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Today I found out the hard way just how difficult it can be to get a gluten
free drug.
I called the 900 #  for drug info I got from this list (800 522-5225 or 900
903-7847) and found 4 grain free (I react to corn and rice and ALL grains)
brands of the drug I needed (doxycycline).     NONE of the local pharmacies
(including the hospital) carried any of them.     REASON:  They all carried
one brand:  the cheapest they could get - in most cases the same one.
 
The only thing that offered any hope at all was a (most unusual these days)
compounding pharmacy - probably the last for who knows how many miles!
They made it up from scratch.
 
(True, the other pharmacies said they could special order a GF brand
"probably within 24 hours" -  but this is very unsatisfactory when you're
in your fourth day of rocky mountain spotted fever and want to get started
on it NOW!)
 
Even the compounding pharmacy was a bit of a gamble, as he stated that the
"pure" drug was only 87% active, which he said might well mean that 13% of
it might be leftovers from the biological fermentation process.    My mind
boggled at the thought of trying to trace THAT out  (what feedstock was
used?  Wheat?  Corn?)     At this points I decided that the risks of any
grain were trivial compared to the risk of rocky mountain spotted fever  (I
had already delayed starting the drug for three hours trying to sort this
out.)       Anyway, did the 900 number's checks cover the fermentation
process as well as the "inactive" ingredients?   I think this unlikely as
no one I have checked with yet has checked that aspect out.
 
To cap it all off, I only started the drug 2 1/2 hours ago and am already
getting a skin reaction.
 
It is most disturbing that even a major teaching hospital (North Carolina
Memorial) seems to be oblivious to the entire problem of individual
reactions to "inert" ingredients.
 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I now know of no alternative to
this drug - If I react, I guess I'll just have to tolerate it  regardless.
 
Jim Barron
Chapel Hill NC