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Nervous About Medications At Hospital Being Gluten Free

zeta-lilly

By zeta-lilly
in Related Issues & Disorders

Recommended Posts

zeta-lilly Apprentice
zeta-lilly
Posted

I'm still in my first trimester, but I'm really nervous about when I deliver that the hospital won't be all that careful about the medications being gluten free.

I've had problems getting gluten free meds from my own home pharmacy and I can actually speak to them myself and call the companies myself. I'm nervous that having to go through a nurse to get my meds (who may or may not understand celiac) from a pharmacist I can't actually speak to and I have no idea where the pills came from except the nurse's assurance that it is in fact gluten free (which doesn't always mean much).

At my home pharmacy, I had one pharmacist actually say to me "But how much gluten could be in a tiny little pill?". Another time I had been getting sick and narrowed it down to my thyroid medicine. The mfr swore that all their products were gluten free. I talked to the pharmacist about the possibility of the pills getting contaminated in the pharmacy and he said that they come in contact with a common surface when they fill your prescription. He assured me that they wipe it down with alcohol from time to time to kill whatever's on it (apparently he thinks it kills allergens too...). Doctor's don't always seem to understand this either. An ER doc once said that she didn't think gluten could be in medications because it was all synthetic.

I'm nervous about all this. I'm a nurse too and I've encountered a lot of cluelessness when it comes to allergens and intolerances from the professionals I've worked with, so it's even more scary when I don't have the power to speak directly to the departments and organize it myself.

Has anyone else gone through this? Either during pregnancy or otherwise with a hospitalization? Who made sure your medications were gluten free? I'm just nervous that people won't take it seriously.

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kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

When you are a bit closer to delivery, ask your doc what will be prescribed. Then try to talk to the head pharmacist at the hospital and get brands so you can find out about them.

I would worry even more about the food. Make arrangements with your husband to bring you all of your food. If a highly educated Pharm can't figure out gluten-free don't expect an overworked $7.50 per hour worker to figure it out for your food.

zeta-lilly Apprentice
zeta-lilly
Posted
  • Author

When you are a bit closer to delivery, ask your doc what will be prescribed. Then try to talk to the head pharmacist at the hospital and get brands so you can find out about them.

I would worry even more about the food. Make arrangements with your husband to bring you all of your food. If a highly educated Pharm can't figure out gluten-free don't expect an overworked $7.50 per hour worker to figure it out for your food.

Yeah, I plan on having him bring me food. There's no way I trust their kitchen. I have a dedicated kitchen at my house, and there's no way they have one of those, so even if they're careful there will be some gluten off the shared pans.

I'm wondering how I can speak to the pharmacist at the hospital. I really haven't looked into it, like if you can just call the pharmacy there, if they will let you do that. I will definitely talk to my doctor about that.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

Yeah, I plan on having him bring me food. There's no way I trust their kitchen. I have a dedicated kitchen at my house, and there's no way they have one of those, so even if they're careful there will be some gluten off the shared pans.

I'm wondering how I can speak to the pharmacist at the hospital. I really haven't looked into it, like if you can just call the pharmacy there, if they will let you do that. I will definitely talk to my doctor about that.

You could probably call the pharmacy and get his email. Hopefully, your OB takes this seriously and will help you. There are not much, except a pain killer, she will likely have them give you. Many years ago when I had my boys, the OB floor had a fridge full of sealed snacks like pudding cups, jello, ice cream, juice, milk and fruit. Those would be fine unless you have other food issues.

Relax. The hormones tend to make you worry more than you need to. Your hub will be there to help.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

When I was in hospital recently I happened to have all my meds with me, having gone for an annual visit to my PCP. But they would not let me take any of them until they had been certified by the hospital pharmacist, which took forever. Perhaps you could arrange to have the pharmacist pre-certify them, and have them available? I dunno, this is sounding more and more like a messy idea as I type, but it was a problem for me. I needed gluten free potassium (that, I didn't have with me) and they couldn't find any :o , and I needed it right away so they could take out the IV line. I could not take my diazepam at night for sleep, but then again who can sleep in ICU???? :lol: I would talk to your doctor and see what he recommends.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

If you're just going into the hospital for delivery, you may not need any meds. If you opt for an epidural or end up needing an induction, those are IV meds that do not contain gluten. Talk to your OB about it, but you don't necessarily need any medication at all. (And that "you don't want an epidural? would you have surgery without anesthesia?" comparison is bullcrap. a completely illogical and biologically ignorant comparison. It's a great thing for those who determine they need it, but not everyone does.)

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I was referring to ongoing maintenance meds, not anything she would/might need for delivery.

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zeta-lilly Apprentice
zeta-lilly
Posted
  • Author

When I was in hospital recently I happened to have all my meds with me, having gone for an annual visit to my PCP. But they would not let me take any of them until they had been certified by the hospital pharmacist, which took forever. Perhaps you could arrange to have the pharmacist pre-certify them, and have them available? I dunno, this is sounding more and more like a messy idea as I type, but it was a problem for me. I needed gluten free potassium (that, I didn't have with me) and they couldn't find any :o , and I needed it right away so they could take out the IV line. I could not take my diazepam at night for sleep, but then again who can sleep in ICU???? :lol: I would talk to your doctor and see what he recommends.

Was the potassium in pill form or IV? It would surprise me if the IV potassium had gluten in it because I can't think of any reason why it would be there. That sounds frustrating, and is what I'm anticipating going through during my delivery. I've had a couple of ER visits since I went gluten free but no overnight stays and the ER only gave me IV meds, so I haven't had to deal with it yet.

I'm so crossing my fingers that it goes over well. Having worked in a hospital, I know just how these things go and having dealt with trying to get gluten free things in the past, I know how much people don't take them seriously sometimes or understand what gluten free means in the first place (like looking at an ingredient list and scanning for the word "gluten" lol).

zeta-lilly Apprentice
zeta-lilly
Posted
  • Author

If you're just going into the hospital for delivery, you may not need any meds. If you opt for an epidural or end up needing an induction, those are IV meds that do not contain gluten. Talk to your OB about it, but you don't necessarily need any medication at all. (And that "you don't want an epidural? would you have surgery without anesthesia?" comparison is bullcrap. a completely illogical and biologically ignorant comparison. It's a great thing for those who determine they need it, but not everyone does.)

Wouldn't that be nice? I would love to not need meds. I'm going to try for a v-bac, but it's entirely possible that I would need a second c-section (this is the second kid, first was pre diagnosis, and the complications that necessitated the c-section were caused by the celiac).

Hopefully all will go well, but I'm not going to bank on not needing meds. I'm probably going to get the list of standing orders that the physician prescribes beforehand and see if I can verify with the pharmacist that they're all gluten free.

Have you ever had a kid naturally? The c-section was the worst pain I've ever experienced and the contractions I had before I had it were very very painful, and the recovery was also very painful (you can't recover from a c-section without pain meds) so I'm definitely going to err on the safe side when it comes to pain meds. Of course I could always ask for IV pain meds following it, but they'll probably think I'm a junkie if I do that! We'll see how it goes. :-)

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

Wouldn't that be nice? I would love to not need meds. I'm going to try for a v-bac, but it's entirely possible that I would need a second c-section (this is the second kid, first was pre diagnosis, and the complications that necessitated the c-section were caused by the celiac).

Hopefully all will go well, but I'm not going to bank on not needing meds. I'm probably going to get the list of standing orders that the physician prescribes beforehand and see if I can verify with the pharmacist that they're all gluten free.

Have you ever had a kid naturally? The c-section was the worst pain I've ever experienced and the contractions I had before I had it were very very painful, and the recovery was also very painful (you can't recover from a c-section without pain meds) so I'm definitely going to err on the safe side when it comes to pain meds. Of course I could always ask for IV pain meds following it, but they'll probably think I'm a junkie if I do that! We'll see how it goes. :-)

I apologize for the presumption, and I hope you have a successful VBAC. I have had a baby naturally, and most everyone I've heard who had a c-section has noted that the recovery is rather unpleasant.

zeta-lilly Apprentice
zeta-lilly
Posted
  • Author

I apologize for the presumption, and I hope you have a successful VBAC. I have had a baby naturally, and most everyone I've heard who had a c-section has noted that the recovery is rather unpleasant.

The c-section was killer. I'd love to not have to go through that again (crosses fingers).

Adorable little one! :-)

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

Was the potassium in pill form or IV? It would surprise me if the IV potassium had gluten in it because I can't think of any reason why it would be there. That sounds frustrating, and is what I'm anticipating going through during my delivery. I've had a couple of ER visits since I went gluten free but no overnight stays and the ER only gave me IV meds, so I haven't had to deal with it yet.

I'm so crossing my fingers that it goes over well. Having worked in a hospital, I know just how these things go and having dealt with trying to get gluten free things in the past, I know how much people don't take them seriously sometimes or understand what gluten free means in the first place (like looking at an ingredient list and scanning for the word "gluten" lol).

No, no, they were giving me IV potassium which was fine, but they wanted to take the IV line out and start me on oral, and that was a problem. They had none in the hospital that they could ascertain as gluten free.

I'll be crossing my fingers for you too that all goes well, but I would try and get it sorted what you are going to take (if needed) before you go in because it seems like the hospital pharmacy inventory is not as complete as it could be :o

  • 2 weeks later...
SGWhiskers Collaborator
SGWhiskers
Posted

I think I posted this same question in my first trimester too. I was pretty nervous about everything and that seemed like something I could control. These guys told me to wait and my anxiety went down and I made a baby registry instead. Now I'm 30 weeks and at today's appointment, asked my doctor to provide me with a list of oral and topical meds she and the anesthesiologist were likely to order before and after the birth. I told her all injections and IV meds would be safe. I will contact nursing for a list of all topicals for me and the baby. My OB said that typically, everything is given by IV and that they use ice for episotomies and tears. For pain after the baby is born, she said most women use ibuprofin or tylenol which I can bring from home. She said some use vicoden or percocet, but that she didn't think I would be able to bring those from home. I figure I won't probably choose to use them unless I have a c-section. If I do, I figure I will be able to get access to similar IV meds while I work with the pharmacy and the manufacturer. I think I will also sneak my percocet into my hospital bag in case there is a huge problem. I'm going to be breast feeding, so I'm not inclined to use the opiates unless I absolutely need them.

I'm not really worried about the anesthesiologist at this point. I don't think there is much he can do that would likely have gluten.

aack! I just remembered labor inducing meds. Those could have gluten. I guess I'll be calling the doctor back.

I'll keep you posted about what I learn from nursing about the topicals for me and the baby.

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