Compounding w/ Simple Syrup

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P T - 14 Nov 2004 03:41 GMT

Made a Rifampin suspension today: 20mg/ml in Simple Syrup. I didn't like
the idea of straight SS, but the gang said just follow the pharmacy
recipe.

I was taught to use half and half OraSweet and OraPlus. That SS seemed
rather unpalatable to me. I tasted the plain SS and it was like maple
syrup without the maple. I can't imagine the rifampin suspension tasted
very good, but then maybe there's no way to make a rifampin compound
taste good: who knows.

Anyway, I guess I'm interested in hearing about the traditional use of
SS in compounding. Is it usually used straight without a flavoring?
Also, what about Cherry Syrup? Is that also usually used straight, or
diluted with a suspending vehicle or something? Also, why do they make
OraSweet and OraPlus? I know the later is a suspending agent, and the
former for flavoring, but how exactlly is a suspending agent different
than the other? And why don't they just make one that does both? (I
guess I dozed off during that lecture.)

Compoundin' Pete

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Richard Molitor - 17 Nov 2004 01:09 GMT

Hello there,

As I recall the use of Simple Syrup was more to take advantage of its
preservative abilities vs. its suspending abilities.

Straight cherry syrup isn't all that tasty either and may be too acidic for
some drugs.

Other agents get added for flavoring, suspending, pH balance, or wetting
potential. It's always best to follow a published resource vs. "the gang
mentality" and there are a number of [free] resources and inexpensive
retraining available like www.paddocklabs.com. Or you can spend a fortune
and become a PCCA franchisee if you really want to get into the business.

Hope this helps,

Richard Molitor, R.Ph.
www.angelfire.com/wa/pharmacist

> Made a Rifampin suspension today: 20mg/ml in Simple Syrup. I didn't like
> the idea of straight SS, but the gang said just follow the pharmacy
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Compoundin' Pete

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rx101 - 17 Nov 2004 02:38 GMT

> Made a Rifampin suspension today: 20mg/ml in Simple Syrup. I didn't like
> the idea of straight SS, but the gang said just follow the pharmacy
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Compoundin' Pete

I work as a tech at a compounding pharmacy as well. The suspending
vehicle is used to keep the drug particles in suspension and to aid in
their redistribution when they settle. The orasweet (or SS) is more
for flavor. In fact, we ommit the syrup and only use ora-plus when
using these vehicles for vetrinary prescriptions. For human
prescriptions, we use a 50/50 mixture of Ora-Plus and SS. To this we
usually add 1ml of Flavor per 30ml of final volume(depends on which
flavors you use however, YRMV). We sometimes use additional sweetness
enhancers to coverup bitterness for some drugs, typically stevia or
sodium saccharin. I've tasted a few of the suspensions that I've
made. Some taste pretty decent, others will taste pretty poor no
matter what you do to them.

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