posted May 26, 2006 08:11 AM               

I'm new to this. I recently married and my wife has ichthyosis vulgaris and uses the dreadfully expensive Lac-Hydrin 12% (ammonium lactate) prescription cream. I think a bottle of it in 400 ml costs her about $70. Her Kaiser insurance doesn't pay for it, so it's all out-of-pocket each month.

Have the "alchemists" invented another way to combine the same or similar ingredients, so that we can make it ourselves at home???

Is this the million dollar question (aside from a cure)?

posted May 26, 2006 01:33 PM               

If you live near the Canada/US border, drive across and pick it up in Canada. It is OTC here and I can get brand name Lac-Hydrin 12% for CDN$12 (for 255ml) where I live. Or else order it from a Canadian online pharmacy. Since it is OTC here you won't even have to got through the 'script-process'. Here is a site from which you can buy the brand name or generic version of Lac-Hydrin for US$20 or less for either one (enter "lac-hydrin" into the search bar).
http://www.canadapharmacy.com/

I would also suggest that your wife perhaps try a urea based cream. I find that urea works better for my IV than lactic acid alone. So here are a couple of 10% urea lotions to try, both of which will run you US$10 each for 250ml.

1- The first is Uremol lotion 10% (also OTC in Canada)and it is offered at the same price I would pay for it myself in Canada at the above-linked pharmacy site (search "Uremol" and it is the Uremol 10 lotion in the results).

2- I second Shauna in recommending Dermal Therapy Extra Strength Body Lotion (it is my own lotion of choice and I used to be a Lac-Hydrin user). The lotion contains a combination of 10% urea, lactic acid, and malic acid. To try the lotion (also OTC here) go www.dermaltherapy.com and call their toll-free number to either order directly or to enquire about a retail distributor in your area in the US.

posted June 03, 2006 06:30 PM               

The active, and presumably risk-causing, ingredients appear to be identical in Lachydrin and Amlactin. Whereas even 25% urea and 12% lactic acid creams are not deemed to pose a risk of harm or abuse to the Canadian public or to drug effectiveness/resistance, I don't know why in the US lacydrin is categorized as it is, particularly if Amlactin is OTC in the US. As for the higher prices, it's a product of competition (there are for more acid lotions available on the Canadian market OTC that aren't on the US market) and the culture of 'higher prices for US customers' that seems to pervade all sectors of the pharmaceutical industry.

As far I can quickly glean from several of the online pharmacy sites, if the product is OTC in Canada then no presciption is need for orders from outside Canada, even if the same item is a prescription medication in the recipient's jurisdiction. Anyone ordering from the US should however ensure that the online pharmacy is one with integrity. There are unlicenced or unscrupulous pharmacies that purport to be Canadian, while actually based in another country.

Trial and error is indeed the only way to find what best suits an individual's personal preference and skin needs for each the different types of ICH. My father, sister and I all have IV and we each have our own lotions of choice. At the same time there are some universal principles of skin care that apply to all three of us.