Apologies to all for my blogging absence the past two weeks. I have been away in Ireland, enjoying family, delicious gluten free food and researching gluten free food providers. However, all that is for another blog entry as I do want to talk about the Raleigh Celiac Society meeting I mentioned in my last blog. I think I will be writing a couple of blogs this week to catch up.
As I had mentioned, Daniel and I were attending the celiac society meeting as they were having a pharmacist and a nutritionist in to speak.
The first speaker was the pharmacist who freely admitted that until she was asked to speak about gluten free drugs, she hadn't really considered how drugs would impact gluten intolerant patients.
Her main advice was to look up your drugs on a list that is available on the internet at www.glutenfreedrugs.com/Glutenlist.htm and if they are not there, you need to call the drug company and confirm that they are gluten free.
The ingredients that you read on the side of the packet do not consist of ALL the ingredients in the medicine. Sometimes there are fillers and things to help the active drug work that are not on the ingredient list. The drug company will be able to look up all the ingredients for the drug and confirm that it is gluten free.
A problem can arise when generic drugs are used, but if you cannot confirm that your drugs are gluten free, the pharmacist recommended that you ask your doctor to prescribe the brand name drug that you know is gluten free and to send a letter to your insurance stating that you must have the brand name drug due to your specific health issues. Many of the people at the meeting did not know you could do that and were very relieved with the information.
Luckily, at this moment, I do not have any prescription issues but many celiacs have to think about this every time they go to a doctor. It is always good to go to a doctor armed with information so you can get the medical care that you need.
Come back tomorrow for the nutritionist info.
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