How to make a liquid from tablets or capsules

[ChessieCat]

1 hour ago, Deean said:

2. 

 

Stir the liquid gently before you extract the extra amount.  You also need to decide if you are going to rinse the container and drink it or not worry about any residue.  Again do the same thing each time.

 

It is normal for there to be some residue.  There are fillers that do not dissolve.

[ChessieCat]

1 hour ago, Deean said:

I guess I have a 3rd question...

 

It doesn't matter which way you do it so long as you are able to measure a consistent amount of water every time you make up your liquid.

 

I also suggest to members to use the same tools, the same area of the bench/table to measure (not many surfaces are perfectly level) and to use the same process every time for that reduction cycle.

[Deean]

8 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

It doesn't matter which way you do it so long as you are able to measure a consistent amount of water every time you make up your liquid.

 

I also suggest to members to use the same tools, the same area of the bench/table to measure (not many surfaces are perfectly level) and to use the same process every time for that reduction cycle.

Alright, with sleepy- eyes I say thank you Chessiecat for all your responses and guidance...going to give this a go. 

Fill ya in later.

Does the solution need to be kept in the fridge for the 2 hours it will sit for before consuming?  Or is on the counter okay?! 🤔 

 

[Deean]

10 hours ago, Deean said:

Hi again brassmonkey,

 

Well tomorrow is supposed to be my first day to start tapering.

I did a practice run-through today and have 2 questions that I feel are important to ask.

1.  If I am doing a 10-1 ratio, can I not take the smaller amount of mL's of mixed solution out of the container, and then just drink the rest that is left?

For example.  If I have 200 mL's of solution and I need to take  150mL's to get my proper dose (just random numbers here)...can I not take out 50mL's and dump that...then drink the rest?  Does it matter if I consume the filler ingredients at the bottom of the container?

Asking because it seems more practical to do that, rather than syringe out 150mL's leaving 50 mL's at the end.

Is there a specific reason that we shouldn't have the filler contents?

 

2.  So after letting my "practise run" solution sit for a couple of hours, there is quite a bit of sediment at the bottom.  How do I know that the medication actually is dissolved?   I guess I am asking for "unseen" proof...but, I am a little hesitant as this is my first time.

 

I guess I have a 3rd question...

Does it matter if I pour the distilled water from its original bottle into a measuring cup and then into the glass container I am using to dissolve my medication?  (rather than pulling it out with a syringe and putting it into the container).

 

I would love to start tomorrow, so will check back early morn to see if you've had a chance to respond....however, as this is a last-minute post, I realise I may have to be patient, and start the taper when all the ducks are lined-up.  

 

Thanks brassmonkey,

 

Deean

 

  

Have also asked Chessiecat this - for the 2 hours I am to let my solution sit before consuming, is it better to keep it in the fridge? Sometimes the ambient temperature in our kitchen/living room is different day-to-day.

 

If you say it IS alright to leave out of fridge, should it be protected from the light? Say by putting it in a cupboard?

Thanks

[Deean]

1 hour ago, Deean said:

Alright, with sleepy- eyes I say thank you Chessiecat for all your responses and guidance...going to give this a go. 

Fill ya in later.

Does the solution need to be kept in the fridge for the 2 hours it will sit for before consuming?  Or is on the counter okay?! 🤔 

 

Hi again..I had new questions pop up and I just posted them to brassmonkey..it is a little more detailed than my last question to you.  

Here's what I asked:

 

"for the 2 hours I am to let my solution sit before consuming, is it better to keep it in the fridge?

Sometimes the ambient temperature in our kitchen/living room is different day-to-day.

 

If you say it IS alright to leave out of the fridge, should it be protected from the light? Say by putting it in a cupboard?

 

Thanks

[brassmonkey]

It's better to let it sit at room temperature, as long as the room is not hot. (70F/21C)

Yes, protect it from sunlight.

[Deean]

5 hours ago, brassmonkey said:

It's better to let it sit at room temperature, as long as the room is not hot. (70F/21C)

Yes, protect it from sunlight.

Okay, 10-4 on those, thank you!

So the 2nd stir before consuming, is that to get any AI that may have settled down to the bottom above the filler sediment?

[ChessieCat]

35 minutes ago, Deean said:

So the 2nd stir before consuming, is that to get any AI that may have settled down to the bottom above the filler sediment?

 

It's just to try to distribute everything as evenly as possible.  Remember that we do the best we can.  Even tablets which are compounded by compounding pharmacists cannot be guaranteed exactly the dose.  We just try to get as close as possible with what we have available to us.

[Deean]

4 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

It's just to try to distribute everything as evenly as possible.  Remember that we do the best we can.  Even tablets which are compounded by compounding pharmacists cannot be guaranteed exactly the dose.  We just try to get as close as possible with what we have available to us.

Got it.

Alright, thank you Chessiecat. 

I will try and let go a little and just do what I can.

Here's to day 2 💪

[Johni]

@Rhiannon  can you help me ? thank you very much

[manymoretodays]

Johni,

I took your questions to your Introduction topic here

[LostInCanada]

On 11/29/2011 at 12:40 PM, Rhiannon said:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL TOPIC:  Making a Celexa Solution Yourself

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Just wanted to add that I've changed my method, it's even simpler now.

 

I just dissolve the tablet in 20 mL of water directly. It does take some time to dissolve. Then I stir it up well and pipette out my dose for the day. Since I'm taking 10 mg in 20 mL, my dose is, right now, 8 mL of water, for 4 mg of Celexa. It seems to be working.

 

You could do the same thing with a syringe.

 

Really, a pipette is just a bigger syringe; a tube with lines to mark quantity, designed for sucking up and then dispensing measured amounts of liquids. Since it's bigger and actually designed for the purpose, a pipette does allow more precise measurements. But it's really the same procedure.

 

 

Thanks so much for your time. On drugs.com I read paroxetine is soluble at .00853mg/ml so 8.53mg/litre. Would this mean the drug would be evenly disolved throughout the water at this point? I noticed that you don't take into account the volume displacement that occurs when adding the drug to water. Is this because it is relatively so small it has no impact? I am very concerned about making sure the doses are consistent. When I start tapering, I want to be as symptom free as possible. I am just working on stabilizing and definitely don't want to go backwards. I've also read paroxetine isn't fully soluble so trying to do my due diligence. Thanks again.

[LostInCanada]

On 3/21/2022 at 7:42 PM, ChessieCat said:

 

Yes 10mL water + 10mL Ora Plus = 20mL liquid.  20mg tablet in 20mL liquid will give a 1:1 ratio or as you say 1mL liquid = 1 mg dose

Thanks so much for your time. On drugs.com I read paroxetine is soluble at .00853mg/ml so 8.53mg/litre. Would this mean the drug would be evenly disolved throughout the water at this point? I've also read paroxetine isn't fully soluble so don't know what is correct. I noticed that you don't take into account the volume displacement that occurs when adding the drug to water. Is this because it is relatively so small it has no impact? I am very concerned about making sure the doses are consistent. When I start tapering, I want to be as symptom free as possible. I am just working on stabilizing and definitely don't want to go backwards. Also, does the drug lose potency when refrigerated? Thanks again.

[j1290]

Hello,

 

I'm not an expert, not a doctor, consult your doctor or pharmacist, etc. etc. 

 

Altostrata asked me to type up what I do to make a suspension(solution means something is fully absorbed and the liquid is clear, suspension means you can see particles, in my lay understanding).  I thought it was confusing at first, but turned out to be no big deal, at least for me with Bupropion.   Here's my simple method.  

 

I got a 100ml Graduated Cylinder for $9 off Amazon, a 60ml oral syringe for $7.50/10, and 20ml oral syringe for $7.50/4.   I used a canning jar as a sealed container because it was handy, but a jar with a smaller opening might work better.  

 

To make the solution, I fill up the cylinder with tap to above 75ml, because the pill I'm taking is 75mg.  1:1 water to mg of meds.  I've used distilled water, maybe it's better but I don't store anything over 24 hours so I don't bother and haven't noticed a difference so far.  The 20ml syringe is smaller than the opening of the graduated cylinder so I pop that in there and use it to fine tune the water level to exactly 75ml.   

 

Then I pour that water into the jar, throw in a 75ml tablet, seal it up and put it in the fridge overnight, and by morning it's dissolved.  If I were in a hurry I'd just swish the pill around till it dissolved, or maybe break it up but it only takes a couple minutes anyway.   

 

When it's time to take the meds in the morning, I take the jar out of the fridge and swirl it around to get the sediment off the bottom.  I use whatever oral syringe is more convenient and remove the correct amount of suspension, then just drink what's left.  I refill it a little and swirl that around just in case to make sure I'm getting all the active ingredient and drink that, but it's probably not necessary.   The wide mouth jars are easy to spill, so I'll get something smaller eventually.   Maybe I'll use the oral syringe to administrate the dose, just not my 1st choice.  

 

I'm mathematically challenged and forgetful, so for me it's easiest just to do 1:1 water to MG, 75mg pill to 75ml of water and dose like that.  I can administer a dose and make a new one in just a few minutes, so I don't worry about preserving the suspension for days or anything, I make a new one daily.  Simple works better for me.  

[LostInCanada]

1 hour ago, j1290 said:

Hello,

 

I'm not an expert, not a doctor, consult your doctor or pharmacist, etc. etc. 

 

Altostrata asked me to type up what I do to make a suspension(solution means something is fully absorbed and the liquid is clear, suspension means you can see particles, in my lay understanding).  I thought it was confusing at first, but turned out to be no big deal, at least for me with Bupropion.   Here's my simple method.  

 

I got a 100ml Graduated Cylinder for $9 off Amazon, a 60ml oral syringe for $7.50/10, and 20ml oral syringe for $7.50/4.   I used a canning jar as a sealed container because it was handy, but a jar with a smaller opening might work better.  

 

To make the solution, I fill up the cylinder with tap to above 75ml, because the pill I'm taking is 75mg.  1:1 water to mg of meds.  I've used distilled water, maybe it's better but I don't store anything over 24 hours so I don't bother and haven't noticed a difference so far.  The 20ml syringe is smaller than the opening of the graduated cylinder so I pop that in there and use it to fine tune the water level to exactly 75ml.   

 

Then I pour that water into the jar, throw in a 75ml tablet, seal it up and put it in the fridge overnight, and by morning it's dissolved.  If I were in a hurry I'd just swish the pill around till it dissolved, or maybe break it up but it only takes a couple minutes anyway.   

 

When it's time to take the meds in the morning, I take the jar out of the fridge and swirl it around to get the sediment off the bottom.  I use whatever oral syringe is more convenient and remove the correct amount of suspension, then just drink what's left.  I refill it a little and swirl that around just in case to make sure I'm getting all the active ingredient and drink that, but it's probably not necessary.   The wide mouth jars are easy to spill, so I'll get something smaller eventually.   Maybe I'll use the oral syringe to administrate the dose, just not my 1st choice.  

 

I'm mathematically challenged and forgetful, so for me it's easiest just to do 1:1 water to MG, 75mg pill to 75ml of water and dose like that.  I can administer a dose and make a new one in just a few minutes, so I don't worry about preserving the suspension for days or anything, I make a new one daily.  Simple works better for me.  

Thanks for laying it out simply for me. Appreciate it. 👍

[j1290]

12 minutes ago, LostInCanada said:

Thanks for laying it out simply for me. Appreciate it. 👍

Sure, I was just posting for anybody who might find it useful.  Your questions are very interesting but way beyond my ability to answer.  I'm still on a relatively high dose of bupropion, so accuracy has been good enough for now.  

 

When I tapered Effexor, as I got lower it became very important to be precise, so I hear you about wanting to be as accurate as possible.  Good luck and congrats on getting down to 5 mg!

[LostInCanada]

20 hours ago, LostInCanada said:

20 hours ago, LostInCanada said:

Thanks so much for your time. On drugs.com I read paroxetine is soluble at .00853mg/ml so 8.53mg/litre. Would this mean the drug would be evenly disolved throughout the water at this point? I've also read paroxetine isn't fully soluble so don't know what is correct. I noticed that you don't take into account the volume displacement that occurs when adding the drug to water. Is this because it is relatively so small it has no impact? I am very concerned about making sure the doses are consistent. When I start tapering, I want to be as symptom free as possible. I am just working on stabilizing and definitely don't want to go backwards. Also, does the drug lose potency when refrigerated? Thanks again.

 

 

@CloudyToday

[Faure]

I have found a very easy way to deal with making a liquid from a powdered tablet.  I couldn’t get my head around the method that most use here so a friend came up with this. It relies on having scales to weigh the right amount of powder first.  Then you always add the same amount of water (either 20 or 25ml depending if it’s for 3 or 4 days) regardless of reducing the dose of meds (at least while I’m on current doses, once I get very low the method may change a bit.  I’m on 3mg at the moment and have just changed to making a liquid.)

 

Method

 

I already have a spreadsheet of my BrassMonkey slide doses.

 

On Mondays I weigh 4 days worth of powder that I ground up myself and I will make 3 days worth of liquid. 

I measure 20ml of water using a 5ml syringe that a friend picked up at his local chemist.

I tip the powder into the 20ml of water and give it a good, gentle stir.

While the water is still swirling I draw up 5ml of water and dispense into a mini jam jar.

I repeat 2 more times (stirring is key to ensure even distribution of the powder across the water)

I keep the jars in the fridge
I dispose of the remaining liquid (I believe it is important to have more liquid than you need to account for losing it on the way and also so that there is enough liquid to keep the mixture swirling around for the final extract.) I am very suspicious of dregs where the particles settle so make sure when I draw up liquid I draw from the middle of the suspension (not at the bottom). 
This gives me 3 doses to use Mon - Wed 

 

On Thursdays I repeat but because this will do 4 days (thurs - sun) I use 25ml of water and weigh 5 days worth of powder.

 

The general opinion on SA is that homemade liquids last no longer than 4 days and it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

 

This is *really* easy to do and will work for quite some time as I’m weighing 3-4 days worth of powder at a time which means I’m weighing quite a large amount and the scales are accurate at these high amounts. At some point it will be necessary to change my method and when I get there I can share how I do that