Roxane Laboratories Does Not Tell If Things Are Gluten-free

[Beloved]

I was prescribed prednisone for my swollen knees, but have been unable to take my medication. This is because the two companies I have called do not verify the product to be gluten free, or know the ingredients.

The first company was Watson, they simply stated that they believed the main issues were with starch, and their starch was corn but they didn't know anything else.

Frustrated, I turned to the internet. I found two websites proclaiming Roxane Laboratory's Prednisone gluten-free. I called them and got a dead end message stating that they do not talk about their ingredients.

What?

So I emailed them. This was their response:

Roxane Laboratories Incorporated (RLI) does not provide information about the

composition of the ingredients used to manufacture our products.

Additionally, RLI does not provide details of the quantity or content of each

ingredient used to make our products. RLI products are approved by the FDA

and the approved ingredient information is available within the package

insert supplied with all products distributed and sold. Package inserts are

also available at www.roxane.com. We apologize for any inconvenience caused,

and we suggest that you consult with the prescribing physician to determine a

recommended course of action based upon this information.

Kind Regards,

Technical Product Information

Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane, Inc.

Tel: (800) 962-8364

Fax: (614) 308-3540

Wow gee, thanks so much guys. Not only did you not answer my question, you carbon copied the response from your phone message, so I am quite certain you didn't even read my question.

So please, do NOT believe everything you read on the gluten-free drug websites out there. If you don't check yourself, you won't know. I have spent all of my breaks today calling people to find out about my medications. While we're on the subject I would like to also share that:

As of today, Zyrtec has apparently changed their stance and are now saying they don't know what might be in their ingredients and aren't making any claims.

Nasonex has said pretty much the exact same thing.

So thanks guys, I've only been taking them for a year based on a phone call I made in January to you.

In addition, TriNessa has given me the same run around as the first Prednisone company(same company, Watson). I'm going with it's probably safe since I've been taking it for years, but I'm thinking about switching to Ortho Tri Cyclen (the brand name).

Ortho Tri Cyclen was willing to state that their ingredients do not contain gluten, but that they do not test and so will not confirm it as gluten free.

So basically I am stuck right now with swollen knees and thumbs and aching all over unable to take the medication prescribed to me.

The company Lannett told me that my Levothyroxine is gluten-free, so I may call them back and ask if they offer any of these missing medicines.

Claritin doesn't work great for me, but since both the allergy medicines I was using seem to have retreated into the no zone I'm going to have to make do.

At this point, I'm so tired, frustrated and upset, I might just give up and hope the whole random swelling knee thing goes away, since my doctor seems unable to prescribe anything safe for me to take.

T.T

[Dada2hapas]

At this point, I'm so tired, frustrated and upset, I might just give up and hope the whole random swelling knee thing goes away, since my doctor seems unable to prescribe anything safe for me to take.

T.T

I'm really sorry about that. That is unacceptable imho. The scientists and R&D folks responsible for formulating the products most certainly have this information. My opinion is that folks on the front end of pharmaceutical companies that interface with the public are not the ones knowledgable and are just given a script to read, based on company policy. This is wrong, denying celiacs this info.

It is a fact that these companies stand to lose profit when they acknowledge "celiac disease" may be the cause for so many symptoms for unsuspecting patients, who use various medications (that they mfr) to treat symptoms caused by undiagnosed celiac disease. IBS, Fibromyalgia, acid reflux, etc, etc...

I believe in free enterprise, but our health system is such a tangled mess, where the impetus for medical research, science, and R&D is largely fueled by money from the pharmaceutical industry. It is frustrating beyond words, being a "patient" with celiac.

So, to think of a positive solution... Keep trying. Try to see if you can speak with someone up the chain, or perhaps have your health care provider (who writes Rx's & is knowledgable with Celiac disease) call the pharmaceutical company directly. These companies will respond to pressure from prescribing physicians, once they're all educated on our condition. 2 cents.

Change will happen & is happening, but often it seems so slow. Keep your chin up, and best of luck to you Beloved!

[ravenwoodglass]

The first company was Watson, they simply stated that they believed the main issues were with starch, and their starch was corn but they didn't know anything else.

At this point, I'm so tired, frustrated and upset, I might just give up and hope the whole random swelling knee thing goes away, since my doctor seems unable to prescribe anything safe for me to take.

T.T

I would take the Watson brand. The filler, or starch, is what you are concerned with and in this case the company uses corn starch. Your pharmacist should be checking these items. They would be able to get the info and if they refuse to check switch pharmacies. The pharmacist can also contact the doctor and reccommend a safe substitute if the prescribed drug is not gluten free. I usually double check when I get the script home but the first line of defense for us is a good pharmacy.

We need to contact the FDA often, write them of your frustrations and also report adverse effects from medications that contain gluten. You can do that with this link so you may want to save it to your favorites-

Open Original Shared Link

Maybe someday if we get vocal enough they will wake up and stop using wheat based fillers in the meds in this country.

[lovegrov]

"Ortho Tri Cyclen was willing to state that their ingredients do not contain gluten, but that they do not test and so will not confirm it as gluten free."

I would take this without hesitation.

[Beloved]

Thanks guys, I have been checking over all of my medication because of the weird knee/thumb swelling issue (I have posted about in another thread).

I'm going to make an appointment with my GI, he seems concerned I might be getting gluten, although I don't think so. I already badgered my GP into retesting my Thyroid & my Celiac and both came back fine (when I was originally diagnosed with celiac I had a positive blood test with very high lvls of anti bodies).

I basically discovered all this while trying to find any possible source of gluten in my diet (I have been gluten-free since 2007, and generally when I get glutened it's pretty obvious to me).

[Beloved]

Update: found a Gluten Free Nasal spray!

I called Astelin today and they confirmed it's Gluten free. Hopefully it will work better than Claritin for me.