Analgesic Medication: Should You Choose Compounded Drugs?

I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis fifteen years ago, and I have had several flare-ups flanked by periods of remission during that time. I'm pleased to say a number of new drug treatments have become available since I was diagnosed, but I've always been keen to explore alternative treatments, such as hydrotherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy and massage, as a way of complementing my medical treatment. I started this blog to document the alternative treatments I've tried and share information about current research into drug-free treatments for managing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. If you've tried an alternative treatment that's eased your symptoms, I'd love to share your experiences on the blog.

Analgesic Medication: Should You Choose Compounded Drugs?

5 December 2017
 Categories: , Blog


Chronic pain can interfere with your ability to perform your regular activities. Also, the quality of your life and general comfort will decline significantly due to the debilitating aches. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain the right pain management solution to help you suppress the continuous pain.

Under ideal circumstances, you will find appropriate drugs for pain relief in your local pharmacy. However, in some cases, the standard analgesics might not work as expected. If this is your situation, you should look into drug compounding services. In general, a pharmacist will formulate custom medication to match the requirements of the patients. Here are the reasons you should think about choosing compounded pain medications. 

Different Medication Forms

Pain management medications are available in numerous formats, including tablets, capsules, topical creams and oral suspensions. However, not all the types of active ingredients or analgesic compounds are manufactured in all formats. For example, you might find some drugs in capsule form, but they will be unavailable as suspensions. Unfortunately, some people such as children and the elderly might not be able to handle some drug formats safely. When you choose to compound, you can avoid this challenge. The pharmacists can formulate the medication into the most appropriate form, depending on the required potency and the preferences of the user. 

Access to Unavailable Drugs

There are numerous hard-to-find drugs which can be beneficial in pain management. Also, some medications are discontinued by the manufacturers because of issues such as economic infeasibility and low demand. However, the unavailability of the drugs does not mean that they are not critical in the healing process. In some cases, a discontinued or hard-to-find medication might be the most compatible with your or your loved ones' pain management needs. Compounding pharmacies can use different active ingredients to replicate the unavailable analgesics for the patients. This practice allows patents to gain the health benefits that they would not find with the standard drugs.

Minimal Adverse Reactions

Standard painkillers are designed to provide benefits to the average patient in the population. In simple terms, when preparing the medications in the laboratory, the pharmaceutical company takes into account the needs of a 'normal' person. However, numerous patients require special care because of their unique physiology or circumstances. For example, a patient might be allergic to some of the added ingredients. The recommended average dosage could be too high or low for some patients. With compounding services, you can have the pharmacists prepare a formulation which eliminates allergens and contains the precise dose required.