Living Without magazine article

[patc73]

Hi, fellow PPs! In the new Feb/March 2012 issue of Living Without magazine, there's an interesting article about gluten in medicines and how to discover if a drug or supplement contains gluten. The author lists fillers that can contain gluten, including mannitol, xylitol, sorbitol, dextrin, dextrate, and starch (which can be one of several types, including wheat). I think the sorbitol may be the ingredient in toothpaste that's been giving me a rash for years, and it's nice to finally discover the probable cause. I read the labels on all my meds and vitamins, and to my horror, most of them contain starch. I think I'm poisoning myself by taking stuff I thought was helping!
The article also mentions that celiac disease is recognized as a legal disability by the ADA. Does anyone know if MC is also considered a legal disability?

[MBombardier]

Yes. There are several threads on the forum concerning this.

[tex]

Does anyone know if MC is also considered a legal disability?

Marliss is quite correct - all IBDs qualify under the American's With Disabilities Act.

Tex

[patc73]

Thanks! I'll search for those threads.

[Gabes-Apg]

Pat
i found that the celiac web sites have quite good links and information for gluten free medication.

I have found that the patient data sheet on the meds and information from the celiac website crucial, as alot of meds the ingredient information is on the pamphlet 'inside' the sealed medication! it is not part of the information on the packaging.
in some cases my pharmacist has had to print the technical information (only accessible by Doctors/Pharmacists) as this was the only way he could check for my toxic ingrediets (Gluten, Soy, Dairy)

I was told to avoid 'generic brands' of meds as these are the ones that are more likely to have gluten, dairy and soy in the inactive ingredients. and it is harder to confirm the inactive ingredients in the generic brand meds.

[Lesley]

Which celiac website do you go to Gabes?

And how are you doing?

[mbeezie]

Hi Pat,

I read that article as well and think it's slightly misleading regarding the sugar alcohols (sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol). These are derived from many sources, wheat being only one of them - the article makes it seem like these are always wheat derived. The problem is not that these items will contain gluten after processing, but rather the same problem we confront with anything in our food supply, which is contamination. Sugar alcohols are known irritants that can cause gas, bloating and diarrhea in everyone, not just those with gluten intolerance, so how would you really know if you were glutened??

I'm afraid until testing for gluten gets more rigorous and consistent in both food and drugs, we will have no clue where we are being contaminated. Anyone see the recent article about gluten free beer containing gluten???? Anyone eating lots of GF products that contain alternative grains is probably getting far more gluten than they realize. The amount in meds is probably minimal compared to that I would suspect. I am also guessing that the sugar alcohols are added to chewable and liquid forms of meds for palatability, so maybe children's meds are more at risk here.

Mary Beth

[Gabes-Apg]

Lesley:

http://celiac-disease.com/medications/

http://www.wheatfreeme.org/wheat-free-b ... label.html

The other thing if you know the med name, if you do a google search on the med name and the words "inactive ingredients"
it will generally bring the medication information sheet into the search results.

http://www.mydr.com.au/webroot/cmis/Out ... M04301.htm

I am ok Lesley, it is quite hot and humid here in Aus at the moment, which is something my body does not like. the main thing that gets me motivated to go to work is the air conditioning!