Cipro Beware

[dlp252]

Patti, I agree totally!!!!

[Joni63]

Of couse it would be unrealistic to expect a doctor to know every ingredient of every drug--but I guess it's the dismissive attitude I get from mine when I mention I'd prefer the name brand since it makes it easier for me to check whether or not it contains gluten.

I just get a "whatever--not my problem" kind of vibe, which I'm sure not all of them have. Hard to explain--on the one hand, it's a doctor who knows I have this disease--but as far as meds are concerned, I don't get the feeling it's all that important to them. I think I want it to be at least considered; acknowledged--like we're on the same page.

Ok--I'm rambling now

Yes Patti, the dismissive attitudes from the professionals involved is certainly very frustrating. When I asked my doctor if Cipro was gluten free he said "I doubt they put gluten in medicines." The pharmacist of the first pharmacy (Rite Aid) I went to had a similar comment and the girl at the drive through window rolled her eyes at me when I asked if they could check about the medicine. It was about 4:45 on Friday and the pharmacist told her he couldn't call the company because it was closed through Tuesday (monday was the holiday). I raced home, looked up the manufacturers number on the internet and tried to call the manufacturer. I reached the front desk, but she told me it was 1 minute after 5:00pm and no one was left who could answer my question. So, I was lied to, treated poorly all by people who are supposed to be able to help me. Nice, huh?

Oh and when I called back to tell the pharmacist I was very upset that he told me they manufacturer was closed and I'd have to wait until Tuesday to get medicine for an ear infection he told me they were busy and he had other customers to take care of. Needless to say I will never go there again and he was told that.

Why did I deserve that treatment because I simply needed to know if a medicine contained gluten. I think all of this contributed to my meltdown. I felt like an alien in a foreign country and no one cared to help me. Really scary and lonely feeling.

Anyway...I'm over it now. I guess it was one of those 'learning curve' things. It will make me stronger for the next situatuion.

It's times like this when the value of this forum skyrockets. No one without Cealic can surely understand some of the crap we have to deal with. Even though my mom and a few friends are really great about listening and empathising with me when these things happen, I know the people can truly understand the pain and frustration of this situation.

[Joni63]

I can sort of understand the doctors not knowing a lot about medications, especially if it's not one they work with frequently, but a pharmacist really should know, or be able to find out quickly what they are dispensing. It just really sucks that we have to know more about stuff than the professionals we are going to for help.

Yes, I think there should be a list available to the pharmacists. It would be even nice to know if a medicine has the potential to contain gluten. I'm sure some medicines don't use gluten at all and there are probably others that can. Why not have a list of those? Or at least all the Pharmaceutical Companies phone numbers they deal with. Most of the time I had to look up the phone numbers because the Pharmacies didn't know how to contact the manufacturer. Sweet, huh?

[jerseyangel]

Anyway...I'm over it now. I guess it was one of those 'learning curve' things. It will make me stronger for the next situatuion.

Yep--you hit it right there. We can't change their attitudes toward these things--but we can sure as heck learn how to protect ourselves. It's definately a learning curve--and after a while it becomes second nature.

And yes, this forum is a Godsend. I owe my sanity to the people here

[Morrisun]

I'm having my own drug issues but thought I would share that I spoke with Mylan today and the man told me that they do not put gluten into any of their medications. They only use corn, potato and rice starch in their medications. FYI.

[sammers1]

I am a pharmacist & I need to clarify some things for some of you. We hve package inserts to all of the medications on our shelves that do list inactive ingredients for the medications. However, this is apparently not completely fool proof because Cipro by Bayer DOES NOT list wheat starch in the package insert. We have to call & talk to the same people you would and trust me, they are not much different to us than they are to you. Someone stated that we should know what is in all of the meds we dispense but that is like saying a supermarket owner should know all of the ingredients in their foods. We have access & I am a pharmacist who is willing to go that extra mile to find out what is safe. That being said, I would NEVER trust anyone else to find out what is safe for my daughter. If you have a Pharmacist who does not have that much education on Celiac , which unless they know someone who has it or has it themselves they won't have the education, calling for you, can you be sure that they are getting ALL of the info? I would always find out any allergy info for my customers but this is different. Gluten can be hidden & not many people know the severity of getting glutened. If it was me, I would call also because these companies are not all educated & you may get someone who knows about it & you may get someone who knows nothing. I'm sorry for ranting but Pharmacists are getting a bad name & we are not all created equal. If anyone wants me to call for you or do any research, I am more than happy to do so.

[Joni63]

Hi sammers1,

I don't think any of us are blaming the pharmacists. I know I'm not. My problem is with the system and how the information has to be obtained. I said it before and I'll say it again...I don't think companies should be allowed to swap out ingredients that easily on a drug when allergens are used. If they use wheat, continue to use wheat so people allergic to corn will know they can use that drug from that manufacturer. If they use corn starch they should not be allowed to switch to wheat starch...etc. Or maybe they should not be allowed to swap ingredients quite so often...maybe only once a year.

I think the laws could be simplified so we don't have to jump through hoops and depend on information that is not readily available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Medicine is not like food, we need it imediately when we are sick. With food there are other safe options readily available, with medicines you need to know if they are safe right away. If it's a weekend or holiday doesn't matter when you have a type of infection.

I think there needs to be some stability with ingredients and the pharmacists should be provided with that information.

I had 2 great pharmacists that tried to help me with this. The one at the compounding pharmacy and the one at Shoprite. The only problem I had was with the one who lied to me and wouldn't help me because they were busy and they had other customers, even though I had been using that same pharmacist for 20 years. That was a lousy pharmacist. Every profession has the good and the bad. He was bad.

I've only rarely had problems with getting the information from the manufacturer, food or drug. It does seem easier to stick with the larger companies because they seem to have the information more readily available than the smaller companies who only make limited products.

[debmidge]

You know it still really boggles my mind that they put WHEAT in medications. It seems to me there are so many other less allergenic fillers that could be used.

I suppose they'll use anything as long as it is the cheapest....

[jerseyangel]

I suppose they'll use anything as long as it is the cheapest....

Yep

[Kasey's Mom]

Does anyone know if Cipro Generic made by Teva or Apotex is gluten free? I got out of the doctor's office after 5pm and I was using an online list that said Cipro was gluten-free. I've called several pharmacies and the only two generics I can find are Teva and Apotex.

Thanks!

[ravenwoodglass]

Does anyone know if Cipro Generic made by Teva or Apotex is gluten free? I got out of the doctor's office after 5pm and I was using an online list that said Cipro was gluten-free. I've called several pharmacies and the only two generics I can find are Teva and Apotex.

Thanks!

Your best bet is going to be to call the companies directly. Generics can change binders whenever they want so those need to be checked at each refill. You should be able to get a contact number from the printout they give you with the med or by doing a search for that company online.

[Swimmr]

Is this an antibiotic? I was at the doc's yesterday, onset of an ear infection and I am calling the pharmacy now to ask them what the name of it is because I can't remember...just know it started with either cip or ceph...

[Kasey's Mom]

Yes, Cipro or Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic. I ended up finding Dr. Reddy's Ciprofloxacin last night at a Kroger Pharmacy. I have a secondary infections caused by the flu and I needed the antibiotic ASAP. I was thankful to find it last night at the 5th pharmacy I spoke to. I have called TEVA this morning for future reference and they said to the best of their knowledge, Ciprofloxacin (500mg) is gluten free and contains no wheat, rye, barley or oats.

Thanks!

[grainfreefun]

From a pharmacist's point of view (who has celiac disease), I don't trust the all manufacturers. The active ingredient drug (say, ibuprofen) is going to be pure and exactly the mg strength stated by law and the FDA strictly controls that. The binders, coatings and inactive ingredients in that ibuprofen tablet can be any number of ingredients and they are usually listed on the package insert with the product bottle (for prescription drugs), or on the OTC packaging. Within the last few years I've seen more medications being imported from India and China. Frankly, this makes me nervous. It's difficult to get info from some generic manufacturers.

Roxanne's prednisone states clearly on the dispensing container "gluten free." Thank goodness. How many times have I needed prednisone? Ughhh. I specifically request Roxanne brand when I get a prescription for it. I often compound medications and some drugs are not easily compounded. Some antibiotics will not be stable in a syrup, elixir or solution and must be made by a commercial laboratory due to their chemical composition, and not all base drugs are available. It's still worth checking out if you can find a compounding pharmacy to customize your medication if the inactive ingredients are iffy. If in doubt, ask the pharmacist to check the inactive ingredients of your medication (they might not understand what gluten is, though). There can be many manufacturers for one drug.

Celiac complicates everything!