Does Anyone Wear A Medical Bracelet?

[jca1]

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

I t cant do any harm. Have you looked at the SOS Talisman ones? Open Original Shared Link

[princesskill]

i just ordered one. i probably dont need it, but i have celiac as well as poly cystic ovarian syndrome. i figure if i were not able to speak for myself or had my boyfriend/mom there to speak for me doctors would know a) that im on medication for my PCOS which i cant just go off of cold turkey, so would need to get them even in the hospital and would help them rule out certian symptoms as being part of my diseases, not symptoms of whatever caused me to be in the hospital. for example the two drugs im on lower blood sugar and blood pressure even though i take them to lower insulin resistance and lower testestrone levels. so if my blood sugar/pressure is low it can very well be a result of my meds. im also at risk of potassium poisioning from one med, although its unlikley unless all i ate were banannas or something. anyway i think the more info you can give doctors when you are in an emergency, the better. i dunno maybe i just watch too much HOUSE!

this website has lots of pretty ones! mine is a tiffany rip off.

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[idancer]

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

A lot of medicines use gluten as a binding agent. It's usually not enough to make most people really sick, but (at least in my case) it makes the medication useless. Because of the gluten holding it together, my body can't absorb the meds. One of the medications I take daily uses gluten as one of four posible binding agents and they claim they can't identify which batch of meds uses gluten. So every once and a while, when I refill my med, I get a batch that doesn't work. It's irritating, expensive and screws me up for a couple of days, but it's not that a real big deal. But what if the medication a doctor thought would save my life used a gluten binding agent? It wouldn't work! I haven't decided yet if I will get a medical bracelet, but it does kind of worry me.

[psawyer]

In over nine years since being diagnosed as having celiac disease, I have heard over and over about the danger of medicines containing gluten. So, I check whenever I have a prescription filled, but I have never actually found one that contains gluten.

If anyone has a specific instance, please post the actual name of the drug and the manufacturer that includes gluten in their formulation.

[Gemini]

A lot of medicines use gluten as a binding agent. It's usually not enough to make most people really sick, but (at least in my case) it makes the medication useless. Because of the gluten holding it together, my body can't absorb the meds. One of the medications I take daily uses gluten as one of four posible binding agents and they claim they can't identify which batch of meds uses gluten. So every once and a while, when I refill my med, I get a batch that doesn't work. It's irritating, expensive and screws me up for a couple of days, but it's not that a real big deal. But what if the medication a doctor thought would save my life used a gluten binding agent? It wouldn't work! I haven't decided yet if I will get a medical bracelet, but it does kind of worry me.

If you are unconscious in a hospital, you would not be given any meds by mouth....everything would be given by IV and I have yet to ever hear of any IV fluid containing gluten. Binding agents are not generally used in meds given by IV, whether into a vein or not. You absolutely cannot be glutened by anything that doesn't go into your gut so there should be no worry on that front.

If you are being this careful with IV meds, why on Earth would you ever take meds that may have a gluten based binding agent in it? That doesn't sound like good common sense to me. I have had meds compounded, gluten free, for me when I couldn't verify if the name brand did or didn't contain gluten. However, Peter is correct, I have yet to find many meds which actually do contain gluten. I'm sure they exist but not as frequently as everyone seems to think.

Another point on this matter is that if you were given a gluten containing med by mouth, it would work but you would probably get sick. All your villi do not shut down immediately from one little glutening. It takes awhile for that to happen and not every Celiac ends up with total villous atrophy. You would need to be seriously compromised for meds to not work at all.

If someone is going to be a successful Celiac and live life without fearing gluten in general, it would be beneficial if they read Dr. Peter Green's book called:

Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic. It goes into detail about the disease and all the particulars a Celiac needs to know. It will dispel a lot of the erroneous information people pick up while learning about Celiac.

[mushroom]

I have yet to find many meds which actually do contain gluten. I'm sure they exist but not as frequently as everyone seems to think.

I have been glutened three times since I gave up gluten, and each time it was by a prescribed med. In other countries where corn is not so plentiful, wheat is used a lot as a binder. Most of our meds seem to come from Europe (some via Australia, but on the European formula). So while your statement may be true for the U.S. it is not for the rest of the world.

[Gemini]

I have been glutened three times since I gave up gluten, and each time it was by a prescribed med. In other countries where corn is not so plentiful, wheat is used a lot as a binder. Most of our meds seem to come from Europe (some via Australia, but on the European formula). So while your statement may be true for the U.S. it is not for the rest of the world.

I was not aware I had to be so specific but it would make sense that whatever country you live in, you'll have to do your own investigating. Here in the US and Canada, there are many meds, both name brand and generic, which are gluten free. It is easy enough to verify by calling the company. I do not take many meds at all but the ones I do are compounded, specifically for me and are gluten free. That may be another option for many who may be having difficulty. I have also found one company in particular,

Teva, and they do a great job with gluten free. They are an Israeli company and their brand is one I fall back on with great success. It seems their antibiotics and anti-virals are gluten-free, at least the ones I have used. They are also generic and cheap!

[jerseyangel]

I have also found one company in particular, Teva, and they do a great job with gluten free.

I have had good experiences with Teva, also. Another good generic company to deal with re: gluten-free is Mylan.

Mushroom, you make an excellent point about different places in the world using gluten as binders more often than here in the US. I've only run into a problem once in 4 years, and that was with a generic for Flonase--a steroid nasal spray. The name brand is indeed gluten-free, but this generic, by Roxane Labs made me ill with gluten-like symptoms. I did call to inquire and was told that they did not divulge their ingredients and that they would only say their products were made to FDA standards. Not even a CYA statement about gluten or allergens--nothing.

I don't know if it does contain gluten, but I'll also never use it again.

[kbdy]

My child has one that never comes off, but she's 5 & this is the first time that she's been away & eating without me nearby.

In my experience adults don't take Celiac very seriously & I had one teacher say "it's not like she'll die from eating gluten, right?" So yes dd has one & I feel it helps tremendously! As an adult, not sure.

[DougE]

Hi,

I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed with Celiac 2 years ago, and am finding a lot of these discussions interesting.

Here is a question:

What if you had a mild heart attack and someone tried to offer you aspirin as recommended by the St John Ambulance First Aid courses. Would you accept it? If I am not mistaken, most brands are not gluten-free (at least here in Canada).

DougE

[psawyer]

My experience here in Canada in over nine years of being gluten-free has been that gluten in medicine is not common at all. The binder used in tablets has all but invariably turned out to be corn starch or cellulose, both of which are gluten-free. I always check when using a new medicine for the first time, and in over nine years I have never had to reject one due to gluten.

But, you have to be careful of how you ask a manufacturer. If you ask, "Can you guarantee that wachyamacallit is gluten-free?" then an honest company will always reply, "No." No manufacturer can guarantee that any product is 100% gluten-free, so for legal reasons they won't.

So, to answer the specific question, yes I would accept an ASA tablet in that situation.

[Gemini]

Hi,

I am new to this forum. I was diagnosed with Celiac 2 years ago, and am finding a lot of these discussions interesting.

Here is a question:

What if you had a mild heart attack and someone tried to offer you aspirin as recommended by the St John Ambulance First Aid courses. Would you accept it? If I am not mistaken, most brands are not gluten-free (at least here in Canada).

DougE

Having a heart attack, no matter how mild or severe, trumps eating gluten-free every time. That is emergency medicine so whatever aspirin someone offers you, you should absolutely take it. You will never die from a single small gluten hit but you could die from a heart attack so it's a no brainer....at least from my perspective.

[jerseyangel]

So, to answer the specific question, yes I would accept an ASA tablet in that situation.

I would too, without question.

[DougE]

Thanks for the posts.

It is a no brainer for me too, but I have few symptoms. I just wondered if anyone had such severe reactions to gluten that this would be a decision requiring some consideration... more from the perspective of a first aid provider.