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Shaking My Head

jennyj

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jennyj Collaborator
jennyj
Posted

I called my doctor this morning to find out what I could take for a cough that kept me up all night. His nurse told me that my pharmacist would be able to help me, doctor wasn't there. So I went to my pharmacist and asked for a cough syrup that is gluten free. He said " I don't think there are any that are glucose free. We have a few that are sugar free." I repeated gluten free, you know no wheat rye, oats, barley, malt. He said " I have never heard of luten free." I repeated again GLUTEN, I have celiac sprue and cannot have anything with any of the items I mentioned. He said he didn't know if they had any but gave me some Tussin DM and said he thought that that was something I could take. I read the label and it looked safe so I took it. So far so good. I just can't quit shaking my head. :huh:

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jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted

Hi Jenny,

I can really sympathise with you on the pharmacist--the one at my drugstore is never any help when it comes to gluten--and neither is my GP.

I always call the manufacturer myself to check to see if a medicine (Rx or OTC) is gluten-free. Even if all of the ingredients look fine, I would still suggest calling and making sure.

Hope you feel better soon :)

darlindeb25 Collaborator
darlindeb25
Posted

I didn't go into this and check for you, but here is a website: Open Original Shared Link You may be able to find the info you need here. I have the same problem here with the pharmicist at our local CVS store and I was told he is very knowledgeable about such things.

Corkdarrr Enthusiast
Corkdarrr
Posted

That reminds me when I first went gluten-free, and I was at the drugstore looking for vitamins. I was searchign by myself when the pharmacist came up to me and asked me if I needed any help. I told him I was looking for gluten free vitamins and got pretty much the same response as you - luckily I found NatureMade which clearly states on the side of the bottle that they are gluten free. Which I pointed at and gave him a short explanation for his benefit.

At least he's heard of it now!

Courtney

jennyj Collaborator
jennyj
Posted
  • Author
Hi Jenny,

I can really sympathise with you on the pharmacist--the one at my drugstore is never any help when it comes to gluten--and neither is my GP.

I always call the manufacturer myself to check to see if a medicine (Rx or OTC) is gluten-free. Even if all of the ingredients look fine, I would still suggest calling and making sure.

Hope you feel better soon :)

Thanks for the info and the thoughts. I will call.

aaascr Apprentice
aaascr
Posted

The pharmacy that I use has one clueless

(and wants to remain that way)

pharmacist and another who knows about

celiac (his MIL has it). So if I have a new

prescription I find out when he is there and

walk in and talk to him about it - he always

looks things up for me and will even print

out the info so I can look at it.

He's so cool I can never thank him enough!

:)

debmidge Rising Star
debmidge
Posted

The glutenfreedrugs site needs to be updated; I find it to be old information. Until it's updated I call the manufacturers. I go to store, look at product I intend to buy, take down the 1-800 number and sometimes call right from the store. If that doesn't work I also write down the UCP number and call from home or visit the manufacturers website.

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almostnrn Explorer
almostnrn
Posted

I am so sorry this has happened to everyone! I have worked in a pharmacy for 13 years and have personally never worked with pharmacists or even techs that are unwilling to provide information or educate themselves about something this serious. I am willing to get a list together for everyone if you give me some suggustions of what you need to know about. At the very least I have access to the pharmaceutical companies phone numbers and can call them when I get home from work. I can even check out inserts of specific meds at work. I can tell you that I have seen gluten-free printed right on the label of one or two things even. If you don't feel comfortable posting the info on this string just send me a PM and I'll get back to you asap.

jerseyangel Proficient
jerseyangel
Posted
The glutenfreedrugs site needs to be updated; I find it to be old information. Until it's updated I call the manufacturers. I go to store, look at product I intend to buy, take down the 1-800 number and sometimes call right from the store. If that doesn't work I also write down the UCP number and call from home or visit the manufacturers website.

I agree completely, Deb. The info there is constantly being outdated. Plus, there are so many generic drugs out there. I just call on everything :)

Tim-n-VA Contributor
Tim-n-VA
Posted

Who do you call for generic drugs? If the brand name equivalent is gluten-free can you reach any conclusion on the generic?

celiacgirls Apprentice
celiacgirls
Posted

I've only called about one generic drug but the name of the manufacturer was on the prescription label. Then I looked it up online to see if they said anything about it. They didn't but I did get the phone number that way and called. If you don't see the name of the manufacturer, try asking the pharmacist. They should be able to find out.

almostnrn Explorer
almostnrn
Posted
Who do you call for generic drugs? If the brand name equivalent is gluten-free can you reach any conclusion on the generic?

No you can not guarantee that because the brand name is gluten-free that the generic will be. To further complicate things, there may be several different manufacturers of a generic (whereas with a brand name drug there is only one company that produces it) and some may be safe while others are not. A pharmacy may not always have a choice in which manufaturer they receive in an order. If your pills look different you will need to recheck the status.

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