Reasons to taper medication
When using medications such as painkillers or anti-depressants long-term, there are some patients who feel ready to reduce their dosage with the goal of eventually stopping altogether. In some situations, it may be beneficial and necessary to taper in order to reduce the symptoms of withdrawal from stopping the medication cold turkey. We advise seeking medical advice should you wish to follow this approach to ensure that patients are following the correct dosage approach, naturally we are not health professionals.
If this is a course of action you choose to take, a good digital scale will be part of your essential tool-kit to ensure that you are tapering safely and accurately.
Common approaches to tapering with a digital scale
Once patients have sought the recommendation from a medical professional, it may be possible to ask a pharmacist to split the medication to start the tapering process. Should a patient decide to follow a DIY approach, the first step is to crush the pills to a powder and weigh accurately.
Patients may start by reducing dosage by 10% and gradually reducing the dosage further over time. When reaching the end of the tapering approach, it may be necessary to reduce by 5% increments in order to minimize the severity of any withdrawal symptoms. If symptoms seem to be stronger, it may be a good idea to taper in even smaller increments, or give more time between each decrease.
Key elements required to taper medication with a mini-digital scale
The key element to look for when choosing a digital scale to help taper off medication is accuracy in order to ensure that you are taking the appropriate dosage. A calibration weight can be useful to ensure that the scale is measuring accurately and consistently over time. Having a TARE function can also help if you need to blend different medications for any reason. Truweigh offers a selection of mini-digital scales that are ideal for tapering, such as the LUX-100, Xeno-20 or Echo-50. All feature a compact design with clear readability. Both the Xeno and Echo can measure up to 0.001g accuracy, and all are backed by our Truweigh ten-year warranty.
Truweigh scales are now available to buy direct from our online shop, you can also find them in many other locations through our wholesale partner network.