The advancement of the healthcare industry has paved the way for the development of multiple drugs that cater to different illnesses readily available to the public. These medications are usually uniform across the board in terms of dosage and potency to cater to a wide population.

However, there are those whose medical needs require more than the standard medication that’s available. How do they avail of drugs that’ll address an ailment? This is where compounded medicines come in.

What are compounded medicines? Who manufactures these medicines? When and who needs them? These are the questions you might be asking yourself. Well, put your mind to rest; this feature provides the answers to these questions. Read on to learn more. 

What Are Compounded Medicines

Compounded medicines are medications that aren’t readily available in the market and are customized by compounding pharmacies to suit a given patient’s needs. 

Doctors are often the source of the need for compound medicines. Based on their patient’s needs, they’ll guide them accordingly by writing a prescription entailing the ingredients needed for their medication. You’ll then get this formulation from Fagron Sterile or any other compounding pharmacy. All you must do is present them with the prescription. Most compounding pharmacies have the necessary equipment to custom-make your medication.

As a patient needing compounded medicines, you shouldn’t worry about quality. The practice has a regulatory body that varies from state to state. It’d help to check if the pharmacy adheres to the compounding standards and ensure they’re licensed before working with them.

When Do You Need Compounded Medicines

The need for compounded medicines arises from different situations. Some of them include:

Need For A Different Method Of Delivery

Medicines come in different forms, from tablets to liquids to serums. But a given medication can only be available in one form, for example, a pill. Suppose a patient requires the medication but can’t swallow a pill. They could be toddlers, suffering from conditions such as digestive tract issues, and the like. In this case, you can seek compounded medication in the form the patient can readily take, such as injectables, topical, or lozenges. 

Allergen Issues

Most medicines combine several ingredients, each with a different concentration. Although standard, some patients might be allergic to some ingredients, such as alcohol or lactose. Their intake of such medications could result in adverse effects. 

In such cases, compounded medicines are the only option. Here, the compounding pharmacy will formulate a similar drug, only this time, they’ll remove the said allergen. They might add an alternative to the allergen to ensure the medicine is still potent in treating your illness.

Different Dosage Needs

As previously stated, medicines have several ingredients in different amounts. These different amounts are what’s referred to as dosage. With standard medicines, specific dosages are available in the market, which often determines the drug’s potency.   

Different patients have different needs depending on their bodies. An existing medication could be too strong or too weak for a given patient’s need, yet, they require it. In this case, compounding is the only option. 

If you need compounded medicine, the pharmacist will compound the medication based on your required potency levels. Your doctor will give adequate formulation and patient intake instructions for the final product, eliminating possible errors. 

Need For Few Pills

Certain illnesses require the ingestion of several medications at once. Some require you to take six to seven pills at a go. Most patients don’t find this ideal. Some might forget to take some, with others giving up on taking the pills due to the number. Either situation isn’t ideal. To prevent such situations, doctors tend to provide compounding as a solution. Here, the compounding pharmacy will combine the medications appropriately, reducing the pills to two or three. It’s quite easy to take two pills instead of six or seven. 

Medicine Shortage

Like any other business, the bottom line of most health centers and pharmacies is to make profits. Medicine manufacturers tend to produce more medications for common illnesses, with few of those for rare needs. It doesn’t make sense to produce thousands of rare illness medicines only to expire due to a lack of users. In such cases, the facilities will discontinue this manufacturing.

Yet just because the numbers aren’t adding up doesn’t mean that no one or two patients still require the medication. The only option for such patients is to seek compounded medicines. The compounding pharmacy will formulate the drug for the patient, providing the needed health benefits.

Conclusion

Medicine compounding is an approach that caters to the minority that has special needs regarding medication. The discussion above shows when compounded medicines come in handy.

As a patient, you don’t have to give up all hope in case you lack the medication you need in the market. For doctors, you’re in a position to prescribe alternative medications to suit your patients’ needs. 

Compounded medicines are a solution for all; be sure to adopt and embrace them in your everyday life. They work just as best as standard medications do if taken per proper dosage instructions, along with practicing healthy habits.