Wearing Medical Alert Bracelet?

[mytummyhurts]

I read on some site (I've read lots, so I don't remember where) that if you wear one of those medical alert bracelets when you go out to dinner that they may take it a lot more seriously and listen to you. I also think it may be good just in general in case you have to go to the hospital and are unable for some reason to tell them you have celiac, then they could feed you accordingly. Of course, this is assuming they even know what it is and what you can and can't have. Highly unlikely.

Has anybody tried this or do you think it's a good idea to have the wait staff take you more seriously. If they see that bracelet they may think "Crap, this person may die if they get gluten, I better be careful." What do you think?

[tarnalberry]

We've had this discussion on here at least once before, and the opinion was respectfully divided. :-) I'm of the opinion that it is NOT a good idea, because I feel that medic-alert tags are for immediately life threatening things that need to speak for you when you can't speak. Unless you're a rare case, or anaphylactically allergic to wheat as well, consuming gluten will not render you unable to speak for yourself AND be likely to be immediately life threatening. If you're either of the first two, I can understand having one, of course.

[celiac3270]

I'm not in favor of wearing them in general because if you can't talk and need treatment for something life threatening, glutening yourself should be the least of your concerns.

It might be good for intimidating waiters/waitresses at restaurants, though.

[KaitiUSA]

I think it would be intimidating to the waiter/waitress but I am not in favor of them, I agree completely with what celiac3270 said.

[hthorvald]

Why would you need a medical alert bracelet for Celiac Disease? If you're unconscious and can't respond, I guarantee you that no medical professional will try and force feed you anything, gluten free or not.

If anything, they would hook you up to an IV for fluids and when you come to, you can tell them yourself your food restrictions. Again, they probably won't be able to accommodate you, so a phone call to Mom, other family members or a friend will be in order

H.

[Carriefaith]

I wouldn't personnaly go out and buy one but I think they could be useful in restaurants. A bracelet may make the waitor/waitress pay more attention to making sure your food is gluten free.

[Rikki Tikki]

I have actually had this internal debate with myself. Don't worry I talk to myself all the time.

I think it would be helpful when eating out because I have found that people don't take it seriously. On the other hand I wouldn't want to be in need of emergency care and have some doctor stop to look up celiac.

In the end I decided to not do it but I think it's up to the person. If you get gluten for a very brief period of time it will probably make you sick but you will recover. The alternative of being very ill and having celiac interfere with treatment is not a very good alternative for me.

[Rikki Tikki]

The only other thought I would add is that eating out is a risk we take, we all know what can happen. We can choose not to eat out, that's always an option.

On the other hand emergency medical care would be more important at the moment I needed it.

[Guest gillian502]

I find that people at restaurants take me far more seriously when I use the word "seizure", such as "I will have a seizure at your table if you make one more mistake by bringing me gluten in my food." This usually does the trick!

[ianm]

Sally, nothing wrong with talking to yourself. I do it all the time because sometimes it is the only intelligent converstation I have all day! .

From what I know about medical alert bracelets they are reserved for very serious problems like severe allergies to medications where someone could go into anaphylactic shock or worse. Celiac is serious but I don't think it qualifies for a medical alert bracelet.

[momof2]

I just had to laugh about talking to yourself. My daughter asks me all the time, "mommy, who are you talking to?" Embarrased, I respond "nobody, I was just thinking!"

[flagbabyds]

I am one of those rare cases when I do go into anaphalitic shock when I eat wheat, and I am also gluten intolerant. I also have heart problems and they need to know about it before they put me into anethesia, so I put celiac on it because it can't hurt, and I have to wear it anyway.

It is good for little kids with celiac because if they are in preschool the teachers know to look for medicalert and if the child can't speak for themselves, the teacher/parent will be able to know what the child can/can't have. Yes the teacher should already know but.... If it is a parent subbing opr something, and they offer your child food, your schild can show them the bracelet before taking any food from people who don't know about them.

JUst some thoughts, but it is not necessary

[plantime]

I have medical tags on a chain that I wear with celiac listed on them. I have other allergies that are serious, so I just added a line with celiac. I decided better safe than sorry!

[cdford]

I am also one of those rare cases. I carry an epipen and when glutened my neuropathy causes it to appear that I have had a stroke on the left side. I cannot speak or move. I have considered a medical bracelet but have instead chosen to always carry a medical letter with me. Since I cannot go alone anywhere because I do not have a remote for my wheelchair lift, I always have someone with me who is familiar with my problem. I have been badly glutened in a hospital and would up staying several extra days because of it.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH CHILDREN:

I found out the hard way that if you are taken to the hospital by ambulance, you children must be left with a qualified care giver that you have given legal authority to. Mine almost wound up in DFACS care the last time because it took my husband almost 15 minutes to get to the grocery store. Friends from church were standing there willing to take the kids but could not because it was not in writing and I could not give permission. Social services was not called off until my husband showed identification. I now carry a letter authorizing certain persons to care for the children and detailing their phone numbers and their relationship to our family.

This can also be a problem with medical care for your children if the grandparents take them off for a weekend. If they require medical care, many hospitals will not do anything other than treat life threatening issues until the parent arrives if the person with the child does not have a notarized letter authorizing them to make decisions. We leave one on file with the pediatrician as well since he is the only one many hospitals will accept a faxed copy from. This happened to a couple in our church and we all began to do them after their nightmare.

The best thing to do is to find out what the rules are in your state before you are in an auto accident or some other problem and your children find themselves stuck in the system with no way out until you are out of the hospital.

[Guest AmandasMommy]

well as a mommy of my 2yr old with celiac disease. i agree. my niece had a liver transplant at 4 mo. and is now 6, she wears one. so i know what can happen. you never know what will happen.

if anything just for my sake, family and friends dont really know what its all about. they dont have to change sheets every day from leeky diapers, scrub floors, wash the poopy change of clothes all day. i tell the family and friends that yes it will hurt her if she cheats a little. she has had the watery diarhea for 4 months now and im not taking any chances. she looks like an ethiopian. yes if i can get her one i will. no offence to anyone, but if i had celiac disease, it would be my choice not too. but she cant speak for herself. thanks for the idea!

[Rikki Tikki]

Amanda's mom:

I don't think there is anything wrong with getting her a medical alert bracelet. I think it's up to each person to decide

I am sure nobody took offense at that!

[Sandi]

I wear one, I have that I am on blood thinners too on it and when I ordered it I asked if it was important enough to put, they said yes.

Not sure I would do one just for celiac but I did add it.

I used to be EMT, and they are trained to look for the tags and all.

[KaitiUSA]

I just emailed a compnay explaining about what celiac was and asked them if this is something they think I need a medical ID bracelet for. I'll let you know when I hear from them about what they have to say about this.

I have noticed the last couple times I was glutened I feel like I can't breathe and we think I am also maybe allergic to wheat so I have to get allergy testing for that done to see if that is the case or not. If so, I will get a medical ID necklace or something and add celiac too it too.

[Twister2]

Medic alert tags are generally for emergency personnel such as Paramedics and ER staff, to alert them of potentially fatal allergic reactions or medical conditions that may affect their course of treatment when a patient is rendered unconsious or unable to speak for themselves. As a former Medic, I don't believe Celiacs falls into these categories. Although it is a serious medical condition, it would rarely seriously affect the course of emergency treatment.

[KaitiUSA]

Yes, I wouldn't wear one just for celiac but I would add celiac to it if it turns out I also am allergic. Have to see how that test turns out.

[skbird]

I have been thinking about this, too. I have gluten intolerance and nightshade intolerance, plus shellfish allergy and a seemingly allergic reaction that occurs to aspergillus niger which is in/produces about 80% of the citric acid out there, including that which is in Betadine. I'm mostly worried about the problems that can occur from having an allergic reaction to Betadine (IE during surgery) - so far it has only given me hives. But I'm also concerned about meds that have aspergillus niger (erythrmyacin, lovastatin, plus whatever I don't know about) and things that have citric acid in them. I don't guess any of these would kill me but I'd like the information present when/if I was brought in and unconscious.

I currently have a card I carry in my wallet. I hope they find that in case of emergency!

My worst fear is that I'm going to get pepper sprayed somewhere, out in public, whatever. I have gotten so sick from breathing peppers being grilled on a nearby BBQ that I'm not sure what my central nervous system would do with pepper spray.

Still, I guess it's not likely any of this would kill me. Just make me feel horrible. When I asked my doctor the other day about this he just said, "well, tell them you can't have that stuff" to the hospital staff. From what I've read on this forum, I don't know how helpful that will be.

[egardner]

As a preschool teacher of many years, I will tell you that it IS best for children who cannot describe thier symptoms to wear a braclet. It should read Celiac disease, and you should also make sure it says "severe reactions to wheat, oats, barley, rye, and whatever else your child cant handle" This is because in most instances people who do not know your child will minimize the reactions if you do not lay it out there. Point and case: One of my little girls in my class last year was ALLERGIC to milk. She was not simply lactose intolerant, which frankly shouldnt matter because the symptoms of that are cruelty too. An employee gave her regular milk, knowing she was to avoid it, because she couldnt find her soymilk and " her mom overreacts anyway" Needless to say, all hell broke loose when the girl becamse violently ill and the employee was fired, but that type of response is very common! A lot of people feel parents today are overly protective and feel the need to test limitations with such parents. Children should wear bracelets for thier own safety. If you were concerned about ER visits, you could always have a subscript stating the reations were not life threatening. I feel as an adult I can describe the information needed, and if not, my next of kin would when contacted, I agree I dont want a doctor stalling in the situation of emergent care with me. I also want to say that to each his own, and everyone must decide what is best for them. As far as restaurants go, I tell waiters it is very important, ask for thier name, and let them know very politley I will call if a mistake is made and I become ill. Most of mine have been very attentive and kind, and I make sure to follow up and call if I do become ill. Not to get them in trouble, but to make sure they stay informed and prepared for people like us!

[Carriefaith]

Kaiti,

Are you getting a skin prick test or blood test? I got both of those done for wheat allergy and both were positive. It was werid though... the other "glutens" like rye and barley on the skin prik test came back negative but wheat came back postitive. So i was also wondering if I had a wheat allergy in addition to celiac. I think the skin prick test just tests for allegies and not intolerances, but I could be wrong (Because if it tested for inloterances barely and rye should have been positive). I will discuss this with my doctor at my next follow up appointment.

[KaitiUSA]

I'm getting a blood test done.

What you had done sounds like it was to detect only allergies. I don't think intolerances would come up on that.

Sounds like you have a wheat allergy in addition to celiac. Did they tell you how severe it was?

[Carriefaith]

I'm not sure how severe it is... If I can remeber correctly I think the skin prick test showed it to be a medium severity, but that was like 1.5 years ago! I guess I never realized until now that I could have both wheat allergy and celiac. I'll have to ask my doctor about it and I may need one of those medical alert bracelets.