Gluten Free Drugs

Make sure your medications are gluten free.

There are no labeling requirements in medications. Very few medications contain gluten, but some do contain gluten. The source of the ingredients in your medication has to be verified. Brand name medications and generic medications may have different inactive ingredients and could contain gluten.

Either brand name medications or generic medications are acceptable as long as the ingredients have been checked to ensure that they are gluten free. Ask your pharmacist to check what the ingredients are in your medications. The medications ingredients should be checked for gluten when it is refilled and if the drug company manufacturer changes. Doctors and and pharmacists are not always alert to the risks that gluten in medications poses to a person who has celiac disease.

Here is a flyer you can give to your pharmacist. http://www.ashp.org/s_ashp/docs/files/PS_Celiac_Flyer.pdf

You can also check out the website of the brand name of your medications for a list of ingredients. You could e-mail them or call them to find out if your medications contain gluten.

If the source of the following ingredients are not specified ask your pharmacist to call the manufacturer.

• Starch, Modified Starch
• Pregelatinzed Starch, Pregelatinized modified starch
• Dextrates, Dextrin
• Dextrimaltose, Carmel coloring

Drug companies use gluten to thicken medications and to make them taste better. Some over the counter and prescription medication labels use words like starch or flavor, it may contain gluten in them.

If a medication does have gluten in it you may ask your pharmacist or doctor to have them give you a medication that is gluten free.

Online Resources:
Celiac.com
Gluten Intolerance Group
Gluten Free Drugs
Gluten Free Medications
Gluten-Free Medicine List from the Wheaton IL, GF Support Group
Clan Thompson’s Celiac Site
Online Directory of Drug Manufacturers
Dietary Supplements Label Database
Gluten free Dietitian

For more information read this article.
How to protect yourself from Hidden Gluten in Medications

After you are done checking out these resources be sure and come back here for more gluten free and healthy living information.