TaperMate

Sertraline liquid taper calculator

Dissolving a sertraline tablet in water lets you measure small doses with an oral syringe. Enter your numbers below to see how much of the liquid to take — and the formula so you can check it yourself.

Sertraline · liquid

Single dose calculator

mg
Strength of the tablet you're using.
mL
How much water you dissolve or disperse the tablet in.
mg
What you want to take today.
mL
Calculated for you.
Take this much of the liquid
5mL
from the 10 mL you mixed, to get a 25 mg dose.
Formula volume to take = (target dose ÷ tablet strength) × water volume
With your numbers (25 mg ÷ 50 mg) × 10 mL = 5 mL
Measure to the nearest 0.1 mL on your syringe.
Measure to nearest 0.1 mL
Standard oral syringes read to 0.1 mL. For very small volumes, ask your pharmacist about a 1 mL syringe.
Item 14L · Verify Validate this calculation
Tablet strength
50 mg per tablet (or part-tablet)
Water volume
10 mL
Target dose
25 mg — what you want to take
Volume to take
5 mL — from the 10 mL liquid
Check
50 × (5 ÷ 10) = 25 mg ✓
Every input and the formula are shown so you can verify the result by hand.
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Example method Adapted from the RELEASE Toolkit. The general steps below are the same whatever strength of liquid you make — adjust the tablet and water amounts to suit what your prescriber has agreed.

How to make a sertraline liquid

This worked example produces 25 mL of 1 mg/mL sertraline liquid using half of a 50 mg tablet. If your prescriber has agreed a different strength, change the tablet portion or water volume — the rest of the steps are unchanged.

What you'll need

  • A pill cutter
  • Oral syringes — a 10 mL, 5 mL, 3 mL and 1 mL are useful
  • A small jar or glass for mixing
  • Drinking water at room temperature

Method

  1. Cut a 50 mg tablet in half with the pill cutter.
  2. Crush the half-tablet between two spoons over a small plate.
  3. Place the crushed half-tablet into 25 mL of water in the jar. Shake or stir to disperse.
  4. Measure your prescribed daily dose with a syringe and take it. The liquid may have a bitter taste and a slight numbing effect on the tongue — take care with hot drinks and food afterwards.
  5. Make a fresh liquid each day. Discard any unused liquid in the rubbish.

Tips

  • Sertraline tablets disperse rather than truly dissolve, so the liquid will look cloudy. That is expected.
  • Stir or shake again immediately before drawing your dose — the active ingredient settles quickly.
  • Using half a tablet (or smaller) helps minimise wastage and is consistent with the RELEASE Toolkit guidance.

When not to use this method

  • If you have been prescribed a modified-release formulation. Crushing or dispersing it destroys the release profile.
  • If your pharmacist has already dispensed a sertraline oral liquid — use that, and enter its concentration into the calculator instead.
  • If your prescriber has not discussed liquid tapering with you. The calculator does the maths; your prescriber decides the dose.

About the liquid method

You crush or disperse a known strength of tablet into a known volume of water, then draw the fraction containing your target dose. Works for many SSRIs and some other psychotropics — not for modified-release formulations.

The dedicated sertraline · liquid page has a step-by-step worked example adapted from the RELEASE Toolkit; the same method applies to most immediate-release SSRI tablets.

Read the sertraline tapering guidePlain-English steps and the full RELEASE reduction schedule for sertraline →
Next step

Plan your full taper in TaperMate

This calculator handles one dose. The TaperMate app calculates a full reduction schedule with hold periods, microtapering and symptom monitoring — so each new dose is one tap away, not a daily maths problem.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Sources to discuss with your prescriber