Augmentin (amoxicillin) syrup

[Sergiu2020]

 

https://i.postimg.cc/wjGp0qYy/20250129-194549.jpg

My 4-year-old daughter started having pain in her right ear yesterday. We went to the ENT doctor today, and he prescribed an antibiotic and ear drops. The prescribed antibiotic is Augmentin syrup (amoxicillin) with a berry flavor (since my daughter has a very hard time taking oral medication, the doctor chose a flavored version).

The package insert does not specify whether it contains gluten or not. However, it does mention that it contains maltodextrin. I read somewhere that maltodextrin generally does not contain gluten, but there is a (much lower) risk that it might. The doctor told us it is gluten-free. The pharmacist said the same but didn’t seem very confident.

Given that my daughter has celiac disease and that the last time she accidentally consumed gluten, we ended up in the hospital with severe stomach pain, IV fluids, etc., we are afraid to give her the antibiotic, but she needs it.

 

Does anyone know if Augmentin contains gluten or not? Thank you in advance!

[trents]

Excerpted from the above article: "While USA regulations permit maltodextrin to be made with wheat, it is very rare. Also, maltodextrin made with wheat will be labeled as "wheat maltodextrin" or "maltodextrin (wheat)." Any product that contains wheat should also have 'wheat' listed on the allergen disclosure."

If you are not in the USA, the regulations and protocols surrounding maltodextrin mentioned in this article may not apply. You would need to familiarize yourself with your government's food and drug administration regulations that control disclosures relative to allergen's in general and maltodextrin in particular.

Edited January 29 by trents

[Sergiu2020]

  On 1/29/2025 at 6:12 PM, trents said:

Excerpted from the above article: "While USA regulations permit maltodextrin to be made with wheat, it is very rare. Also, maltodextrin made with wheat will be labeled as "wheat maltodextrin" or "maltodextrin (wheat)." Any product that contains wheat should also have 'wheat' listed on the allergen disclosure."

If you are not in the USA, the regulations and protocols surrounding maltodextrin mentioned in this article may not apply. You would need to familiarize yourself with your government's food and drug administration regulations that control disclosures relative to allergen's in general and maltodextrin in particular.

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I don't know the regulations regarding maltodextrin in my country but i'll  do a research. Anyway i didnt see on any products which contains Maltodextrin to have Gluten or Wheat mention added. 

Thanks a lot for your reply. It helped a lot! 👍

[trents]

One avenue you can pursue is to contact the manufacturer of the Augmentin syrup in question and ask that question. The dispensing pharmacy will likely be able to give your the name of the manufacturer and some contact information, though that approach would likely take some time to yield the information you need.

My gut feeling (excuse the pun) is that it is pretty unlikely this med will have gluten-containing ingredients. Perhaps another option would be to ask for the drug to be administered IM via injection. I know that scares children but when I was a kid that's how they usually gave antibiotics. I don't think there were so many antibiotics available in pill form back in the 1950s. 

[Sergiu2020]

  On 1/29/2025 at 6:56 PM, trents said:

One avenue you can pursue is to contact the manufacturer of the Augmentin syrup in question and ask that question. The dispensing pharmacy will likely be able to give your the name of the manufacturer and some contact information, though that approach would likely take some time to yield the information you need.

My gut feeling (excuse the pun) is that it is pretty unlikely this med will have gluten-containing ingredients. Perhaps another option would be to ask for the drug to be administered IM via injection. I know that scares children but when I was a kid that's how they usually gave antibiotics. I don't think there were so many antibiotics available in pill form back in the 1950s. 

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Good point. I will go to the pharmacy to ask who is the provider of this Augmentin and i'll contact them. The problem is i need to know about it very fast cuz i am already delaying the antibiotics administration. My little girl is not afraid of injections but i cannot say she likes them. It's normal. We did choose the syrup solutions because it was the easiest. Of course where there are flavors added...the mighty gluten may be present or not. Thanks a lot for your time and for the reply! 👏

[Scott Adams]

You can search this site for prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication:

To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area.

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

 

[Sergiu2020]

  On 1/30/2025 at 4:59 PM, Scott Adams said:

You can search this site for prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication:

To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area.

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

 

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Thanks a lot! I will search that too. I also talked to another doctor and she assured me there is no gluten in this type of antibiotics. Anyway i started the administration of Augmentin on my girl this evening. I hope there will be no problems.