liquid taper without milk or vodka?

Hi -- I've searched around and can't find anything exactly on this topic. I'm wanting to continue my liquid taper without vodka and I can't tolerate milk. Does anyone have experience with making a liquid suspension at home with another solvent?

Thanks much!

FYI ...

(1) A prescription, 2mg/mL concentrated oral solution of lorazepam is available in the U.S. The formulations from the different manufacturers use two solvents: polyethylene glycol and propylene glycol. To learn more, enter “lorazepam” in the DailyMed search box at: https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov

(2) In the EU, a prescription oral solution of lorazepam was not available, so a team of pharmacists in The Netherlands developed and tested formulations suitable for pediatric patients. The final, 1mg/mL formulation used three solvents: glycerol, polyethylene glycol 400, and propylene glycol. The formulation remained stable for 12 months at 4 °C (about 39 °F) with lorazepam content remaining > 95%. To learn more:

Vossen, A.C. & Velde, I. & Smeets, O.S.N.M. & Postma, D.J. & Eckhardt, M. & Vermes, A. & Koch, Birgit & Vulto, Arnold & Hanff, L.M.. (2017). Formulating a poorly water soluble drug into an oral solution suitable for paediatric patients; lorazepam as a model drug. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, pp. 205-210. Accessed online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928098717300490

(3) A compounded, 1mg/mL suspension of lorazepam was developed and tested by a team of pharmacists at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy, Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. To learn more:

Wan-Man Ellaria Lee, Ralph A. Lugo, William J. Rusho, Mark MacKay, and John Sweeley. (2004). Chemical Stability of Extemporaneously Prepared Lorazepam Suspension at Two Temperatures. The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics: October 2004, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 254-258. Accessed online at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3469120/pdf/i1551-6776-9-4-254.pdf

Maybe I am too old to get this, but why on earth would one want to taper off benzos using alcohol??? Alcohol works in similar ways as benzos, for heavens sake. If you don't like milk why not use water or ornage juice or something very safe?

east

If you don't like milk why not use water or orange juice or something very safe?

Hello, east. Good to “meet” you.  I read your blog on a regular basis!

To answer your question above, here are two reasons.  First, lorazepam, like most of the benzodiazepines, has very low solubility in water.  Although a regular tablet of lorazepam (or the powder made by grinding up a tablet) might appear to “dissolve” in water.  It doesn’t.  The tablet (or powder) just disintegrates into smaller particles (each of which contains an unknown amount of the active drug substance). Second, water is a very poor suspending agent.  Due to its low viscosity, the tablet (or powder) particles fall to the bottom of the container (or, in some cases, float to the top) very quickly so the amount of active drug substance in any given dose is unknown. Make sense?

Hi Libertas and Dana — appreciate the helpful info.

Many thanks.