To all those that are intolerant to Casein, or anyone with an opinion on the matter:

My Rheumotologist is recomending that I take Celebrex versus what I normally take as an NSAID for arthiritis and fibromylagia symptoms. The trouble is that celebrex does contain Lactose. I know that I am casein intolerant, so the question is:

Can someone who is casein intolernat consume items with lactose (but no casein) in it???

pharmaceutical grade lactose is actually quite pure, and I generally don't worry about it in my medications (though I am casein intolerant). they usually don't even worry about people with milk allergies taking it, but it's worth mentioning to the pharmacist, of course.

it shouldn't cause a problem - as the lactose is a the milk sugar, but it's the milk protein you react to. and the amount of lactose in most medications is so small that *most* (but not all) people with a lactose intolerance will find that they are not bothered by that ingredient either.

So then its likely my Zytrec and Centrum are safe after all???

Like with many things, I put this one in the "approach with optomistic caution" category. :-) some people with dairy trouble may find that even the small amount of pharmaceutical grade lactose is too much for their system, and meds that otherwise contain lactose need to be compounded for them, but most people won't find that to be the case.

I've seen compunding pharmacies mentioned in other threads. Do the (basically) receieve the drug in a "pure" form and then make the pills in the appropriate strength with ingredients that are "safe" for the customer??

Are these generally more expensive??

Do insurance companies cover it, generally??

yep, they get just the active ingredient (the chemical itself) and mix it into a form that is consumable and stable. they make all kinds of ways to take the drugs - tablet, capsule, troche, liquid, cream, etc. to the best of my knowledge, they cannot do this for all medications (primarily only the ones available as generics, I think, but the actual restrictions could be a bit different). and it is more expensive since they can't mass produce anything and it takes more time to make in a smaller facility. it really is custom made for you. (my file says no gluten, casein, or aspartame. and that I've requested root beer flavor. ) insurance often does cover it, if it's medically necessary to be compounded (that can be a hassle to prove, of course), but not at the same rates and you often have to submit the claim after the fact and get reimbursed at the lower rate (for me, I think it's 50%, and I have pretty darn good insurance).