Medication question?

[Rln12280]

Newly diagnosed and I just learned that gluten can be found in prescription medication. I think some of mine have gluten because after I take them I get bad stomach pains & gas. I am on lots of medication because I have Lupus, RA & fibro. How do you find out if your medication has gluten in it? Is there a list of ingredients to look for in them? Also on one of my medication it said a certain manufacturer made them gluten free. Can you fill a prescription and request a certain manufacturer or does the doctor have to request that? Or if a name brand  is gluten free and the generic isn’t, does the doctor have to write something for you to be able to get name brand only? Thanks!

[trents]

Rln12280, welcome to the forum!

You ask some good questions. Somewhere on this forum I have seen a link to gluten free name brand medications. Perhaps Scott Adams can help out here.

As you expressed, the more challenging issue is with generics and with the fact that pharmacies frequently switch suppliers such that it can be a moving target and many of our meds are produced overseas where regulations are more relaxed and reliable information may be more difficult to obtain.

My impression is that when plant fillers are used, corn starch is used much more often than wheat starch, at least in the USA.

In my investigative experience with regard to medication formulations, I have found pharmacists to be my ally. They can give you contact phone numbers for producers who can speak specifically to the formulations. Usually, it's not hard to find out if wheat/gluten is intentionally included in the ingredients. What is more difficult is getting information on whether or not the pills are produced on equipment that also is used for pills that do contain wheat/gluten. So the issue there is cross contamination or "CC" for short around here. That may or may not be an issue for you depending on how sensitive to gluten you are as a celiac.

By the way, you are a poster child for the fact that people who develop an autoimmune disease often develop others.

[Scott Adams]

On this site you can search for your medications and see their ingredients:

https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/

 

[Rln12280]

1 hour ago, Scott Adams said:

On this site you can search for your medications and see their ingredients:

https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/

 

Is there a list you can provide me of ingredients  that I need to look for that would contain gluten? Sorry new to this just learning! 

[trents]

24 minutes ago, Rln12280 said:

Is there a list you can provide me of ingredients  that I need to look for that would contain gluten? Sorry new to this just learning! 

I would look for terms like "starch," "plant starch," "vegetable starch." Things like that which are general enough to include wheat.

[Scott Adams]

This list is for foods, but it may be helpful. If you have a specific question about an ingredient feel free to post it here.