What is Custom Compounding?
As a modern society, we customize our vitamins, sneakers, music playlists, and so much more these days. We do the same thing with prescriptions. Why settle for wholesale medication when it could work better for you and your body? You can get the healthcare you need with custom compounding.
Custom compounding is the art and science of curating prescriptions to better work with specific allergies, dietary restrictions, or personal preferences. Pharmacists combine or “compound” ingredients, increasing or decreasing amounts depending on a patient’s needs.
In pre-World War II America, pharmacists followed physician’s specifications and meticulously formulated prescriptions for their patients. As the science of medicine advanced, many of the standard prescriptions began to be formulated and manufactured en masse by pharmaceutical companies. However, physicians began to notice that not all patients responded to the standardized manufactured medicines, and/or that their patients were sensitive to the fillers, dyes and preservatives that were used in commercial medicines. There was still a need to formulate or “compound” prescriptions to the individual needs of these patients. Compounding is the art and science of creating personalized medicine. For patients, compounding can be life-changing, even lifesaving.
Compounding Pharmacies Can
- Customize a strength or dosage.
- Reformulate the drug to exclude an unwanted, nonessential ingredient, such as lactose, gluten, or a dye to which a patient is allergic.
- Change the form of the medication for patients who, for example, have difficulty swallowing or experience stomach upset when taking oral medication.
The Apothecary is the only community pharmacy in Central Minnesota that has a state-of-the-art compounding lab. Under the guidance of physicians, we offer customized compounding for virtually any condition. Some of the more common prescribed preparations are low dose naltrexone, topical pain creams, bio-identical hormone replacement, veterinary preparations, and wart solutions.
At The Apothecary, a Minnesota compounding pharmacy, our licensed pharmacists and staff are here for you.
When is a Custom Prescription Needed?
Commercial, wholesale prescriptions may contain flavors, preservatives, dyes, and fillers. If you’re allergic to any one of these ingredients, using that medicine could result in unpleasant or life-threatening reactions. We prepare prescriptions that do not contain any materials a patient is known for being allergic to.
On occasion, a provider may want to use more than one active ingredient to benefit a patient. If a combined product is not commercially available, compounding allows for combining ingredients for patient convenience and positive outcomes.
Medicine is not always “one size fits all”. On occasion, a patient needs a dose of active ingredient that is not commercially available. Compounding allows for preparation of any dose the patient needs for the best therapeutic outcome.
At times, oral preparations may not be the best choice for a patient. Compounding allows for preparation of active ingredients into alternate dosage forms such as creams, troches, suppositories, etc.
History of Custom Compounding
Customizing medication is actually a pre-World War II American practice. Pharmacists followed physician’s specifications and meticulously formulated prescriptions for their patients. As the science of medicine advanced, many of the standard prescriptions began to be formulated and manufactured wholesale by pharmaceutical companies.
However, physicians began to notice that not all patients responded to the standardized manufactured medicines, and/or that their patients were sensitive to the fillers, dyes, and preservatives used in commercial medicines. There was still a need to formulate prescriptions to the individual needs of these patients. Thus, that is how our custom compounding pharmacy started.
A Minnesota Compounding Pharmacy
The Apothecary is the only local pharmacy in Central Minnesota that has a modern compounding lab. Under the guidance of physicians, we offer custom compounding for virtually any condition. Some of the more common prescribed preparations we customize are:
- Topical pain creams,
- Bioidentical hormone replacements,
- Veterinary preparations, and
- Wart solutions.