[lindalee]

I have been wondering if a medical bracelet might be a good idea in case of emergency. What are your views on wearing one or needing to wear one? Thanks, LindaLee

[Ursa Major]

I wear one. But I have potentially life threatening issues, besides celiac disease as well. Mine says: Asthma, celiac disease; allergies: Theo-Dur, morphine, Aspirin.

An asthma attack could kill me, and the asthma medication Theo-Dur (which doctors are fond of using in the hospital in an asthma emergency) could potentially kill me as well. I am severely intolerant to salicylates, and since that is all Aspirin is, it could put me into anaphylactic shock. So, if I should ever happen to have a heart attack and they'd give me Aspirin, it would likely kill me, if the heart attack wouldn't. And one shot of morphine will make me vomit for three days straight (which is the med of choice for severe pain in hospitals).

Anyway, so you see that I have very good reasons for wearing a medic alert bracelet.

I am not sure if I'd wear one for celiac disease alone. But I would consider it for a child.

[Kaycee]

I have wondered about that too.

Coeliac is a serious disease, and thankfully we are not resucitated with any form of gluten. Well I don't think so.

But it would be handy at times to have a medic alert bracelet for all of those people who can not identify with the seriousness of the disease. Maybe it could be handy for when eating out, so that restuarant staff might take us more seriously. But then that won't cure some peoples ignorance. If they don't get it, they just won't get it.

I am not too sure on this matter, but it will be interesting to hear what people think.

Cathy

[lindalee]

Kaycee, on Jun 6 2006, 01:23 AM, said:

I have wondered about that too.

Coeliac is a serious disease, and thankfully we are not resucitated with any form of gluten. Well I don't think so.

But it would be handy at times to have a medic alert bracelet for all of those people who can not identify with the seriousness of the disease. Maybe it could be handy for when eating out, so that restuarant staff might take us more seriously. But then that won't cure some peoples ignorance. If they don't get it, they just won't get it.

I am not too sure on this matter, but it will be interesting to hear what people think.

Cathy

A client told me one of her friends she worked with-both nurses died in the hospital last week due to celiac- they did not know she was celiac . She didn't know if the medication did it or what but said it was due to celiac. LindaLee

[lovegrov]

The type of medication used in an emergency is not going to have gluten, and even if it did, a dose is not going to kill us. People who die of celiac have been suffering untreated for a long time.

Getting a bracelet is obviously a personal choice and if getting one makes you feel safer, you should. I choose not to get one because I don't have any immediately life-threatening conditions. And if I'm truly in an emergency situation, I want them doing everything they can to save me, even if that includes giving me a vital gluten IV or stuffing bread down my throat.

richard

[psawyer]

I have worn a Medic Alert for 20 years due to my insulin dependent diabetes. When I was diagnosed as a celiac, I had that added to the engraved information. But I don't know that I would wear one just for the celiac disease by itself.

[flagbabyds]

Its good for kids to wear it, when i was younger i would wear it, and then subs or other teachers would look at it and know that it is serious and they neeed to be aware of what it wrong.

[ehrin]

psawyer, on Jun 6 2006, 10:36 AM, said:

I have worn a Medic Alert for 20 years due to my insulin dependent diabetes. When I was diagnosed as a celiac, I had that added to the engraved information. But I don't know that I would wear one just for the celiac disease by itself.

I agree! I also have one for diabetes and will be adding celiac to it, but don't think it'd be necessary for just celiac alone...my thought is that since I wear one I might as well -

question - do you have on yours that you are insulin dependant?
I got a rash of crap from the medic alert staff because they said it wasn't necessary.
I informed them that for me it was and they reluctantly added it.

[lindalee]

lovegrov, on Jun 6 2006, 09:14 AM, said:

The type of medication used in an emergency is not going to have gluten, and even if it did, a dose is not going to kill us. People who die of celiac have been suffering untreated for a long time.

Getting a bracelet is obviously a personal choice and if getting one makes you feel safer, you should. I choose not to get one because I don't have any immediately life-threatening conditions. And if I'm truly in an emergency situation, I want them doing everything they can to save me, even if that includes giving me a vital gluten IV or stuffing bread down my throat.

richard

That is good to know. I didn't know if the iv would kill you. " People who die have been suffering untreated"- what is the treatment? I thought it was just not eating gluten. Could you explain? Thanks, LLee

[lovegrov]

Yes, the "treatment" is not eating gluten. I guess undiagnosed celiac would be the more proper term, but I also think of it as untreated.

richard

[luvs2eat]

Really good sounding idea for kids. Teachers and parents are so much more likely to believe an Emergency ID bracelet than just saying your child can't eat wheat, etc. How many say, "Oh, just a little won't hurt."

[psawyer]

ehrin, on Jun 6 2006, 12:31 PM, said:

question - do you have on yours that you are insulin dependant?
I got a rash of crap from the medic alert staff because they said it wasn't necessary.
I informed them that for me it was and they reluctantly added it.

My bracelet reads:
"NO GLUTEN
CELIAC DISEASE
INSULIN DEPENDENT
DIABETES MELLITUS"
I had no trouble at all with getting the IDDM wording, neither when the bracelet was first ordered in 1986, nor when it was replaced in 2000. I'm in Canada though, and there is a seperate adminstrative office for Canada located in Toronto.

[Ursa Major]

Yes, the people in Toronto are great. When I got my new bracelet a couple of months ago, they e-mailed me, and then called me on the phone to make sure they got it right. They wanted to make very sure that I would be safe in an emergency, and that all the angles were covered. They even left one line blank, in case I would need something else added at some point. Their reasoning was, that it would cost me $85.00 to get a new silver bracelet, but that they could add another line for just $5.00. I was impressed with that, they are actually concerned about saving me money!

[shai76]

I wear one because I have life threatening food and drug allergies. It's a necklace that just says "food and drug allergies" nn the back. I have a wallet card that goes into more detail about what I am allergic to.