Nasal Spray

[Moondanse]

Ok, I've been trucking along doing the gluten-free thing for six months now. Doing pretty well if I do say so. Hit my first issue of being careless and I'm so aggravated.

I have severe allergies and have to use a nasal spray every day. A friend gets me samples from the doctor's office where she works. I always use Nasacort AQ and she grabbed Nasonex accidentally. No big deal, I've used it before. WRONG! The past week I've been sick -- not horribly so, but severely bloated and uncomfortable. I read something on the posts that made me question the Nasonex (which I should have done in the first place). I started searching and found it was safe on two lists, but something was bothering me. So, I called Schering -- sure enough it is not gluten-free.

I also called MedPointe regarding Astelin nasal spray and they confirmed it is gluten-free. And I called Sanofi Aventis and confirmed that Nasacort AQ is gluten-free. Those are the two that I normally use. I should have known better.

Anyways, the point was not to call myself out but to share with all of you that Nasonex is not gluten-free and that the other two are safe.

Thanks,

Kelli

[grey]

Oh, crap. I thought Nasonex was ok - I'd seen it on the lists and then I thought the hospital had checked it too. Why do the companies make it so hard?

I tried calling Scherring but it's too late today. I wondered if they did a we can't confirm or deny thing or whether they said it definately had gluten. Do you know what about it has gluten?

Thanks for posting!

grey

Ok, I've been trucking along doing the gluten-free thing for six months now. Doing pretty well if I do say so. Hit my first issue of being careless and I'm so aggravated.

I have severe allergies and have to use a nasal spray every day. A friend gets me samples from the doctor's office where she works. I always use Nasacort AQ and she grabbed Nasonex accidentally. No big deal, I've used it before. WRONG! The past week I've been sick -- not horribly so, but severely bloated and uncomfortable. I read something on the posts that made me question the Nasonex (which I should have done in the first place). I started searching and found it was safe on two lists, but something was bothering me. So, I called Schering -- sure enough it is not gluten-free.

I also called MedPointe regarding Astelin nasal spray and they confirmed it is gluten-free. And I called Sanofi Aventis and confirmed that Nasacort AQ is gluten-free. Those are the two that I normally use. I should have known better.

Anyways, the point was not to call myself out but to share with all of you that Nasonex is not gluten-free and that the other two are safe.

Thanks,

Kelli

[jerseyangel]

That is so interesting about the Nasonex. When I first went gluten-free, before I ever found this board and knew I had to check my meds, I used Nasonex (I had always used Flonase before) and got nausea and pain under my ribs.

Just as an FYI for everyone reading this--the generic for Flonase (Fluticasone) by Roxane Laboratories is gluten-free. I confirmed that by phone just last week. (7/07)

[Moondanse]

Oh, crap. I thought Nasonex was ok - I'd seen it on the lists and then I thought the hospital had checked it too. Why do the companies make it so hard?

I tried calling Scherring but it's too late today. I wondered if they did a we can't confirm or deny thing or whether they said it definately had gluten. Do you know what about it has gluten?

Thanks for posting!

grey

Grey-

The woman that I spoke to said that they could not classify it as gluten-free as the formula changes frequently and gluten is one of the ingredients in some of the formulations. I'd be interested to learn what they tell you when you call. Please post when you do (if you don't mind).

Either way, I am not using it anymore. I've been terribly uncomfortable since I started using it and didn't even connect the dots. I knew I hadn't eaten anything to cause it, so I'm left with the Nasonex and her response to my question today. For me, it is all the confirmation that I need.

~Kelli

[grey]

Kelli-

I spoke to Sherring today. I got the same basic answer you did (as I expected), that they couldn't guarentee gluten-free. The man I spoke with said it was because their suppliers changed and they couldn't guarentee what they were getting from those sources. He read me the list of ingredients and their sources. From what he said, it sounded like the citric acid (corn) and the sodium citrate (cornstarch) might be the problem ones.

His main line was it was up to me and my doctor to decide if Nasonex was ok. Nothing against the people I talked to, but it makes me angry that a drug company can't tell us directly what's in its product!! They should know. The FDA shouldn't allow these kind of sheningans, especially dealing with such a major allergen! Not a new complain, I know, but grrrr.

With another med. I ran into the issue with starch and "we can't guarentee" since the supplier might switch to wheat starch if it was cheaper that month.

I talked to my md and she's having me discontinue; we're going to try no nasal spray as my allergies have been much better gluten-free and see how it goes. (a little scary) Well, I hope this will improve my celiac disease, getting it out of my system!

-grey

Grey-

The woman that I spoke to said that they could not classify it as gluten-free as the formula changes frequently and gluten is one of the ingredients in some of the formulations. I'd be interested to learn what they tell you when you call. Please post when you do (if you don't mind).

Either way, I am not using it anymore. I've been terribly uncomfortable since I started using it and didn't even connect the dots. I knew I hadn't eaten anything to cause it, so I'm left with the Nasonex and her response to my question today. For me, it is all the confirmation that I need.

~Kelli

[Hanna GF LF cheerleader]

the same thing happened to me with flonaze. the pharmacy said it was fine, come to find out its not. I always use nasacort aq...

[Moondanse]

Kelli-

I spoke to Sherring today. I got the same basic answer you did (as I expected), that they couldn't guarentee gluten-free. The man I spoke with said it was because their suppliers changed and they couldn't guarentee what they were getting from those sources. He read me the list of ingredients and their sources. From what he said, it sounded like the citric acid (corn) and the sodium citrate (cornstarch) might be the problem ones.

His main line was it was up to me and my doctor to decide if Nasonex was ok. Nothing against the people I talked to, but it makes me angry that a drug company can't tell us directly what's in its product!! They should know. The FDA shouldn't allow these kind of sheningans, especially dealing with such a major allergen! Not a new complain, I know, but grrrr.

With another med. I ran into the issue with starch and "we can't guarentee" since the supplier might switch to wheat starch if it was cheaper that month.

I talked to my md and she's having me discontinue; we're going to try no nasal spray as my allergies have been much better gluten-free and see how it goes. (a little scary) Well, I hope this will improve my celiac disease, getting it out of my system!

-grey

Grey,

Thanks for the update. I'm glad that I posted on here about it. It's very frustrating, I agree. I'm still dealing with the effects of using it for only about 10 days. I had a wedding over the weekend and I looked like I was three months pregnant from the bloating. Lovely! I have my first follow-up appointment on Tuesday to have blood tests done again and I'm certain this will mess up all the work I've done over the past six months. Oh well. I'm just relieved that I figured out the problem and quickly enough. I hope that you do okay off of nasal spray. If not, Nasacort AQ is okay for us to use. Astelin is also, but it's non-steroidal. I believe it's an antihistamine nasal spray. I actually notice results with the Astelin almost immediately. Good luck!!