Jump to content
ACN Latitudes Forums

dye free meds... where do we get them?


Recommended Posts

How do I go about finding a compounding pharmacy and how does that work. Do you just bring in the rx and is it covered by insurance just like at a local pharmacy? Can liquids be made drinkable without dyes and artificial sweetners or is it only made for pills?

 

Has this made a big difference for any of you and/or your kids?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a website to find one by you

http://www.iacprx.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home_page

 

I suggest calling ahead for pricing. I found one 5 minutes from me and was excited since I wanted dye free antibiotics. I called ahead and it was expensive. They also explained that they do not bill insurance (not sure if all are like that). You pay the full amount and submit it to insurance yourself. Your doctor will also have to write a separate script specifying "dye free". Due to the huge cost difference, we decided to just stay at Target and have him take the red dye. My son does not have a sensitivity to red dye, but I just don't like giving it if I can avoid it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would start by contacting your insurance company for a list of apothecaries that take your insurance. Then either bring your prescription in or have your physician call in the script. Just be sure you tell them no dyes or any other additives he can't have. For liquids I found that a base of grape juice disguised most every nasty tasting medication. There are many options and you can discuss it with the pharmacist. My daughter, now 14, gets most of her meds (pills) compounded by an apothecary and it makes a huge difference since dyes (particularly red and blue) cause rages and psychotic-like behaviors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

in brief...the only times i noticed dyes effecting ds was when in episode..he still is so still have to watch...

when he was in remission...it did not seem to matter....

 

i noticed the step/tic correlation by the 3rd time

i noticed the abx, 3-5day mainiac correlation about the 6-8 time...

at first i was just happy he was recovering....

by the 6th time..i always wondered why..he seemed better in 24 hrs, but would ramp in wildness a couple days later...and then remit wildness about 2 weeks(because he was off abx for about 3 days and dyes came out of system) and the remaining tics were gone, gone by 4 weeks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your responses. Vickie, that link did find one close to me but, yes, I have to pay first and then submit for reimbursement. Nancy D, have you found that your insurance reimburses the same as regular pharmacies?

 

I will tell you all that I had an interesting visit with our pediatric urologist today. Without any prompting or questioning on my part, she told me that sometimes patients with normal tests have to look at food sensitivities to sometimes explain frequent urination. She used as an example juice boxes that are fortified with extra vitamins and minerals. She said that some kids' bladders are sensitive to all those vits and mins. She then mentioned dyes and additives in foods and how they are dumped into the bladder, sometimes irritating it and then the kidneys have to filter that. She mentioned that she is never surprised after halloween and Christmas to see an increase of urinary frequency in children.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep my daughter's diet completely free of dyes and most additives. Now that she is a teenager it is not always easy but she's really good about checking ingredients. She knows that dyes make her crazy.

 

With regards to getting meds compounded, the apothecary I use submits to insurance so I just pay whatever the co-pay is. However, because they compound it, the co-pay may be $50 instead of $10 or $15. But it's worth it!

 

Nancy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have done this a number of times. I do feel it helps, how much is hard to say. It really depends on the situation, what you are sensitive to. I know with the severe yeast infection, the drugs with the sugars in them just seemed crazy. There are so many crazy things in some of the regular pills. My insurance covers 90% of regular drugs, and only 50% of the compounded medications. However, sometimes the compounded medications are still cheaper. Fluconazole, when marketed as pills (called diflucan) has an enormous mark-up in the price, such that it is just way cheaper to get it compounded, at least for me, because the compounding pharmacy works on its own pricing system, buys the pure meds not the pills.

 

My experience has been that I've had to call around from the phone book to a few compounding pharmacies, and then eventually, they refer you to other compounding pharmacies that may be able to help for things they can't make, and so on. Over time I learned which pharmacy can do which drug.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How do I go about finding a compounding pharmacy and how does that work. Do you just bring in the rx and is it covered by insurance just like at a local pharmacy? Can liquids be made drinkable without dyes and artificial sweetners or is it only made for pills?

 

Has this made a big difference for any of you and/or your kids?

 

Thanks!

 

I do not understand why they use dyes in the US to mix antibiotics. I stock up when I am in Italy (I am from there but live in the USA) because they do not use dyes there. How nice! Not sure why it is much more expensive to formulate w/out dyes here, it makes no sense. Have you checked Canadian Pharmacies such as: www.trumedcanada.com ? or www.northwestpharmacy.com

 

Good luck and take care!

Giulia

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was told by our pharmacist they use dyes so they can differentiate one pill from another...

 

But I think it's so the pharmaceuticals can make more money on psychiatric meds!! I bet if we eliminated all dyes and additives from foods and medication we wouldn't need psyche meds!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...