am I paying too much for compounding???

yeah, this shit is 83 dollars , for a 14 day supply, of compounded Klonopin,  a small 40 ml bottle, I dose out of 3 times a day

like , for example,  0.8 ml    1.0 ml  then at night 1.0 ml for 2.8 ml daily    ( or equiv of  0.28 mg's )  almost 2.5 mg's if it were a pill

 

can this be made the way the pharmacy makes it for much cheaper???  as I'm on med welfare, and not sure I can do this 10 months, however , I suck at learning, is why I went to this compounding pharmacy, in the first place

HappyOne10001:  Per my October 2019 reply to you (included below), the amount your compounding pharmacy sounds “off” to me.  I recently conducted an informal survey of members who are using or have used compounding here in the U.S.  Their out-of-pocket costs for a compounded oral suspension of clonazepam ranged from a low of $15 to $20 to $40 to a high of $60 (the $60 compound used brand name Klonopin which is pricey; the other compounds used generic tablets as the drug source).

 

Have you asked your compounder for details regarding the formulation s/he is using? Does it use the active drug substance (API) instead of regular generic tablets as the drug source?  What are the other ingredients?  My understanding (which may or may not be correct) is that here in the U.S. the 14-day supply limit is imposed when a compounder is using a non-standard formulation and/or a formulation that has an aqueous component.

 

Hello, HappyOne10001. 

 

First and foremost, congratulations on getting to 0.325mg of Klonopin from an original dose of 1.5mg.  That’s quite an achievement!

 

The $200 for an initial consult sounds “off” to me. I have experience using two compounding pharmacies.  Neither of them charged me a consultation fee.  Cost per month using a generic was in the range of $20-30 with insurance.

 

Like everything else related to our healthcare these days, we have to conduct our own “due dilligence” to find a qualified and competent provider.  I found this wikiHow on how to find and evaluate a compounding pharmacy to be helpful:

 

How to Find a Compounding Pharmacy: 7 Steps (with Pictures)

https://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Compounding-Pharmacy

 

Also, if you are in the US, there is a USP monograph for a Compounded Clonazepam Oral Suspension. You can learn more about why finding a compounding pharmacist who knows about/uses a USP monograph (or a comparable, quality- and standards-based formulation) is worth consideration at:

 

Compounded Preparations Monographs (CPMs) | USP

https://www.usp.org/compounding/compounded-preparation-monographs

 

If you are not in the US, prescription oral solutions of clonazepam are available in other countries.  Might this be a possibility for you?  If so, you should be able to go to the website for whatever agency regulates prescription drugs in your country, find a database of the drugs that have been approved as safe and effective, and then search for the drug formats that are available for clonazepam.

 

Libertas

not sure how to get the ingredients of  the med itself ,  but looking at all the papers , and a bottle

with label which says  Clonazepam  0.1mg/ml  suspension SF,  40 ML  Mfr , MIX, Clonazepam in Ora Plus and Oral Sweet  SUG

( got new bottle  yesterday for 3rd  14 day supply )  also this is 83 Canadian dollars for 14 days, 

 

the receipt says this

Cost 65.01

Fee 17.99

Total 83.00    Patient Pays 83.00

Edit, I should add, I had no real idea what this was gonna cost till I got it going, ( they were vague on pricing) but

I wanted to get it going, got my doc onboard for the script etc, did all that, and  have now been consuming this since

Jan 3rd, it does seem to be a quality concoction , and I'm kind of relegated to use this place, as it has delivery.. and the

other few compounding pharmacies, around here are further away, and I'm limited as I'm agoraphobic, don't drive etc

 

This sounds like one of the standard formulations used here in the U.S.  According to the stability studies that have been conducted for this formulation, it has a “shelf life” of 60 days if kept refrigerated.  This leads me to wonder why the compounding pharmacy is dispensing it to you only 14 days at a time.  Did you request this?  Or did the compounding pharmacy suggest this?

the 14 day thing, is because the Compounding place told me, it's only good for 14 days, and

must be prepared fresh,  as it's volatile and goes bad,  ( his words) and  that's

the only way they prepare/sell it , this could be to make more money,  ( I have had that impression

with this place) and yes, it's kept in the  fridge I found this on another post you replied to, very interesting

looks like 60 days is more than fine    https://www.perrigorx.com/pdfs/Sec%20Artem%205.4.pdf  again, I keep

editing this, but was just curious, could this formulation, be replicated at home, with Ora-Plus and Ora-Sweet ( which

I see ,both of which can be bought on Amazon) also to clarity, as of now, it's costing 166.00 dollars CDN total for 28 days, @

14 days each times 2 bottles, with 40 ml's in them each,  that seems very excessive to me ,

Good for you for finding that article! You are correct, according to this stability study, the concentration of clonazepam in the formulation you are using remains quite high through Day 60 when stored at 5 degrees Celsius.  Have you considered sharing the article with the compounding pharmacist as a way to initiate a conversation with him/her about possibly reducing your costs by having your prescription filled every 30 days instead of every 14 days?

I will be seeing him ( the place etc) on Feb 15th, for a 1/2 hour consult,  I will print out

that material from PDF , also btw the cost for the consult is 100 bucks, , unreal, I've only

used this stuff since Jan 3rd,  and it's already cost me 550 bucks,  200 dollar initial consult

200 dollar for the private telehealth type nurse they have ( to initiate starting script, dosage etc  that my

doctor has now taken over) 249 dollars accumulative for the now 3rd bottle of 40 ML's  83 bucks a piece

yeah, so racking up a hell of a score,  now ya can see why I'm pissed, lol  watch, I bet they come up

with bullcrap about only being allowed to dispense it 14 days at a time, I can just sense it lol

Would your new doctor be willing to advocate for you?

my doc is not new to me (have had him since 2006) but he isn't benzo wise,  and

basically gives me what I want as he does know I'm working very hard on

this taper thing, the last 600 days, so he'll give me anything I want in terms

of the script etc,  but he doesn't have time to per say advocate for me, he's

a GP, regular doc,  busy,  the compounding place is not a true pharmacy , it's

a expensive supplement store, that has a "De-Prescribing" program for benzos

note the end sentence, they've already tried to sell me supplements

lol,  L Theonine  was the one he wouldn't shut up about ,(this is the compounding place

not my doc)    from their page , pasted below

 

Benzodiazepine Deprescribing

 

Many people use benzodiazepines or benzo-like drugs (e.g. zopiclone, zolpidem) for extended periods for anxiety and/or sleep. However, these medications are not indicated for use over extended periods of time and have significant withdrawal syndromes associated with them, making their discontinuation difficult and potentially dangerous. We work with patients’ healthcare providers to taper down benzodiazepine dosages while providing safer alternatives for anxiety and sleep.

I am fortune to have insurance that covers compounding. However, my Remeron compound is the same thing. They will only make it for 14 days because they say the suspension goes bad or something. So they stress that it must be refrigerated. Yet multiple times now I have placed an order and then did not pick it up for a few days and when I get there it’s in a non refrigerated drawer. I waited four days to pick it up one time and they did not refrigerate it for the entire 4 days so how important could it be really?

sadly being on welfare and doing this, I haven't been fortunate, I've had

to cut back food, and heat ( in Canada ) my inside temp is 48F lol

so yeah, trying to get to the bottom of what to do with this situation

also, to repeat, I'm wondering if this formula could be made at home

with Ora-Plus and Ora-Sweet,  and the correct number of crushed pills/

solution,  to maybe recreate this stuff myself