Compounding Pharmacies my new best friend

My daughter has had some strange looking bumps develop and spread over the past few days. I really thought they were the chicken pox (even though she's had the vaccine) Today we headed to the Pediatrician to check them out. We were immediately put into a quarantined room because at first glance they too thought "Chicken Pox" However after further examination it has been determined that she has MRSA (staff infection). Controlled by antibiotics.

I reminded her pediatrician that occasionally medications did contain gluten so she added to the prescription that it needed to be gluten free. I tried Wallgreens first and reminded the pharmacist that she needed to call to confirm that the medication was gluten free. It turns out that it had quite a lot of gluten in it. She looked through several other medications that could be used and they all had gluten in them as well. She let me know (actually reminded me because I have used them before) that here in Austin we have several compounding pharmacies and suggested I try the nearest one.

Again when I got to the compounding pharmacy (Peoples) we found that all the medicines they had to treat the bacterial infection also included gluten :( Fortunately they could make a few phone calls and get the 'recipe' for a gluten free formula for this antibiotic! MY out of pocked expense will be about $50 but I will be reimbursed by my insurance company! I am VERY thankful that these pharmacies are still around!

As soon as I got home I called my insurance company (We've switched since my daughters original diagnosis) and asked them what happens when I have to go to a compounding pharmacy to get a medication that needs to be MADE gluten free. They were shockingly helpful! They sent me to their website and walked me through the steps for finding, filling out, and submitting the reimbursement form! He also is sending me several forms so that I "don't always have to print them out on my home computer!"

Being a mom I started to think about the possibilities of being on a family vacation and having to find a Compounding Pharmacy because kids like to get sick at the most inconvenient time! For all you out there an Accredited Compounding Pharmacy list at the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board.