5 ms·

somewhat off topic but i’ve thought about tapering like this, but i’ve got wondered where can one get a calibrated milligram scale? or perhaps it doesn’t matter

by asa123 19d ago

somewhat off topic but i’ve thought about tapering like this, but i’ve got wondered where can one get a calibrated milligram scale? or perhaps it doesn’t matter too much.

jychang 19d ago
AWS Gemini-20 below $100 Or a precision one for $$$ All the other sub-$100 ones are mostly junk, with a few decent ones. But just get the Gemini-20
- mapt 19d ago
  Like buying a five gallon boiling flask, one assumes this will get one put on a list in the US.
  - deleted 19d ago
    [deleted]
  - IncreasePosts 19d ago
    You can just tell anyone who comes asking that you will not be harassed in your private domicile.
- bb123 19d ago
  Mine was a $30 gold scale from Amazon. Probably not accurate but provably consistent which is what I needed. I'd compare each dose and used a calibration weight to verify.
lazycatjumping 19d ago
Relative precision is enough if you just want to get rid of pills
mpetrovich 19d ago
You can also taper off by reducing dosage one day of the week at a time. Thats how I tapered off a 10mg Escitalopram prescription: every 4 weeks, I added another day of the week where I reduced my dosage by 5mg. Took about a year to fully taper off and had to pause for a month here and there to stabilize, but it was worth it. However, it was equally important that I had a support structure & tools to replace what the SSRI was doing. For me that was mindfulness and therapy.
almog 19d ago
Maybe another option is to dilute it with water so that you can use regular kitchen scales.
someothherguyy 19d ago
if the substance has good water solubility, you can do this by dilution, measuring volume, without a scale. sertraline for instance: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/68617#section=Solubility&fullscreen=true https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/68617#section=Solu... don't do this with medications with special coatings or other methods for controlling release (SR/XR/etc).
- cactacea 19d ago
  Using distilled water would be a good idea as well.
IAmGraydon 19d ago
You can also do a volumetric taper if you don’t have an accurate milligram scale (and none of the ones on Amazon are accurate). Dissolve a larger, known amount of medicine in a known amount of water or propylene glycol, depending upon solubility of the medicine. Then dose the liquid by volume. For example, 1 gram of medicine in 1 liter of water = 1 mg per ml. You can easily dose even microgram amounts this way.
wodenokoto 19d ago
you get a pill cutter. I was recommended to get one to ease in
gwbas1c 19d ago
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=calibrated+milligram+scale https://www.amazon.com/s?k=calibrated+milligram+scale --- They're common, cheap, and plenty of (recreational) drug dealers use them.
- ebiester 19d ago
  They're also fantastic for small measures for baking and cooking when it matters.
  - gwbas1c 19d ago
    Curious: What do you make where you need such accurate measurements? I just eyeball everything when I cook. (For other things that I'm passionate about I'm much more careful.)
    - roryirvine 19d ago
      Baking often rewards precision. I'm also an eyeballer. I'm a decent cook but a truly lousy baker.
    - morsch 18d ago
      I sometimes wish my scale was precise to below 1g when measuring yeast for long-rising (bread) dough. A recipe may ask for 1g, and adding 2g will make a huge difference.
    - kevinmchugh 18d ago
      There's a few modernist cooking tricks that require small amounts - tenths of a gram - for big impacts. Sodium citrate can make any cheese melt beautifully into a smooth sauce, using something like 1% of the weight of the cheese. Any juice can take the roll of lime or lemon (in cocktails or baking) by adding a bit of citric or malic acid. Orange juice is 1% citric acid, so add 3g citric and 2g malic per 100g juice and now you can make an orange daiquiri or "key" orange pie. Emulsifiers get goopy if you use a lot, but can make a smooth syrup in small amounts. You can make a nice syrup from any nut milk with a small amount of xanthan and gum arabic. There's a wide array of ingredients including xanthan and gum arabic used in tiny amounts in gluten free baking
dirkc 19d ago
Would you be able to taper by stretching out dosages, take a pill every 25 hours instead of 24?

by asa123 19d ago

somewhat off topic but i’ve thought about tapering like this, but i’ve got wondered where can one get a calibrated milligram scale? or perhaps it doesn’t matter too much.

jychang 19d ago

AWS Gemini-20 below $100 Or a precision one for $$$ All the other sub-$100 ones are mostly junk, with a few decent ones. But just get the Gemini-20

mapt 19d ago
Like buying a five gallon boiling flask, one assumes this will get one put on a list in the US.
- deleted 19d ago
  [deleted]
- IncreasePosts 19d ago
  You can just tell anyone who comes asking that you will not be harassed in your private domicile.
bb123 19d ago
Mine was a $30 gold scale from Amazon. Probably not accurate but provably consistent which is what I needed. I'd compare each dose and used a calibration weight to verify.

lazycatjumping 19d ago

Relative precision is enough if you just want to get rid of pills

mpetrovich 19d ago

You can also taper off by reducing dosage one day of the week at a time. Thats how I tapered off a 10mg Escitalopram prescription: every 4 weeks, I added another day of the week where I reduced my dosage by 5mg. Took about a year to fully taper off and had to pause for a month here and there to stabilize, but it was worth it. However, it was equally important that I had a support structure & tools to replace what the SSRI was doing. For me that was mindfulness and therapy.

almog 19d ago

Maybe another option is to dilute it with water so that you can use regular kitchen scales.

someothherguyy 19d ago

if the substance has good water solubility, you can do this by dilution, measuring volume, without a scale. sertraline for instance: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/68617#section=Solubility&fullscreen=true https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/68617#section=Solu... don't do this with medications with special coatings or other methods for controlling release (SR/XR/etc).

cactacea 19d ago
Using distilled water would be a good idea as well.

IAmGraydon 19d ago

You can also do a volumetric taper if you don’t have an accurate milligram scale (and none of the ones on Amazon are accurate). Dissolve a larger, known amount of medicine in a known amount of water or propylene glycol, depending upon solubility of the medicine. Then dose the liquid by volume. For example, 1 gram of medicine in 1 liter of water = 1 mg per ml. You can easily dose even microgram amounts this way.

wodenokoto 19d ago

you get a pill cutter. I was recommended to get one to ease in

gwbas1c 19d ago

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=calibrated+milligram+scale https://www.amazon.com/s?k=calibrated+milligram+scale --- They're common, cheap, and plenty of (recreational) drug dealers use them.

ebiester 19d ago
They're also fantastic for small measures for baking and cooking when it matters.
- gwbas1c 19d ago
  Curious: What do you make where you need such accurate measurements? I just eyeball everything when I cook. (For other things that I'm passionate about I'm much more careful.)
  - roryirvine 19d ago
    Baking often rewards precision. I'm also an eyeballer. I'm a decent cook but a truly lousy baker.
  - morsch 18d ago
    I sometimes wish my scale was precise to below 1g when measuring yeast for long-rising (bread) dough. A recipe may ask for 1g, and adding 2g will make a huge difference.
  - kevinmchugh 18d ago
    There's a few modernist cooking tricks that require small amounts - tenths of a gram - for big impacts. Sodium citrate can make any cheese melt beautifully into a smooth sauce, using something like 1% of the weight of the cheese. Any juice can take the roll of lime or lemon (in cocktails or baking) by adding a bit of citric or malic acid. Orange juice is 1% citric acid, so add 3g citric and 2g malic per 100g juice and now you can make an orange daiquiri or "key" orange pie. Emulsifiers get goopy if you use a lot, but can make a smooth syrup in small amounts. You can make a nice syrup from any nut milk with a small amount of xanthan and gum arabic. There's a wide array of ingredients including xanthan and gum arabic used in tiny amounts in gluten free baking

dirkc 19d ago

Would you be able to taper by stretching out dosages, take a pill every 25 hours instead of 24?