Gluten In Anesthesia?

[Amber M]

New Question. My gluten free friend just had a procedure in which she had to be knocked out. For a week now she has been very ill with all of the neurological symptoms like what I have. (Gluten Ataxia) She has seen the Doctor and spoken with the Anesthesiologist a few times. They are not sure what is happening. She got the list of 6 drugs they used (isn't that amazing that they use 6 drugs?) and we looked on the gluten free drug list and found 3. The other 3 are not on there. I can not seem to locate the "inactive" ingredients in them. If they do contain gluten, it surely went straight to the brain as they were liquid intravenously administered. The drugs not on the gluten free list were: Propofl, Fentanyl and Dramamine.

Anyone know or can you tell me where to find out? I would appreciate any help. Thanks

[MaryJones2]

I don't know of any IV drugs that contain gluten. The gluten is usually in the starch used to hold pills together.

[Amber M]

  janetw said:

I don't know of any IV drugs that contain gluten. The gluten is usually in the starch used to hold pills together.

Thanks, is this information from research or you just don't think so? I need more to go on. Thank you so much

[psawyer]

Gluten is used as a glue or binder in solids and in viscous liquids such as gravies.

Nothing that is administered IV or by any other form of injection is a worry with regards to gluten. The last thing on earth that you would want in such a substance is a thickener.

I suppose that a topical anesthetic, such as used in dentistry prior to injecting the primary local anesthetic, might be a source of gluten.

[ravenwoodglass]

The IV drugs should have been safe. Did she take anything to relax her before the procedure? Some doctors will prescribe a oral sedative to be taken before hand and that could have gotten her. Did she have any prep like with a colonoscopy? The active ingredient in those is gluten-free but the flavoring they use may not be. She also could be having an idiosyncratic reaction to one of the meds. I for example can not take Versed, it takes a very large dose to be effective and makes me very ill and causes neuro reactions that although similar to gluten reactions they are reactions to the drug. Has she talked to her doctor about this?

[Amber M]

  ravenwoodglass said:

The IV drugs should have been safe. Did she take anything to relax her before the procedure? Some doctors will prescribe a oral sedative to be taken before hand and that could have gotten her. Did she have any prep like with a colonoscopy? The active ingredient in those is gluten-free but the flavoring they use may not be. She also could be having an idiosyncratic reaction to one of the meds. I for example can not take Versed, it takes a very large dose to be effective and makes me very ill and causes neuro reactions that although similar to gluten reactions they are reactions to the drug. Has she talked to her doctor about this?

Thanks so much people. I am waiting for a pharmacist to get back to me too. She has an auto-immune disease and it appears that the drugs could have caused her immune system to attack the inner ear too. We are not sure yet. She has been to the Doctor and they are working with her. I could not find the pill Darvocet on the gluten free list, so checking on the gluten issue there too. It is not exactly like "vertigo", but similar along with balance and eye disturbances and cognative problems. Thanks so much for the help. I'll post more when I know more.