deedeedee: paroxetine / Paxil / Seroxat

[deedeedee]

Hi Guys,

 

Can anyone help?

I am trying to find a good digital scales to help me taper off Seroxtat.

It obviously need to measure at very low doses... 9mg -8.1mg etc etc.

 

Any help would be great

[deedeedee]

Hi,

 

Hopefully someone can help me with this.

 

I am just about to taper down on Seroxtat and it would seem that digital scales that can measure miligrams will be required.

 

I have seen quite a few on-line, but it is difficult to know which one will work best.

 

Can anyone recommend a make of digital scales to use for tapering?

 

Thank You.

[ChessieCat]

Hi DDD and welcome to SA,

 

I've moved your posts and created your own Introduction topic where you can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

 

This is SA's topic:  using-a-digital-scale-to-measure-doses

 

Many members use the Gemini 20 scale.

 

It looks like you already know about tapering but I'll give you some information just in case you haven't seen it.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Tips for tapering off Paxil (paroxetine)

 

Paxil is also available in liquid, and you can make your own.  Information in Post #1 of the above topic.

 

Please create your drug signature using the following format.   Keep it simple.  NO diagnoses or symptoms please - thank you.

• details for last 2 years - dates, ALL drugs, doses
• summary for older than 2 years - just years and drug/s

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

[deedeedee]

Hi ChessieCat,

 

Thank you for your help with this.

 

I have had a look at he Gemini 20 scale online.

I have one question about it which you may or may not be able to help with.

It states that it can measure down to 0.001 g increments.

That is fine, but if I want to measure out ..say 8.1 mg in Seroxtat, which I believe would be my next stopping point after 9mg - do you know if these scales would be able to do this?

 

Thank you

 

[brassmonkey]

Yes, the scales can do that quite well.

 

The tablets are made up of two materials the Active Ingredient (the actual drug) and Fillers (something to make the tablet big enough to handle).  It appears that you are using 10mg tablets so I will use them for an example.  If you weigh one of the tablets on the scale it will probably weigh .125g or as we would call it 125mgpw (milligrams pill weight).  Of the weight would be .010g or as we would call it 10mgai (milligrams active ingredient).  The drug manufacturers work very hard to make sure that the active ingredient is evenly distributed through out the tablet.

 

When you do the math it ends up that for every 1mgpw there is .08mgai. This is referred to as the AIC (Active Ingredient Concentration).  So if you were to weigh out 1mgpw of the pill you would be getting .08mgai of the medication.  If you weigh out 8mgpw you would be getting 1mgai of medication.  In this way it is very easy to control the weight of your dose to a very small amount.

 

I made up these numbers based on my experience with 40mgai paxil tablets so to be accurate we would need to know the actual numbers that you're working with.  When your scales arrive we need to know the average weight of 10 tablets and the strength that is listed on the bottle.  With that information we can help you calculate the AIC and any other weights you will be needing. Just let us know.

[deedeedee]

Hi, thank you.

Would it not just be possible to weigh the tablet - then subtract 10% from the weight and then cut the pill until that weight?

That would get me down from 10mg to 9mg?

 

Many Thanks

 

Damine

[brassmonkey]

That is the easiest way to do it, just removing 10% of the weight.  My explanation was to show that it's pretty easy to hit any specific dosage that is required. 

 

For you second reduction subtract 10% from the weight you used for the first reduction and you should get a dose very close to the 8.1mg that you're looking for.