Hope everyone is doing well. It is a sad thought that many aren't but still thats my hope...
I have a question regarding compounded Cholestryamine: my llmd originally wanted me to take the sugerless variety. However when I called compounding pharmacies the price was usually in the 300-400 dollar range for one month (at 4 packs, 16 grams per day). Since this was so expensive I ended up taking getting the cheaper, and readily avaliable, sugered formulation after getting more advice from my llmd.
However that hasn't helped all too much (that I've noticed anyways) after a few months.
Also, I'm still uneasy about taking a medication with sugar in it, since it seems like a two steps forward-one step back kind of thing. So my question was just if anyone knew a pharmacy that compounds the sugar-free cholestyramine for a relatively good price?
I'm sure any responses you guys have will be great so the "practical" in the subject wasn't about that--this is the most practical thing I've thought of today.
Thank-you ,
john duncan
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
This isn't the question that you wanted answered but I wanted to make sure that you know that you can get prevalite which is a sugar free cholestyramine product. It is made with nutrasweet and nutrasweet is controversial. You can get Prevalite at a regular pharmacy.
Terry
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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You are wise to seek out plain aspartame. It is possible to find it with NO ADDITIVES. I got some from a east-coast pharmacy in 2003. I'll check with them tomorrow and see if they still have it or can recommend a place near you so it need not travel 3,000 miles.
In the meantime, NOW makes a Cholestatin that may help as a binding agent - in capsule form. Sarsaparilla is also an endotoxin binding herb that was used for the spirochetal infection long ago (syphillus, sp?). Carob powder also binds endotoxins.
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The reason the aspartame (nutrasweet) is so controversial is that there have been reports of it causing neurotoxic symptoms.
For myself, it's triggered seizures a couple of times when I did not know it was in something I had been served. I deal with seizures anyway so my brain is pretty tender. I'm not saying it would just trigger such in anyone, but there have been many reports of muscle weakness, etc.
You can google: "Blaylock, aspartame" for one author's work on excitotoxins.
Relief of fibromyalgia symptoms following discontinuation of dietary excitotoxins.
Ann Pharmacother. 2001 Jun;35(6):702-6. PMID: 11408989 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
CONCLUSIONS: The elimination of MSG and other excitotoxins from the diets of patients with fibromyalgia offers a benign treatment option that has the potential for dramatic results in a subset of patients.
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Excitotoxins in foods. Neurotoxicology. 1994 Fall;15(3):535-44. Review. PMID: 7854587 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Aug 8; [Epub ahead of print] Links
Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain. Humphries P, Pretorius E, Naud� H.
[1] 1Department of Anatomy, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa [2] 2Department of Anatomy, University of the Limpopo, South Africa.
The use of the artificial sweetener, aspartame, has long been contemplated and studied by various researchers, and people are concerned about its negative effects. Aspartame is composed of phenylalanine (50%), aspartic acid (40%) and methanol (10%).
Phenylalanine plays an important role in neurotransmitter regulation, whereas aspartic acid is also thought to play a role as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system.
Glutamate, asparagines and glutamine are formed from their precursor, aspartic acid.
Methanol, which forms 10% of the broken down product, is converted in the body to formate, which can either be excreted or can give rise to formaldehyde, diketopiperazine (a carcinogen) and a number of other highly toxic derivatives.
Previously, it has been reported that consumption of aspartame could cause neurological and behavioural disturbances in sensitive individuals.
Headaches, insomnia and seizures are also some of the neurological effects that have been encountered, and these may be accredited to changes in regional brain concentrations of catecholamines, which include norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine.
The aim of this study was to discuss the direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain, and we propose that excessive aspartame ingestion might be involved in the pathogenesis of certain mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR 2000) and also in compromised learning and emotional functioning.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 8 August 2007; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602866.
PMID: 17684524 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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Posted by Nutmeg (Member # 7250) on :
Hi John,
Someone please tell me quick if it's not OK to mention a pharmacy name, and I will edit this post!
I get my plain cholestyramine powder in a 500-gram jar (approx. 1 pound) from Clark's Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy, in Bellevue, WA (near Seattle). Googling gives a phone number and address, but I didn't find a website.
My doctor calls or faxes in the Rx, or maybe I mailed it to them. They bill my credit card and ship it to me. It has been quite a while since I had to buy a jar, but I think it might have been about $100 +/-. I was not able to locate a receipt, so I don't know the exact amount. One jar lasts me a long time because I can only take a small amount at a time.
From what I understand, the powder has nothing added. My instructions say to take it in water, but the taste is pretty grim, tastes and smells fishy to me, so I mix it in a little juice. It does not dissolve, so I have to rinse out the glass a couple of times to get it all down.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you can't find it.
Nutmeg
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Hey, thanks for the pharmacy info.
I had just sent him a PM with one from east coast. The cost you mention is about what I spent 4 yrs ago when doing this.
It tastes fishy because it's from the shell of shellfish. I just tried to find any warning about allergies to fish being contraindicated with this, but I could find none. Still, this must be prescribed by a doctor and shellfish allergies are noted at the top of patient files.
I used a glass jar from spaghetti sauce to really shake it. First put in a half cup water, add the stuff, shake. Add more water and whatever else you want and shake again. Drink it right up. If this sits for a minute it turns to play dough.
You can add a little stevia and a spoon of carob powder - that really helped me.
LOTS and LOTS of water as directed so your bowels don't block up. this is very important to its effectiveness. the pharmacy will sent info., too.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
but still thats my hope...