Hospice and Palliative Compounding

Our compounding pharmacists are highly trained in treating all patients with the highest level of respect. This is especially important when helping hospice patients and their caretakers. Our main goals are to help keep patients and caretakers feeling safe and comfortable.

Compounded medications are a great treatment option for the many conditions associated with hospice and palliative care. A prevalent concern that we see with hospice patients is difficulty swallowing. This can be helped by compounding commercially available swallowable medications into the skin, rectal and sublingual preparations. Our compounding lab specializes in treating the many health concerns hospice patients have. These can include oral thrush, constipation, dry mouth, vomiting, nausea, breathing difficulties, bed sores and pain. We also specialize in treating wounds based on the level of discomfort, difficulty healing, and odor they are causing.

A remarkable experience we had at Pure Integrative Pharmacy was when a distressed caretaker, named Laura, came in and asked us for advice. Laura had been taking care of her 96-year-old mother. Her mother's health was rapidly declining. She was chronically constipated and lacking desire and motivation to eat due to oral thrush and extreme dry mouth. Laura was particularly distressed because of the number of side-effects her mother experienced with the commercially available medications prescribed to her.

One of the main differences between conventional and compounded medications is that compounded medications generally contain only a base with the main active ingredient. Conventional products may have preservatives or fillers that are not tolerated by everyone. Compounding allows the patient to get the desired medication but with the least amount of excipients.