Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):
  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Gluten In Prescription Med.


anti-soprano

Recommended Posts

anti-soprano Apprentice

Hi All,

I am about to start a new prescription, so I just checked with the manufacturer. Online this is their statement:

Contains Gluten:Product contains corn starch which contains a small amount of gluten, so it is not gluten free. However, it does not contain gliaden gluten, the type of gluten associated with celiac sprue.

 

I called to talk to someone, which was of no further help.  How can something contain gluten that won't affect me? I asked if they tested the product.  She said no, but again that the corn starch contains gluten.  If corn starch doesn't bother me (which it doesn't) then I should be able to take it.

 

So are there trace amounts of gluten that are below the detectable amount (20ppm) or is there something else in this that really doesn't bother celiac patients??? I find their response absolutely confusing.  If any of you can shed some light on this, it would be great!  

 

The drug I'm hoping to take is a generic version of a known gluten free drug, so I can easily go back to the pharmacy and exchange it.  But, with a partner out of work, I'm hoping to save 25 beans :)

 

Shellie


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



kareng Grand Master

They are just letting the lawyers play around. Technically, gluten is a wide term that applies to grains. Gliadin gluten is the specific type in wheat. I would take it.

anti-soprano Apprentice

Thank you!  You are a fount o' knowledge, as usual!!

  • 2 weeks later...
anti-soprano Apprentice

Just wanted to come back and let anyone in a future search involving that medication know that it was perfectly fine.  No issues and I've been taking the pills for almost 2 weeks.

fran506 Newbie

Thanks for this reminder about meds. I have had quite a few medicine additions and changes and need to update the gluten-free info on the new ones.

SMRI Collaborator

When I contacted our mail-order pharmacy about my medications, they said the current batch I had was gluten-free but they could not guarantee in the future that they could provide gluten-free medications and suggested I work with my local pharmacy instead.  I contacted 3 local pharmacies and they all said they could order in the brand I needed but I would need to give them extra time to process my prescriptions.  That was fine with me.  Since I can order my meds up to 2 weeks before I run out, I will just do that.

ravenwoodglass Mentor

When I contacted our mail-order pharmacy about my medications, they said the current batch I had was gluten-free but they could not guarantee in the future that they could provide gluten-free medications and suggested I work with my local pharmacy instead.  I contacted 3 local pharmacies and they all said they could order in the brand I needed but I would need to give them extra time to process my prescriptions.  That was fine with me.  Since I can order my meds up to 2 weeks before I run out, I will just do that.

If what you are taking is a generic make sure that they check at each refill as binders can be changed in generics at any time. In a name brand drug that is not needed as they have to keep all ingredients the same. You can call the maker yourself to check also. I usually tell them I am allergic to wheat.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



SMRI Collaborator

If what you are taking is a generic make sure that they check at each refill as binders can be changed in generics at any time. In a name brand drug that is not needed as they have to keep all ingredients the same. You can call the maker yourself to check also. I usually tell them I am allergic to wheat.

 

The pharmacist called the manufacturer, it is a generic med.  The pharmacist said that since they know that brand is gluten-free they would note that in my record and when I got my refills, they would order that brand.  The mail order pharmacist also called and got the same answer.  It was the same "brand" at both pharmacies. 

poneelovesyou Newbie

Many grain type plants have a class of proteins called "gluten" but it's a certain subfamily of these proteins in the wheat, rye and barley that cause problems. Seems weird that they were even mentioning the corn gluten. Are people actually sensitive to corn gluten? I guess they can be sensitive to anything in theory...

psawyer Proficient

It is not unusual for a person with celiac disease to have other sensitivities. Dairy and soy are the most common, but corn is another common one. For those folks, corn gluten is a problem. For the rest of us, the prolamin in corn, zein, is not a worry.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - catnapt replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      8

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

    2. - trents replied to SilkieFairy's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      1

      IBS-D vs Celiac

    3. - trents replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      8

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

    4. - SilkieFairy posted a topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      1

      IBS-D vs Celiac

    5. - catnapt posted a topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      0

      anyone here diagnosed with a PARAthyroid disorder? (NOT the thyroid) the calcium controlling glands

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,321
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    James Minton
    Newest Member
    James Minton
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • catnapt
      oh that's interesting... it's hard to say for sure but it has *seemed* like oats might be causing me some vague issues in the past few months. It's odd that I never really connect specific symptoms to foods, it's more of an all over feeling of unwellness after  eating them.  If it happens a few times after eating the same foods- I cut back or avoid them. for this reason I avoid dairy and eggs.  So far this has worked well for me.  oh, I have some of Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot cereal and I love it! it's hard to find but I will be looking for more.  for the next few weeks I'm going to be concentrating on whole fresh fruits and veggies and beans and nuts and seeds. I'll have to find out if grains are truly necessary in our diet. I buy brown rice pasta but only eat that maybe once a month at most. Never liked quinoa. And all the other exotic sounding grains seem to be time consuming to prepare. Something to look at later. I love beans and to me they provide the heft and calories that make me feel full for a lot longer than a big bowl of broccoli or other veggies. I can't even tolerate the plant milks right now.  I have reached out to the endo for guidance regarding calcium intake - she wants me to consume 1000mgs from food daily and I'm not able to get to more than 600mgs right now.  not supposed to use a supplement until after my next round of testing for hyperparathyroidism.   thanks again- you seem to know quite a bit about celiac.  
    • trents
      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @SilkieFairy! You could also have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) as opposed to celiac disease. They share many of the same symptoms, especially the GI ones. There is no test for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out.
    • trents
      Under the circumstances, your decision to have the testing done on day 14 sounds very reasonable. But I think by now you know for certain that you either have celiac disease or NCGS and either way you absolutely need to eliminate gluten from your diet. I don't think you have to have an official diagnosis of celiac disease to leverage gluten free service in hospitals or institutional care and I'm guessing your physician would be willing to grant you a diagnosis of gluten sensitivity (NCGS) even if your celiac testing comes up negative. Also, you need to be aware that oats (even gluten free oats) is a common cross reactor in the celiac community. Oat protein (avenin) is similar to gluten. You might want to look at some other gluten free hot  breakfast cereal alternatives.
    • SilkieFairy
      After the birth of my daughter nearly 6 years ago, my stools changed. They became thin if they happened to be solid (which was rare) but most of the time it was Bristol #6 (very loose and 6-8x a day). I was on various medications and put it down to that. A few years later I went on this strict "fruit and meat" diet where I just ate meat, fruit, and squash vegetables. I noticed my stools were suddenly formed, if a bit narrow. I knew then that the diarrhea was probably food related not medication related. I tried following the fodmap diet but honestly it was just too complicated, I just lived with pooping 8x a day and wondering how I'd ever get and keep a job once my children were in school.  This past December I got my yearly bloodwork and my triglycerides were high. I looked into Dr. William Davis (wheat belly author) and he recommended going off wheat and other grains. This is the first time in my life I was reading labels to make sure there was no wheat. Within 2 weeks, not only were my stools formed and firm but I was only pooping twice a day, beautiful formed Bristol #4.  Dr. Davis allows some legumes, so I went ahead and added red lentils and beans. Nervous that the diarrhea would come back if I had IBS-D. Not only did it not come back, it just made my stools even bigger and beautiful. Still formed just with a lot more width and bulk. I've also been eating a lot of plant food like tofu, mushrooms, bell peppers, hummus etc which I thought was the cause of my diarrhea before and still, my stools are formed. In January I ran a genetics test because I knew you had to have the genes for celiac. The report came back with  DQ 2.2 plus other markers that I guess are necessary in order for it to be possible to have celiac. Apparently DQ 2.2 is the "rarer" kind but based on my report it's genetically possible for me to have celiac.  I know the next step is to bring gluten back so I can get testing but I am just not wanting to do that. After suffering with diarrhea for years I can't bring myself to do it right now. So that is where I am!   
    • catnapt
      learned I had a high PTH level in 2022 suspected to be due to low vit D  got my vit D level up a bit but still have high PTH   I am 70 yrs old (today in fact) I am looking for someone who also has hyperparathyroidism that might be caused by malabsorption    
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.