Accepted answer
The short version: independent testing, conservative titration, sterile-ish technique, a written record and a clinician who knows.
Keep a written log: date, dose, lot, site, and anything noticed. It converts an anecdote into a record and is what makes any later consultation productive.
Cost per milligram, adjusted honestly
| Step | Value | Note |
|---|
| Vial price, 10 mg nominal | £34.00 | As advertised |
| Nominal cost per mg | £3.40 | 34 ÷ 10 |
| Measured content | 9.2 mg | Independent content assay |
| Cost per actual mg | £3.70 | 34 ÷ 9.2 |
| Dead-space loss, 20 draws | 4 % | 80 µL of a 2 mL fill |
| Cost per delivered mg | £3.85 | 3.70 ÷ 0.96 |
| First vial, with £110 assay | £14.85 | Testing dominates a single vial |
The relevant detail is that pharmacological risk is reduced by starting below the lowest licensed step and escalating more slowly than the label schedule. Time is the cheapest resource in this whole calculation.
Independent testing of identity, purity and content is the only available check on research-grade material and is offered by several services this community uses.
Test your own material. Everything else is downstream of knowing what it is.
edited 20 Sept 2025 by laminar_bench — reworded for clarity after a comment