Steady-state concentrations across dose tiers — modeling data

SarahChen_PharmD said:

Concentration choice is a precision decision, not a preference.

Compounding pharmacy dose accuracy check for dosing arithmetic: I always verify my first dose from a new vial by weighing it on a milligram scale. Draw up your dose, weigh the syringe, subtract empty syringe weight, compare to expected water weight at that volume.

For a 10-unit dose (0.1mL): expected weight ~100mg of water. If it's significantly off, your syringe may be inaccurate. Cheap insulin syringes can have ±5% volume accuracy. Spring for quality brands like BD or Terumo.

Following on from DebRD_ATL — and this may be the naive question:

How much material I am losing to dead space, and whether that explains why a 10mg vial gives me nine usable draws rather than ten?

labquiet_amy said:

Compounding pharmacy dose accuracy check for dosing arithmetic: I always verify my first dose from a new vial by weighing it on a milligram scale.

Ongoing cost tracking for dosing arithmetic — transparency for the community:

Monthly medication cost: $110
Supplies (syringes, BAC water, alcohol swabs): ~$8/month
Janoshik testing: ~$10/month (amortized quarterly)
Lab work: ~$40/month (amortized quarterly)
Total: ~$220/month

Compare to brand Wegovy at $1200/month without insurance. Compounded is roughly 85% cheaper for what I have found to be clinically equivalent medication.

Closing the loop on my own question.

Follow-up: it was dead space. Switching to a low-dead-space fixed-needle syringe gave me the tenth dose back.

Dr.NephBHM_UK said:

Ongoing cost tracking for dosing arithmetic — transparency for the community: Monthly medication cost: $110 Supplies (syringes, BAC water, alcohol…

Agreeing with Dr.NephBHM_UK, and the qualification matters more than the agreement. The arithmetic is right and one caveat matters: a U-40 syringe changes the markings, not the volumes. If someone hands you U-40 and you read it as U-100 you will be 2.5 times out, and that error has a direction — it is always an overdose.