Dr. And Pharmacy Insanity

[LauraTX]

There is no federal regulation in place that requires pharmaceutical companies to disclose whether or not a medication contains gluten. Thus you can't really expect pharmacist's to know this information. Because they don't have to. I work as a pharmacy technician at Walmart and none of my pharmacist's know very much, but they told me the next time I get any medicine they'll do their best for me. But honestly, if you are going to take a one time dose of a medication, you probably will be okay if it has gluten in it. Now if you're on synthroid, birth control, lisinopril, or any other long-term health maintenance medication, you might want to seek out this information. But if you're taking a Z-Pack, you'll be fine. 

 

Welcome to the forum, Amich.  I appreciate your input as a pharmacy tech, but unfortunately this:  "But honestly, if you are going to take a one time dose of a medication, you probably will be okay if it has gluten in it" is not totally correct.  For someone with Celiac disease taking a medication that is absorbed in the GI tract (a pill), if that medication has gluten and gives them a reaction it will make them more ill, and if they have diarrhea, it can also interfere with the absorption of the medication.  Therefore, it is important to check every single thing that goes in your mouth.

 

I completely agree with you that pharmacists do not know because that is not something they are trained to do or have to do.  Some go above and beyond once they know what the issue is, others in busy stores don't have time, but in general they have the same resources the patient does.  So the bottom line is that if your pharmacist is able to help, that is great, and you can educate them a little on Celiac if time allows, but in the end it is the Celiac patient's responsibility to police what goes in their mouth.  

 

Some day we will have a medication labeling change.... I have a silly yak dream..... 

[SMRI]

There is no federal regulation in place that requires pharmaceutical companies to disclose whether or not a medication contains gluten. Thus you can't really expect pharmacist's to know this information. Because they don't have to. I work as a pharmacy technician at Walmart and none of my pharmacist's know very much, but they told me the next time I get any medicine they'll do their best for me. But honestly, if you are going to take a one time dose of a medication, you probably will be okay if it has gluten in it. Now if you're on synthroid, birth control, lisinopril, or any other long-term health maintenance medication, you might want to seek out this information. But if you're taking a Z-Pack, you'll be fine. 

 

I've talked to 3 pharmacies, they all said basically the same thing, they would call the manufacturer for my medications to make sure what they were using was gluten-free.  They put a note in my file to that effect.  My current medicine is gluten-free but their contracts change and I now have a note that I have to have this one brand---which I should anyway (generic synthroid).  All three of the pharmacists were well aware of Celiac and the need to be gluten-free. 

 

Put it this way--if someone was allergic to penicillin, would you tell them it was ok to take because it's "just a little penicillin".....