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Opiate Drugs And Celiac

ENF

By ENF
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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ENF Enthusiast
ENF
Posted

I know that Gluten can mimic the effects of opiates in cases of Celiac. I've also heard anecdotal evidence that opiate-derived painkillers are not good for people with Celiac disease. I have never liked Tylenol with Codeine - it makes me very weak, I feel horrible and doesn't work well for pain. I was in the hospital a few months ago for eye socket surgery. I was under the impression that I could go home the same day, and many people do for this procedure, but they gave me a shot of Demerol for pain and I could hardly move. I ended up staying overnight, and did not feel well the next day either, but went home anyway. Naturally, they gave me a Tylenol w/Codeine Rx to take with me which was useless, and I ended up using regular Tylenol. Anybody else have a problem with Opiates like this? Are there strong substitute drugs that are not derived from Opium? If there are problems with Codeine and Demerol, then Morphene would be probably be even worse. I'm concerned about possible future medical procedures.

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Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted
I know that Gluten can mimic the effects of opiates in cases of Celiac. I've also heard anecdotal evidence that opiate-derived painkillers are not good for people with Celiac disease. I have never liked Tylenol with Codeine - it makes me very weak, I feel horrible and doesn't work well for pain. I was in the hospital a few months ago for eye socket surgery. I was under the impression that I could go home the same day, and many people do for this procedure, but they gave me a shot of Demerol for pain and I could hardly move. I ended up staying overnight, and did not feel well the next day either, but went home anyway. Naturally, they gave me a Tylenol w/Codeine Rx to take with me which was useless, and I ended up using regular Tylenol. Anybody else have a problem with Opiates like this? Are there strong substitute drugs that are not derived from Opium? If there are problems with Codeine and Demerol, then Morphene would be probably be even worse. I'm concerned about possible future medical procedures.

As long as the painkiller is gluten-free, there should be absolutely no problem for a Celiac to take them. I have never heard of opiates being a problem for Celiacs and, as I have taken them for dental surgery and had zero problems with them, I would think that just another case of misinformation. Some opiates may bother or not agree with someone but it isn't related to gluten. I cannot take codeine, either, as it upsets my stomach but I can take Vicodin, which is a powerful painkiller.

It works like a charm, too! ;) Vicodin is gluten-free and the one I always ask for.

Painkillers given in shot form that do not pass through the GI tract would not cause any gluten related symptoms either, even if they did contain a gluten derivative.

You have to eat it for it to cause a reaction. It sounds like you are just sensitive to painkillers, in general. Many people are, especially if you aren't used to consuming them. Maybe if you need them again, ask for Vicodin. It works really well for killing pain and doesn't upset the stomach. It's one of the few that completely agrees with me so maybe you'll have luck with it also.

Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

Any type of pain killer or anethetic almost works to good for me. I don't take even tylenol or ibuprofen much so when I had a car acdident the lortab 5 they gave me really packed a punch. When I have dental anethesia one shot will numb me from the top of my head down past my collar bone. Ugg didn't like that much. My throat was numb too (only 1/2). So now I just get the numbing medication that goes just around the tooth. The dentist said that it usually only works that way mostly on kids because of their different structure. I guess I'm weird and a kid at heart. :lol: I had an epidural with my second child and I could not feel a thing and they could have sawed off my legs with a dull butter knife and I would'nt have cared. It took more than usual to wear off too. The epidural was turned off around 2:00 in the afternoon and I didn't get feeling back till around 7 that evening and still had noodle legs. For my husband dental anethesia does not work much at all. He has to grin and bear it for fillings and percocet for him does not eliminate the pain per se just makes it so he doesn't care that he is in pain. Morphine works alright but he get really gabby and can't be quiet.

ENF Enthusiast
ENF
Posted
  • Author
As long as the painkiller is gluten-free, there should be absolutely no problem for a Celiac to take them. I have never heard of opiates being a problem for Celiacs and, as I have taken them for dental surgery and had zero problems with them, I would think that just another case of misinformation. Some opiates may bother or not agree with someone but it isn't related to gluten. I cannot take codeine, either, as it upsets my stomach but I can take Vicodin, which is a powerful painkiller.

It works like a charm, too! ;) Vicodin is gluten-free and the one I always ask for.

Painkillers given in shot form that do not pass through the GI tract would not cause any gluten related symptoms either, even if they did contain a gluten derivative.

You have to eat it for it to cause a reaction. It sounds like you are just sensitive to painkillers, in general. Many people are, especially if you aren't used to consuming them. Maybe if you need them again, ask for Vicodin. It works really well for killing pain and doesn't upset the stomach. It's one of the few that completely agrees with me so maybe you'll have luck with it also.

Thanks, but I am not "sensitive to painkillers, in general", since I can take everything else including aspirin, naproxen sodium (Aleve), Ibuprofen (Motrin), Acetamiophen (Tylenol), and others. Novacaine, which is not an opiate, is also fine. Only drugs containing opiates give me problems - and these reactions are not gastrointestinal, they're more neurological and very debilitating as well.

vampkestrel Rookie
vampkestrel
Posted

I have a bit of trouble with opiate mainly because they don't work. I had surgey last year as well, the tried demirol, morphine, viacodan and then finally the only one that worked on me was talwin. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia first and I went through a whole slew of pain killers that never did a thing. I always wondered if it was due to my celiacs that the meds just never quite worked with me.

Mtndog Collaborator
Mtndog
Posted

I cannot tolerate codeine at all. They gave it to me after my wisdom teeth surgery and I was a nut bag......tried to leave the house in my underwear :lol:

Many of them make me either out of it or depressed. The only one that works and does not make me that way is percocet. It took some trial and error to find it, but thank God I did as I have severe chronic pain from Lyme disease.

JNBunnie1 Community Regular
JNBunnie1
Posted
Thanks, but I am not "sensitive to painkillers, in general", since I can take everything else including aspirin, naproxen sodium (Aleve), Ibuprofen (Motrin), Acetamiophen (Tylenol), and others. Novacaine, which is not an opiate, is also fine. Only drugs containing opiates give me problems - and these reactions are not gastrointestinal, they're more neurological and very debilitating as well.

Utterly unrelated to your question, may I recommend a bit o' hair of the dog to help you sleep? Alcohol's one of the best drugs out there for making you not care about pain. I'd also recommend a toke or two, but oh right, we haven't bothered to make it legal yet.

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ENF Enthusiast
ENF
Posted
  • Author
Utterly unrelated to your question, may I recommend a bit o' hair of the dog to help you sleep? Alcohol's one of the best drugs out there for making you not care about pain. I'd also recommend a toke or two, but oh right, we haven't bothered to make it legal yet.

I agree.

Alcohol is good in some cases, but in NY we're waiting for decriminalization of the other stuff for medical use - currently there's all kinds of domestic stuff floating around but it's hard to get the right varieties for specific uses, such as sleeping, pain, etc., so I don't bother too much with it.

ang1e0251 Contributor
ang1e0251
Posted

I cannot tolerate any narcotics. Make me vomit on the spot and that's morphine injection or demeral pills. I just tell them upfront do not give them to me. Fenergen also does that to me. Ironic that it's to calm your stomach but it makes me vomit over and over.

DH cannot handle narcotics either. With him, he just turns mean and abusively mouthy. He finally figured that the pills for his back were going to end our marriage and got off them, thank God.

Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted
Utterly unrelated to your question, may I recommend a bit o' hair of the dog to help you sleep? Alcohol's one of the best drugs out there for making you not care about pain. I'd also recommend a toke or two, but oh right, we haven't bothered to make it legal yet.

Very, very true! I guess it depends on the application but a glass of red wine with an Advil does wonders for pain in general! ;)

I think some people are just sensitive to certain narcotics and what may work well for some does not work well for others. I don't think being a Celiac has anything to do with it unless you are not healed and not absorbing the meds properly. It also depends on what type of pain a person will be in....bone pain vs. soft tissue pain. I think it boils down to trial and error.

ENF Enthusiast
ENF
Posted
  • Author

I do think that having celiac is causing some of us to have a problem with opiates, either all of them or certain types - there is a growing body of scientific studies that shows how similar gliadin is to opiates when it goes to the brain - not the opioid receptors, but ones that are very similar to them. I'm no scientist, but I'm sure that somebody who is qualified will eventually do some research on this. Possibly, the opioids are getting channeled to the wrong receptors, or setting something else off. We are wired differently than non-celiacs, and often there is neurological damage causing various other problems, other than gastrointestinal, for Celiacs.

An opioid is a chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. The receptors in these two organ systems mediate both the beneficial effects and the side effects of opioids.

(bold mine)

babysteps Contributor
babysteps
Posted

If I take anything with codeine, I can't keep food down.

So I use ibuprofin instead and get to eat!

Once in college when I went to the health center with a fever, they gave me tylenol. Which I threw up about 5 minutes later. The nurses said that they had never seen this, plopped me in a tepid bath instead (the pill didn't come out whole so they had to assume that I'd metabolized the drug). I think I do usually tolerate tylenol, but take it so rarely not sure I've got a strong basis for that statement...

Not sure if this is related to gluten or celiac in any way, but that's the way my body reacts.

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