Medical Alert- Shoud We Have This?

[Guest cd&dhspruehead]

I've been trying to deside if I shoud have a medical alert.Alot of books and web sites talk about the importans of haveing one,but would a doctor look at it with-out thinking ''its just an alergy''.

How many ware a medical alert?

My biggest fear is having meds with gluten give'n to me and not being abel to talk.I've had doctors tell me to my face that celiac was a food alergy and not in meds.The thing is I was in the ER when this happend getting 5 stiches back in Feburary of this year.Got told of by the doctor because I didn't take a pill that a nurse handed me.

Gluten Free is and always will be the way to stay healthy for us all. BEING sick suck!

[Guest Lindam]

I have been thinking about getting the medical bracelet. I have been giving a couple of different meds that the Pharmacist says it's okay to take, but when you call the manufacturer, they say it's not gluten free. I would hate to be in the hospital and they end up giving you something that makes you more sick!

The more I write about it, the better it sounds.

Linda

[celiac3270]

I don't use one, but probably should...I just haven't thought about it in awhile. Even if a doctor did look at it and think "it's just an allergy", they would have to take it seriously. What if this wheat "allergy" caused a severe and potentially deadly reaction? They wouldn't know the severity of the reaction it would cause, but if you're wearing a bracelet about it, they'd have to take it serioiusly.

[lovegrov]

I've personally never seen the use of a bracelet for celiac. If I'm being treated for an illness or accident that's so severe I can't communicate, I want them to do whatever they need to do to save my life, even if it involves gluten. And in that situation they aren't going to be forcing pills down your throat, they'll be putting in IVs or giving you shots, none of which contain gluten.

richard

[celiac3270]

Yeah.........i was thinking about that and i'd rather get sick from gluten than die or have something really bad happen to me just because teh doc. couldn't give me gluten

[gf4life]

I'm not really concerned with one for myself, since I feel pretty much how Richard does.

But I have considered getting one for my son who is gluten intolerant, plus has other things going on, but the bracelets just won't hold all of the info, so I've been looking into the new electronic ones that allow you to record as much medical info as you feel necessary. My son is allergic to penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics, and quite possibly asprin (he is being checked for something called Asprin Triad Disease, since he has asthma and nasal polyps that grow back after surgery to remove them), as well as he takes three kinds of meds daily for asthma, migraines and most importantly Familial Meditteranean Fever (a periodic fever disease). I'm just concerned that if he is hospitalized and I am not available then they would be clueless as to his medicine allergies and medications he should be taking. Then of course he would end up with some sort of gluten, which I wouldn't care about if it saved his life. But if his injuries weren't life threatening, then the other medication allergies could end up making them that way. If he doesn't get the fever meds then he will end up with a fever in excess of 105 and they wouldn't know why, then they might try to treat a non-existing infection with penicillin and he would end up covered with hives and might have some breathing difficulty. And if they give him asprin without the asthma medicine in his system he could end up having an asthma attack. Right now we have everything in balance and his symptoms are kept under control, but it has taken us 7 years to figure it all out and I'd hate to have it messed with. The only thing not under control is the nasal polyps and he is due for another surgery soon...

Anyhow, sorry for the rambling. I was just wondering if anyone had tried the electronic medic-alert gadget. Is it worth the money? I have only seen it once and don't know how common they are, but am certainly checking into it.

God bless,

Mariann