Picture it; You visit the Doctor and he issues you a prescription for a medication.
With your prescription in hand, you make your way to the local pharmacy and get the prescription filled, only to come home and discover your prescribed medication tastes just a little less appetizing than engine oil mixed with paint thinner, or even worse, those pills inside the lidded container are large enough to be paperweights!
While it’s common to assume patients must simply grin and bare their medications just as provided over the counter, as it happens there is an alternative some pharmacies offer called ‘compounding’!
Compounding is the process of customizing medications to meet the needs of the patient/customer.
As it happens, compounding isn’t new to apothecary. In fact, prior to the advent of mass drug production, compounding was the common practice for preparing medications.
Today, even with so many mass-produced drug options available, compounding still serves an important role for customers.
For example, from time-to-time, drug manufacturers will discontinue a particular medication, making it hard for patients who still need it to access it. A pharmacist offering compounding can often recreate that medication in-pharmacy.
Compounding also allows a pharmacist to alter how a medication is taken, making it easier on the patient.
For example, children and even pets, struggle with pills and tablets. Through compounding, tablets or pills can be converted into liquids, and even be altered for taste, making them more pleasant to swallow! For pets, this is particularly helpful as tasty treats like bacon and tuna can be mixed into a medication for Felix or Buster, making administering their medicine much easier on their owners!
Some medications can even be converted into creams to apply topically!
Then there are the many complications that can come from a particular medication causing an allergic reaction for patients.
These allergies can range from lactose, alcohol or gluten intolerances to sensitivities to the various fillers and preservatives used in a particular drug.
A pharmacist who compounds can offer alternative formulas that avoid these offensive ingredients!
At the Medicine Shoppe in West Kelowna, we’re pleased to be a compounding pharmacy and are always keen to help customize a medication to better suit your needs!
If you have questions about compounding or would like us to customize a medication for you, pop by the store and ask to see Paolo or Tracey!