Capsule Dose Reduction Schedule Planner
Plan a multi-phase dose taper using a mix of commercial and compounded capsules. Define each reduction step, specify which commercial strengths are available, and let the optimiser determine the minimum compounded capsule strengths needed — or specify your own.
One row per dose level. The starting dose is shown above; each row defines the next dose and how many days to remain at that level.
Enter the commercially available strengths for this medication, comma-separated.
The algorithm will use commercial strengths where possible and find the minimum additional compounded strengths needed (max 4 capsules per dose).
How to Use This Tool
- Enter the starting dose and select the unit of measurement
- Define each reduction phase — one line per dose level with the target dose and duration in days. Use “Quick Fill” for evenly spaced reductions or add phases manually
- Choose the supply mode: “Commercial + Compounding” if the patient can use off-the-shelf capsules for some doses, or “Compounding Only” if all capsules will be custom-made
- For commercial + compounding mode, enter or select the available commercial strengths, then choose whether the optimiser should determine the compounded strengths automatically or if you want to specify them manually
- Click “Generate Schedule” to see the full taper plan
- Review the capsule combination column — items marked [C] require compounding, unmarked items are commercial
- Check the preparation summary for total capsule counts, separated by commercial and compounded
Formula & Methodology
Multi-Phase Taper Approach
This tool uses a multi-phase taper model where the clinician defines each dose level and its duration separately. Unlike a simple linear step-down, this allows for slower reductions at lower doses — a pattern commonly recommended for antidepressant and benzodiazepine tapering.
Commercial + Compounding Optimisation
In practice, many taper protocols combine commercially available capsule strengths with custom compounded capsules. For example, a duloxetine taper might use the standard 30mg and 60mg capsules for higher doses, but require compounded 5mg or 10mg capsules for fine-grained reductions at the lower end.
The optimiser treats commercial strengths as fixed inputs and then finds the minimum number of additional compounded strengths required to cover every dose in the schedule. This minimises compounding cost while leveraging readily available products.
Capsule Optimisation Algorithm
The algorithm finds the minimum set of capsule strengths that can achieve every dose using no more than 4 capsules per administration:
- Collects all unique doses from the taper phases
- Tests whether commercial strengths alone can cover all doses
- Computes the GCD of all doses and generates candidate compounded strengths
- Iteratively tests combinations of 0, 1, 2… additional compounded candidates (combined with the commercial set) until full coverage is achieved
- Verifies each dose can be assembled within the 4-capsule limit using a recursive combination search
Clinical Applications
- SNRI tapering (e.g., duloxetine, venlafaxine) — often requires compounded low-dose capsules
- SSRI dose reduction (e.g., sertraline, fluoxetine)
- Benzodiazepine tapering (e.g., diazepam, oxazepam)
- Corticosteroid tapering in long-term therapy
- Opioid dose reduction in pain management
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is gradual dose reduction important?
How does the "Optimise for me" feature work?
What does the [C] tag mean in the capsule combination column?
Can I mix commercial and compounded capsules in a single dose?
Can I have different durations for each phase?
What if the exact dose cannot be matched with available strengths?
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