Compounding Pharmacy

Compounding pharmacies can create your medications from scratch, taking into account allergies or sensitivities

A Compounding pharmacy

Creating Your Medications From Scratch

Compounding can create a medication for you that takes into account an allergy or sensitivity that you may have, whereas a “traditional” medication will always contain a certain ingredient. Compounding can infuse medications with your children’s favorite flavors. It can also create specific doses of medication, instead of a standard dosage that you would find at most pharmacies. Compounding can often combine your medications (provided you can take them at the same time), leaving you with just one pill a day.

The History of Compounding Medications

Some of you may remember the pre-1960s pharmacies where nearly all medications were created by the pharmacists. As mass production infiltrated the pharmaceutical world, more and more drug suppliers created uniform medications with dosage schedules and ingredients that were effective for most people. Pharmacies became distributors rather than creators, and the industry shifted. This would have been fine if everybody were the same, but the truth is that every human body is different. It was more cost-effective to deliver medication on a large scale, but it did affect a specific segment of the population who needed a more customized product or the removal of an ingredient to which a customer was allergic.

The Current World of Compounding

The compounding pharmacy has found a resurgence

As the need to adjust to medication-based allergies and unique dosages has grown more important. Even the simple convenience of flavoring your children’s medication makes life simpler for both the parent and child . . . so why are so many pharmacies remaining distributors of medications rather than creators?

Compounding medication has changed remarkably due to improvements in technology. Specific advancements allow medications to be created that are otherwise too strong for children. Adjustments can be made for people who absorb medications too quickly or too slowly. Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy is now possible (and available here at Pleasant Hills Pharmacy).

Another great advantage of compounding is that it allows patients to obtain medications that weren’t popular enough to be continued by the major drug manufacturers. And for people (and animals) who can’t swallow pills? We can create the medication as a liquid or a transdermal gel instead.

Your Compounded Medications Are Designed for You

Your entire life is unique!

Your medications can be designed just for you. You might need 450 mg of a certain medication, but the major drug company only makes 300 mg and 600 mg. We can customize it for you to deliver the perfect amount of medication while reducing side effects. You don’t have to “take” or “not take” a medication based on side effects or allergic reactions any longer.

Compound Medications for Pets

Compounding pharmacies also compound medications for pets, something that can be a lifesaver if your pet has a specific requirement in delivery or dosage. Besides, how much does you enjoy getting a pet to swallow a pill? We can compound medications for dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, ferrets, reptiles, horses, farm animals, and even the animals at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Most importantly, just as with humans, major drug manufacturers sometimes discontinue drugs not because they are ineffective, but because they are not cost effective. In that case, there are many animals who can still benefit from the drug, but it is no longer available. At Pleasant Hills Pharmacy, we’re huge animal lovers and will gladly compound medications for your pets.