Injection reaction

[Tamaki]

Three days ago I started estradiol valerate injections in cottonseed oil and I'm having a reaction to it.   The injection site is very sore and now has a mild rash about four inches in diameter. From what I've read elsewhere this is most likely a reaction to the cottonseed oil and not uncommon. Yes, I am going to call my doctor on Monday.

So I was wondering if any of the ladies or gentlemen here have had similar reaction to the oil they use to suspend the hormones and if switching to another oil solved the problem?

[Felix]

My testosterone is in sesame oil and I've never had a problem with it. If you use a compounding pharmacy you could ask them to use a different oil and see if that helps. You wouldn't need a new prescription for that. Though of course you should ask the doctor.

[Tamaki]

Well I checked with my doctor and it seems to be an allergic reaction. Some benedryl seemed to help and the rash is going away.

So I went to my comounding pharmacy to see what kind of help I could get and was kind of surprised. I was told they don't compound estradiol in any other oil (really?), there are other comounding pharmacies in the world and I could go for the name brand at twice the price for half the size vial. The pharmacist was just short of rude and had no interest in helping me or trying to keep me as a customer in the least bit. Fortunately my doctor is trying to help me find a source that's not so expensive as my local pharmacy.

I guess I find out what happens next week when I get a new prescription.

[Felix]

Well I checked with my doctor and it seems to be an allergic reaction. Some benedryl seemed to help and the rash is going away.

So I went to my comounding pharmacy to see what kind of help I could get and was kind of surprised. I was told they don't compound estradiol in any other oil (really?), there are other comounding pharmacies in the world and I could go for the name brand at twice the price for half the size vial. The pharmacist was just short of rude and had no interest in helping me or trying to keep me as a customer in the least bit. Fortunately my doctor is trying to help me find a source that's not so expensive as my local pharmacy.

I guess I find out what happens next week when I get a new prescription.

That's no good. I don't understand why this has to be so complicated. This is a stab in the dark on my end, but might help - International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists
http://www.iacprx.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home_page

[Flan]

Sandoz makes a generic of estradiol valerate using sesame oil or castor oil.

[Tamaki]

Thanks Flan.

I was doing an unrelated search on Susan's and came across a post by pheonix back on July 9, 2010.

OP, be wary of Stroehekers, their prices are great but I know more people who have had allergic reactions (and this includes people who've no other allergies) to their formulation than those who have not.  If you take it and discover the injection site to be red, swollen and painful, it's likely a reaction which will get worse over time.  Usually by injection two walking becomes painful for a few days and by injection 3 it will last over a week.

Guess I'm not the only one.

Today I had a chance to call most of my local compounding pharmacies and none of them we able to help me. One quoted me over $200 and the rite-aid down the street was $160. Tomorrow will I'll be looking at mail order options or at this rate patches will be cheaper.

[rachl]

Well I checked with my doctor and it seems to be an allergic reaction. Some benedryl seemed to help and the rash is going away.

So I went to my comounding pharmacy to see what kind of help I could get and was kind of surprised. I was told they don't compound estradiol in any other oil (really?), there are other comounding pharmacies in the world and I could go for the name brand at twice the price for half the size vial. The pharmacist was just short of rude and had no interest in helping me or trying to keep me as a customer in the least bit. Fortunately my doctor is trying to help me find a source that's not so expensive as my local pharmacy.

I guess I find out what happens next week when I get a new prescription.

Things like this have to stop. You should really consider reporting the pharmacist to their association. I'd do this in consultation with your doctor, though (as they could perhaps write a supporting letter that the pharmacist was being totally unreasonable). We have to take a stand, or things like this will carry on. It's just another form of oppression: they're making it harder for us to receive the treatment we're entitled to as human beings. It's just as bad as a pharmacist only dispensing one kind of birth control, even if a woman has a reaction to that kind, on "moral" grounds. It's unethical and illegal.

[Tamaki]

Compared to an institution like Strohecker's I feel rather insignificant plus I don't feel like I have much of a complaint. They don't want my business and I'm not going to support them.

The other source I found was Women's International Pharmacy out of Arizona and Wisconsin which had it in caster oil so hopefully my troubles are over for now.

[rachl]

Compared to an institution like Strohecker's I feel rather insignificant plus I don't feel like I have much of a complaint. They don't want my business and I'm not going to support them.

The other source I found was Women's International Pharmacy out of Arizona and Wisconsin which had it in caster oil so hopefully my troubles are over for now.

It doesn't matter. You absolutely do have a complaint: you know that there are other compounding options, but the person wouldn't even consider it. That needs to be reported. And you're NOT insignificant. It's not just about "I'm just not going to give them my business..." We have to stand up to injustice, especially as a group. If we don't look out for ourselves, no one else will.

[chrishoney]

There should be a state board of Pharmacy that is primarily there to protect the public at large, receive and adjudicate complaints and generally enforce the state licensing act under which the pharmacist practices. The state board (in PA we can find all the state boards governing various licensed professionals through the state website--should be the same in your state) should have a way to file a complaint against the pharmacist anonymously. I took the liberty of googling Strohecker's and this is the link to the Oregon Board of Pharmacy:  http://www.pharmacy.state.or.us/

Unfortunately, the state board can't take any action against a pharmacist violating the state practice act (most practice acts have sections on ethical practices) without a complaint. If you don't make that effort, he gets away with it this time, and can inflict the same abhorrent behavior on other patients. Believe me, even if he just gets a reprimand from the state board, the threat of license suspension or revocation with the next valid complaint will make him take notice.

[Felix]

Wait, what do you have against Stroheckers? Different bodies are sensitive to different substances. Everybody is going to react to something. I get hives if I eat Splenda. No clue why and I don't blame the manufacturer. Strohecker's is not a major institution. It's a tiny pharmacy in an old grocery store. It's a short bus ride up the hill from where I live.

The main problem I have with Strohecker's is that I've heard several guys say they suspect they were shorted when they got their T vials. Their stuff is clean, though, and the business is mostly sustained by their food sales, not their hormones.

[Tamaki]

They are the only place in the PDX area that will compound estradiol valerate. My only complaint is that that pharmacist was familiar with the reaction before I even described it, didn't care in the least and told me to go elsewhere. No offer to help find another solution,  he just ignored me and started doing other things. I felt it was poor customer service but nothing worth lodging a complaint over. I also don't blame them that I react to their formulation but it doesn't seem to be a rare problem and it's one I wish they would address. It's not like I can't find it other places to get it I just like to shop local and support local businesses. It sucks, I really wanted to like them and looked forward to getting my prescription from them rather than mail order.

By institution I meant a businesses with such a long history and well known reputation.

[Felix]

They are the only place in the PDX area that will compound estradiol valerate. My only complaint is that that pharmacist was familiar with the reaction before I even described it, didn't care in the least and told me to go elsewhere. No offer to help find another solution,  he just ignored me and started doing other things. I felt it was poor customer service but nothing worth lodging a complaint over. I also don't blame them that I react to their formulation but it doesn't seem to be a rare problem and it's one I wish they would address. It's not like I can't find it other places to get it I just like to shop local and support local businesses. It sucks, I really wanted to like them and looked forward to getting my prescription from them rather than mail order.

By institution I meant a businesses with such a long history and well known reputation.

Ah okay. Yeah I'd be pissed off too.

[rachl]

They are the only place in the PDX area that will compound estradiol valerate. My only complaint is that that pharmacist was familiar with the reaction before I even described it, didn't care in the least and told me to go elsewhere. No offer to help find another solution,  he just ignored me and started doing other things. I felt it was poor customer service but nothing worth lodging a complaint over. I also don't blame them that I react to their formulation but it doesn't seem to be a rare problem and it's one I wish they would address. It's not like I can't find it other places to get it I just like to shop local and support local businesses. It sucks, I really wanted to like them and looked forward to getting my prescription from them rather than mail order.

By institution I meant a businesses with such a long history and well known reputation.

The bolded section is absolutely worthy of complaint to the regulatory association! That behaviour is against their code of ethics (and possibly illegal). It's NOT just "poor customer service," it's quite likely discriminatory. We're not suggesting that you lodge a complaint because you reacted to the original formulation: it's how they handled it when you told them about it. *Pulls out hair* Argh!