too long, do you advise to reduce daily or cut and hold? As soon as I am used to the liquid I want to be done in 9 weeks. 0,1 mg per week or 1mg valium per week or maybe 10 days.

 

Some comments or advise would be very appreciated!

 

Thanks

 

I always recommend making a 10-14 day batch, and either a .1mg/ml ratio, or a .01ml ratio.

 

Based on the info you shared, here's what I would do:

 

Combine 10mg + 20ml vodka + 980ml water.  That's approx a 10-12 day supply, .01mg per ml.

 

Your plan to do .1mg/week is extremely agressive.  While taper rates are widely variable from one individual to another, most folks here on BB do somewhere around 7-10% per 2 weeks.  But all tapers should be symptom based (NOT "calendar" based), so listen your body.

 

Thanks Builder!

 

I know it is fareley agressive but if I go by the Ashton manual it is stil not faster then her as I understand. At the end of her schedule she made 1mg cuts 1-2 weeks. But I will see how I feel as I go down. So I will not force myself and really be careful... But I would be at the fastest side but still not over the Ashton manual. If I make % cut's the taper will drag on forever.

 

A question to your recommendation to have a one 1000ml suspension , is there a reason you recommend such a high volume of water?

I have jars and they are not that big, offcourse I could buy them but in the end it probably would not matter right what kind of ratio I use?

If I use the 1000ml suspension my starting dose would be

 

38ml 0.38mg

25ml 0.25mg

25ml 0.25mg ?

 

Why do you always recommend .1 0r .01 is it just for convenience or is there another reason behind it?

 

Thank you very much for advising.

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Nice 

 

Congratulation for making it to the other side.

 

I am just worried about my scale, under 0.35 the thing is just not accurate, it doesn't even register very tiny pieces so I would not know how to go down to 0.05. the way I did keep cutting is placing 1 pill on the scale and start weighing from there so the 1 pill I would just detract from the total weight. But mentally it worries me.

 

1 pill weighs 0.103g but just 0.001 is actual lorazepam so how would you know u are ingesting the right%. Till now my cut was reasonable doable but now I am starting to worry.

BattleGaba, I was looking at your sig and you have really been moving fast since you stabilized at 5 mg.  Have you had many symptoms on the way down?

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Nice 

 

Congratulation for making it to the other side.

 

I am just worried about my scale, under 0.35 the thing is just not accurate, it doesn't even register very tiny pieces so I would not know how to go down to 0.05. the way I did keep cutting is placing 1 pill on the scale and start weighing from there so the 1 pill I would just detract from the total weight. But mentally it worries me.

 

1 pill weighs 0.103g but just 0.001 is actual lorazepam so how would you know u are ingesting the right%. Till now my cut was reasonable doable but now I am starting to worry.

 

Is the balance old? If yes, you can buy a gemini scale at amazon for 20 dollars or so. Mine worked very well down to 0.08mg.

 

In relation to the amount, you are weighting the pills not the active substance. My 1mg Ativan pills weighted 0.1g. So, my last 0.05mg Ativan corresponded to 0.005g.

 

So, consider your pill weights 0.1 mg because what matters is that you are reducing your dose slowly.

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Nice 

 

Congratulation for making it to the other side.

 

I am just worried about my scale, under 0.35 the thing is just not accurate, it doesn't even register very tiny pieces so I would not know how to go down to 0.05. the way I did keep cutting is placing 1 pill on the scale and start weighing from there so the 1 pill I would just detract from the total weight. But mentally it worries me.

 

1 pill weighs 0.103g but just 0.001 is actual lorazepam so how would you know u are ingesting the right%. Till now my cut was reasonable doable but now I am starting to worry.

 

Is the balance old? If yes, you can buy a gemini scale at amazon for 20 dollars or so. Mine worked very well down to 0.08mg.

 

In relation to the amount, you are weighting the pills not the active substance. My 1mg Ativan pills weighted 0.1g. So, my last 0.05mg Ativan corresponded to 0.005g.

 

So, consider your pill weights 0.1 mg because what matters is that you are reducing your dose slowly.

Yes but if you take lets say 0.050g of powder how do you know how much of that is actual lorazepam. Now if you take 1mg Lorazepam per day and you split the pill up in pieces it doesn't matter you will get 1mg daily 100% but if u crush pills and weigh powder you never really know exactly how much lorazepam is in your powder because the ratio lorazepam to powder is only 1%.

 

Now I have been dry cutting also and I didn't have too much trouble but still it is starting to worry me, specially in the lower doses.

BattleGaba, I was looking at your sig and you have really been moving fast since you stabilized at 5 mg.  Have you had many symptoms on the way down?

 

Had some rough patches, mostly mental symptoms. Can't say it has been easy just like 10 days ago I have had a very bad wave which I am now slowly coming out of. Very anxious, depressed and ready to give up. But it is getting better.

 

I think it is fast but I rarely made cuts over 10% per week.

 

I always kept the Ashton manual in mind. She said you could cut 10% every week. But all the stories here and other groups have always worried me, everyone is saying 5% every 2-4 weeks but I just can't be tapering for longer then a year. I will go insane, I am holding now and just made my first batch of liquid.

 

But imo IF u can handle it u could cut 10% a week. It's doable and I am an anxious person.

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Nice 

 

Congratulation for making it to the other side.

 

I am just worried about my scale, under 0.35 the thing is just not accurate, it doesn't even register very tiny pieces so I would not know how to go down to 0.05. the way I did keep cutting is placing 1 pill on the scale and start weighing from there so the 1 pill I would just detract from the total weight. But mentally it worries me.

 

1 pill weighs 0.103g but just 0.001 is actual lorazepam so how would you know u are ingesting the right%. Till now my cut was reasonable doable but now I am starting to worry.

 

Is the balance old? If yes, you can buy a gemini scale at amazon for 20 dollars or so. Mine worked very well down to 0.08mg.

 

In relation to the amount, you are weighting the pills not the active substance. My 1mg Ativan pills weighted 0.1g. So, my last 0.05mg Ativan corresponded to 0.005g.

 

So, consider your pill weights 0.1 mg because what matters is that you are reducing your dose slowly.

Yes but if you take lets say 0.050g of powder how do you know how much of that is actual lorazepam. Now if you take 1mg Lorazepam per day and you split the pill up in pieces it doesn't matter you will get 1mg daily 100% but if u crush pills and weigh powder you never really know exactly how much lorazepam is in your powder because the ratio lorazepam to powder is only 1%.

 

Now I have been dry cutting also and I didn't have too much trouble but still it is starting to worry me, specially in the lower doses.

 

The percentage of lorazepam in the powder is the same than in the pill, it's always 1% (because in a 0.1g pill you have 0.001g of lorazepam). But, as in your pieces of pill, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you cut slowly.

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Hi Magnesium

I am interested in how you do this. Do you crush a lot of pills and store it in a container and then scoop out some to measure and weigh your dose? If you don’t mind what kind of container do you store it in and what do you use to scoop it out? Are you putting the powder in capsules before you take it? Or how do you take the powder, lick your finger? This may work for me but I get caught up in the details.

Thank you

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Nice 

 

Congratulation for making it to the other side.

 

I am just worried about my scale, under 0.35 the thing is just not accurate, it doesn't even register very tiny pieces so I would not know how to go down to 0.05. the way I did keep cutting is placing 1 pill on the scale and start weighing from there so the 1 pill I would just detract from the total weight. But mentally it worries me.

 

1 pill weighs 0.103g but just 0.001 is actual lorazepam so how would you know u are ingesting the right%. Till now my cut was reasonable doable but now I am starting to worry.

 

Is the balance old? If yes, you can buy a gemini scale at amazon for 20 dollars or so. Mine worked very well down to 0.08mg.

 

In relation to the amount, you are weighting the pills not the active substance. My 1mg Ativan pills weighted 0.1g. So, my last 0.05mg Ativan corresponded to 0.005g.

 

So, consider your pill weights 0.1 mg because what matters is that you are reducing your dose slowly.

Yes but if you take lets say 0.050g of powder how do you know how much of that is actual lorazepam. Now if you take 1mg Lorazepam per day and you split the pill up in pieces it doesn't matter you will get 1mg daily 100% but if u crush pills and weigh powder you never really know exactly how much lorazepam is in your powder because the ratio lorazepam to powder is only 1%.

 

Now I have been dry cutting also and I didn't have too much trouble but still it is starting to worry me, specially in the lower doses.

 

The percentage of lorazepam in the powder is the same than in the pill, it's always 1% (because in a 0.1g pill you have 0.001g of lorazepam). But, as in your pieces of pill, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you cut slowly.

But you dont know if that 1% is distributed evenly over the 99% of powder that is a fact, so if u scoop 0.100 powder u could be scooping up 0.001 lorazepam or 0.005 or zero. Not saying it doesn't work to get off but it is not accurate.

 

 

 

The percentage of lorazepam in the powder is the same than in the pill, it's always 1% (because in a 0.1g pill you have 0.001g of lorazepam). But, as in your pieces of pill, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you cut slowly.

 

No, not really.

 

Here's a reply I just made on another thread:

 

"There will be variability in distribution, tablet weight, and active ingredient content for all benzo tablets.

 

Regarding uniformity of distribution, imagine your following a cake recipe that calls for 2 cups (16 ozs) of flour, and I tsp of baking powder.  I don't care you long you mix and stir, you will never be assured that each ounce of that powder will contain exactly 1/16 tsp of baking powder.  Many samples would contain zero baking powder, and some would probably have high concentrations.  And for most common meds, that is pretty much how the ingredients are blended.

 

And the standard for both tablet weight, and active ingredient content is only +/- 15%.  That means a tablet-to-tablet variation of 30% is considered acceptable.  In fact, most mfgrs do considerably better, but many posts here on BB indicate that a 10% weight variation within the same batch of pills is common."

 

 

Thanks Builder!

 

 

A question to your recommendation to have a one 1000ml suspension , is there a reason you recommend such a high volume of water?

I have jars and they are not that big, offcourse I could buy them but in the end it probably would not matter right what kind of ratio I use?

If I use the 1000ml suspension my starting dose would be

 

38ml 0.38mg

25ml 0.25mg

25ml 0.25mg ?

 

Why do you always recommend .1 0r .01 is it just for convenience or is there another reason behind it?

 

Thank you very much for advising.

 

As a generalization, I almost always recommend a .1mg/ml solution.  This means you can easily measure down to .01mgs.  And for almost all tapers, .01 (one/hundredth)mg is all the precision you will ever need.

 

But if your starting a .88mg dose, and do a daily taper, you will  almost certainly have a schedule that will require 3 decimal (.001mg) precision.  If you were to do a schedule of 1%/day cut from your current dose,  that would be .0088mgs/day.  If you have a .1mg/ml solution, that's .088ml.  Kinda hard to measure .088ml (although it is possible).  Much easier to measure .88ml.

 

 

Thanks Builder!

 

 

A question to your recommendation to have a one 1000ml suspension , is there a reason you recommend such a high volume of water?

I have jars and they are not that big, offcourse I could buy them but in the end it probably would not matter right what kind of ratio I use?

If I use the 1000ml suspension my starting dose would be

 

38ml 0.38mg

25ml 0.25mg

25ml 0.25mg ?

 

Why do you always recommend .1 0r .01 is it just for convenience or is there another reason behind it?

 

Thank you very much for advising.

 

As a generalization, I almost always recommend a .1mg/ml solution.  This means you can easily measure down to .01mgs.  And for almost all tapers, .01 (one/hundredth)mg is all the precision you will ever need.

 

But if your starting a .88mg dose, and do a daily taper, you will  almost certainly have a schedule that will require 3 decimal (.001mg) precision.  If you were to do a schedule of 1%/day cut from your current dose,  that would be .0088mgs/day.  If you have a .1mg/ml solution, that's .088ml.  Kinda hard to measure .088ml (although it is possible).  Much easier to measure .88ml.

 

You are awesome dude, that makes sense. I was doubting do I really need 1litre of suspension but I listened anyway. I just took my first dose and then I read your reply so I am happy I did it that way. I did notice a headache right away lol but probably just nerves.

 

Wish me luck 

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Hi Magnesium

I am interested in how you do this. Do you crush a lot of pills and store it in a container and then scoop out some to measure and weigh your dose? If you don’t mind what kind of container do you store it in and what do you use to scoop it out? Are you putting the powder in capsules before you take it? Or how do you take the powder, lick your finger? This may work for me but I get caught up in the details.

Thank you

 

I used to put some pills in a pill crusher, crush them into powder and then use the pill crusher itself to store the powder (I'm very lazy). To pick up the powder, I'd use a small spoon made of aluminum foil. After weighting, I'd put the powder on my hand and lick it. Nothing complicated

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Nice 

 

Congratulation for making it to the other side.

 

I am just worried about my scale, under 0.35 the thing is just not accurate, it doesn't even register very tiny pieces so I would not know how to go down to 0.05. the way I did keep cutting is placing 1 pill on the scale and start weighing from there so the 1 pill I would just detract from the total weight. But mentally it worries me.

 

1 pill weighs 0.103g but just 0.001 is actual lorazepam so how would you know u are ingesting the right%. Till now my cut was reasonable doable but now I am starting to worry.

 

Is the balance old? If yes, you can buy a gemini scale at amazon for 20 dollars or so. Mine worked very well down to 0.08mg.

 

In relation to the amount, you are weighting the pills not the active substance. My 1mg Ativan pills weighted 0.1g. So, my last 0.05mg Ativan corresponded to 0.005g.

 

So, consider your pill weights 0.1 mg because what matters is that you are reducing your dose slowly.

Yes but if you take lets say 0.050g of powder how do you know how much of that is actual lorazepam. Now if you take 1mg Lorazepam per day and you split the pill up in pieces it doesn't matter you will get 1mg daily 100% but if u crush pills and weigh powder you never really know exactly how much lorazepam is in your powder because the ratio lorazepam to powder is only 1%.

 

Now I have been dry cutting also and I didn't have too much trouble but still it is starting to worry me, specially in the lower doses.

 

The percentage of lorazepam in the powder is the same than in the pill, it's always 1% (because in a 0.1g pill you have 0.001g of lorazepam). But, as in your pieces of pill, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you cut slowly.

But you dont know if that 1% is distributed evenly over the 99% of powder that is a fact, so if u scoop 0.100 powder u could be scooping up 0.001 lorazepam or 0.005 or zero. Not saying it doesn't work to get off but it is not accurate.

 

You are overly complicating things, BattleGaba. But even if that were the case, when you crush the pills you are homogenizing the powder. Any remaining random fluctuations would cancel each other over the course of the taper.

 

You are overly complicating things, BattleGaba. But even if that were the case, when you crush the pills you are homogenizing the powder. Any remaining random fluctuations would cancel each other over the course of the taper.

 

:thumbsup:

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Hi Magnesium

I am interested in how you do this. Do you crush a lot of pills and store it in a container and then scoop out some to measure and weigh your dose? If you don’t mind what kind of container do you store it in and what do you use to scoop it out? Are you putting the powder in capsules before you take it? Or how do you take the powder, lick your finger? This may work for me but I get caught up in the details.

Thank you

 

I used to put some pills in a pill crusher, crush them into powder and then use the pill crusher itself to store the powder (I'm very lazy). To pick up the powder, I'd use a small spoon made of aluminum foil. After weighting, I'd put the powder on my hand and lick it. Nothing complicated

 

 

 

Great! Thank you. Could I do this same thing with powder dumped out from a Librium capsule?

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Nice 

 

Congratulation for making it to the other side.

 

I am just worried about my scale, under 0.35 the thing is just not accurate, it doesn't even register very tiny pieces so I would not know how to go down to 0.05. the way I did keep cutting is placing 1 pill on the scale and start weighing from there so the 1 pill I would just detract from the total weight. But mentally it worries me.

 

1 pill weighs 0.103g but just 0.001 is actual lorazepam so how would you know u are ingesting the right%. Till now my cut was reasonable doable but now I am starting to worry.

 

Is the balance old? If yes, you can buy a gemini scale at amazon for 20 dollars or so. Mine worked very well down to 0.08mg.

 

In relation to the amount, you are weighting the pills not the active substance. My 1mg Ativan pills weighted 0.1g. So, my last 0.05mg Ativan corresponded to 0.005g.

 

So, consider your pill weights 0.1 mg because what matters is that you are reducing your dose slowly.

Yes but if you take lets say 0.050g of powder how do you know how much of that is actual lorazepam. Now if you take 1mg Lorazepam per day and you split the pill up in pieces it doesn't matter you will get 1mg daily 100% but if u crush pills and weigh powder you never really know exactly how much lorazepam is in your powder because the ratio lorazepam to powder is only 1%.

 

Now I have been dry cutting also and I didn't have too much trouble but still it is starting to worry me, specially in the lower doses.

 

The percentage of lorazepam in the powder is the same than in the pill, it's always 1% (because in a 0.1g pill you have 0.001g of lorazepam). But, as in your pieces of pill, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you cut slowly.

But you dont know if that 1% is distributed evenly over the 99% of powder that is a fact, so if u scoop 0.100 powder u could be scooping up 0.001 lorazepam or 0.005 or zero. Not saying it doesn't work to get off but it is not accurate.

 

You are overly complicating things, BattleGaba. But even if that were the case, when you crush the pills you are homogenizing the powder. Any remaining random fluctuations would cancel each other over the course of the taper.

I don't like random fluctuations, I have enough stress as it is 

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Hi Magnesium

I am interested in how you do this. Do you crush a lot of pills and store it in a container and then scoop out some to measure and weigh your dose? If you don’t mind what kind of container do you store it in and what do you use to scoop it out? Are you putting the powder in capsules before you take it? Or how do you take the powder, lick your finger? This may work for me but I get caught up in the details.

Thank you

 

I used to put some pills in a pill crusher, crush them into powder and then use the pill crusher itself to store the powder (I'm very lazy). To pick up the powder, I'd use a small spoon made of aluminum foil. After weighting, I'd put the powder on my hand and lick it. Nothing complicated

 

 

 

Great! Thank you. Could I do this same thing with powder dumped out from a Librium capsule?

 

I don't know. Some capsules are made to release the content slower. Of course you could put the powder inside the capsule again. I intend to do so to taper off Effexor, but still need to make a few tests to find a good and simple way to refill the capsules.

 

 

 

The percentage of lorazepam in the powder is the same than in the pill, it's always 1% (because in a 0.1g pill you have 0.001g of lorazepam). But, as in your pieces of pill, that doesn't matter. What matters is that you cut slowly.

 

No, not really.

 

Here's a reply I just made on another thread:

 

"There will be variability in distribution, tablet weight, and active ingredient content for all benzo tablets.

 

Regarding uniformity of distribution, imagine your following a cake recipe that calls for 2 cups (16 ozs) of flour, and I tsp of baking powder.  I don't care you long you mix and stir, you will never be assured that each ounce of that powder will contain exactly 1/16 tsp of baking powder.  Many samples would contain zero baking powder, and some would probably have high concentrations.  And for most common meds, that is pretty much how the ingredients are blended.

 

And the standard for both tablet weight, and active ingredient content is only +/- 15%.  That means a tablet-to-tablet variation of 30% is considered acceptable.  In fact, most mfgrs do considerably better, but many posts here on BB indicate that a 10% weight variation within the same batch of pills is common."

 

Builder, where did you find this info about +/- variation of 15% in ingredient content? What I read is that there can be 0 variation in ingredient content. What can vary  by 5-10% is the blood concentration after taking the pill, which of course depends on the fillers, etc. and absorption characteristics of the pill. Also, I don't think there is much variability in distribution in the pills. Pharma companies have pretty good mixers.

Hi, I dry cut down to 0.05mg Ativan using a balance like yours. I crushed the pills into powder, store it in a closed plastic container and took the amount I needed everyday.

 

This method works very well

Hi Magnesium

I am interested in how you do this. Do you crush a lot of pills and store it in a container and then scoop out some to measure and weigh your dose? If you don’t mind what kind of container do you store it in and what do you use to scoop it out? Are you putting the powder in capsules before you take it? Or how do you take the powder, lick your finger? This may work for me but I get caught up in the details.

Thank you

 

I used to put some pills in a pill crusher, crush them into powder and then use the pill crusher itself to store the powder (I'm very lazy). To pick up the powder, I'd use a small spoon made of aluminum foil. After weighting, I'd put the powder on my hand and lick it. Nothing complicated

 

 

 

Great! Thank you. Could I do this same thing with powder dumped out from a Librium capsule?

 

I don't know. Some capsules are made to release the content slower. Of course you could put the powder inside the capsule again. I intend to do so to taper off Effexor, but still need to make a few tests to find a good and simple way to refill the capsules.

 

I will look into it. Thank you

 

 

Builder, where did you find this info about +/- variation of 15% in ingredient content? What I read is that there can be 0 variation in ingredient content. What can vary  by 5-10% is the blood concentration after taking the pill, which of course depends on the fillers, etc. and absorption characteristics of the pill. Also, I don't think there is much variability in distribution in the pills. Pharma companies have pretty good mixers.

 

"...the requirements for dose uniformity are met if the amount of the active ingredient in 10 dosage units as determined from the weight variation and content uniformity method  lies within the range of 85.0% and 115.0% of the label claim..."

 

http://www.pharmacopeia.cn/v29240/usp29nf24s0_c905.html

 

 

Builder, where did you find this info about +/- variation of 15% in ingredient content? What I read is that there can be 0 variation in ingredient content. What can vary  by 5-10% is the blood concentration after taking the pill, which of course depends on the fillers, etc. and absorption characteristics of the pill. Also, I don't think there is much variability in distribution in the pills. Pharma companies have pretty good mixers.

 

"...the requirements for dose uniformity are met if the amount of the active ingredient in 10 dosage units as determined from the weight variation and content uniformity method  lies within the range of 85.0% and 115.0% of the label claim..."

 

http://www.pharmacopeia.cn/v29240/usp29nf24s0_c905.html

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This is a Chinese website. I wouldn't take it too seriously.