Welcome to Gluten Free Drugs

A source of information for gluten free drugs

 

Some drug companies have been telling people that some of the drugs that they manufacture contain gluten.  When I investigated their claims it appears that the reason they are blatantly claiming that their drugs are contaminated is because they have used a sugar alcohol as an excipient. 

 

Sugar alcohols are not truly sugars or alcohols rather they are carbohydrates that provide a source of calories.  The sugar alcohols are naturally found in a number of fruits and vegetables and may be extracted from many sources including any starch, including wheat.  During the manufacturing process they are completely refined leaving behind no gluten proteins similar to making table sugar.  The mostly widely used sugar alcohols used in prescription drug manufacturing are mannitol and xylitol.   Both of the products are used either as sweeteners in liquid drug products or as bulking agents in the solid dosage forms.

 

The sugar alcohols are used in many diabetic products as well as in many health foods such as nutrition bars.  Any person who consumes one of the sugar alcohols in significant quantities can experience gastrointestinal disturbances and diarrhea which may mimic symptoms celiac patients may suffer after being exposed to gluten.

 

National celiac organizations such as the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America. consider mannitol to be safe for use in celiac patients.  Additionally, if you go to the Celiac.Com website dated 11/29/07 you will find a list of items safe for the celiac patient to consume.  On that list you will also find both mannitol and xylitol as well as the following sugar alcohols sorbitol, malitol, lactilol and isomalt.

 

What does this means for the celiac patient?  If you happen to contact a drug company for information and you are told that a drug contains gluten you really need to push them to tell you which excipient in that drug product is considered the source of the gluten contamination.  If it turns out to be one sugar alcohols you may wish to re-evaluate their response.  While it is always up to the celiac patient to determine whether a product is safe for them, the prevailing literature continues to suggest that these sugar alcohols are safe for use.

 

If you have any additional questions please contact me through the glutenfreedrugs.com website.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MEETINGS OF INTEREST

 

Celiac Sprue Association

33rd Annual CSA Conference

Oct 29-31, 2010

Oct 28th is the 5th Annual CSA Dietitian's Day

Kansas City, MO

Featuring:

Dr Alessio Fasano MD
Dr Patricia Duprey MD

Please click on the image below for more information

CSA Logo.gif (6467 bytes)

____________________________________________________________________________________

Northwest Gluten Free Summitt

November 5-6, 2010

Corvallis, OR

Featuring:

Dr Stephen Wangen

Rachel Carlyle-Gautier

Wendy Cohen

Sreve Plogsted

Please click on the image below for more information

NWGFS.jpg (91126 bytes)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________                                                                                        _

MEDICATIONS AND ADDITIONAL LINKS

For a list by therapeutic category

 

For a list by therpeutic catagory in printable PDF formatpdficon.gif (426 bytes)

 

For an alphabetical list

 

For an alphabetical list in printable PDF formatpdficon.gif (426 bytes)

 

Walgreens gluten free OTC drug listpdficon.gif (426 bytes)

 

Tylenol Products

 

Pfizer Drug Company Letter

 

Wheaton Gluten Free Support Group medication list pdficon.gif (426 bytes)

 

For a list that explains what some of the fillers are in drugs

 

Additional links of interest

Links to various local and national associations and support groups

 

Food links of interest

 

Updated 8/31/10

This website is authored and maintained by a clinical pharmacist as a public service, receiving no compensation whatsoever for providing this information.  Information for this website is obtained from a number of sources, including personal contact with the manufacturers and input from other individuals who contact manufacturers.  The information is continually updated as it is obtained.

This site is for informational purposes only.  Please note that a reasonable attempt is made to provide accurate information.  The webmaster is not responsible for any error contained within.  All persons should interpret the information with caution and should seek medical advice when necessary.

This website currently does not accept advertising.  If, in the future, advertising is accepted, it will be clearly distinguished from editorial content.

To contact the author and webmaster, please email me at: mailto:glutenfreedrugs@gmail.com

Please note: I am not able to check the email daily, so please be patient. I will attempt to address all questions as quickly as possible.

 

  getacro.gif (1953 bytes)