Vegetarian--gelatin issue?

Gelatin is found in the casing of some pill capsules. You can often get the same medication in syrup or caplet/tablet form if you ask your doctor. That's what I do. If it's impossible and you have to take the pill for your health - take it. You said you are mainly vegetarian for health reasons. In any case, being vegetarian is about doing what you can to prevent animal cruelty. No one expects you to save the world. Even if you take the pill, you are still making a difference by not having meat in your diet so good for you!

I would start by googling your medicine (generic name as well as brand name) to find out all you can, also google it '+ vegan' and see if there are alternative brands you could take - it might be that you'd have to pay for the privilege of an alternative, or it might be that the same medicine is cheaply and easily available in a non-gelatine capsule or other formulation. A sympathetic pharmacist or medic could help you go through the options and make an informed choice, and they might be able to order in a non-default range for you without too much trouble.

I would think it through yourself though carefully first so you know exactly what you're asking them. Whatever the drug is, you would not legally be prescribed it unless it had been tested on animals at some point! I would content that it is not possible, in the world today, to be a 'perfect vegan'... so what we all have to do is strive for the closest to perfection we can achieve and be comfortable with the inevitable compromises. This medicine is clearly essential for your wellbeing or you would not be asking the question... so what is your bottom line if it's not available without the gelatine capsule? For most of us, the bottom line is we take it in the capsule, and live with the necessary hypocrisy. That's going to be your call, but do the research, and the thinking through, so you know it's truly a conscious decision at the end of the day...

Good luck!

Hi, I personally wouldn't touch anything that had gelatin as an ingredient, just the thought of how it is made makes me cringe so I certainly wouldn't want to consume it. Maybe I was lucky as I managed to find a good variety of yogurts without gelatin when I was a vegetarian(vegan now). As you are still consuming fish through fish oil supplements you would not be classed as a vegetarian in definition terms, and I don't mean that disrespectfully.

Ask your doctor whether there's any of that medication made without gelatin. Unfortunately all medicine has been tested on animals, and that part is unavoidable. Hopefully someday that will change as more accurate human models are used. If your pill is a capsule, it's the outside part that's gelatin. Ask your pharmacist if they could be safely re-packed in some V-caps. http://www.veganstore.com/now-empty-vcaps/Page_1/3... made from vegetable cellulose. You need to ask first to make sure the capsule isn't designed to release in a certain time period.

See if there is a vegetarian-friendly alternative if it bothers you that much. I don't know what kind of pill it was but maybe you could compare other pills for the same thing, generic brands or whatever, and see if there is one out there without gelatin. If it's non-prescription see if you can mail order one.

I'm not exactly sure what your question is, since you did not state one. However, if your health is your first priority, then I would think that you should simply weigh the health benefits of being a vegetarian versus taking your pill.

talk to the doc or whoever gave you the pills to see if there are any without gelatin in it. if you didn't get it from a doc, go to a health store/vegan/vegetarian grocery store and they may have some vegetarian pills or your kind there

Gelatin surly can't be the thing you need. It's probably just in the pill to keep it all together.

Do some research, you can probably take your medication another way.

Ask your doctor if there's a pill that doesn't contain gelatin that you can take.