gluten & corn free medications

[windsurfer]

What are some of the typical medications used before/during/after surgery? Same question for food in hospital.

I have celiac disease, an auto-immune disease where your immune system attacks your intestines when exposed to gluten and sets off an inflammation process. Gluten is in wheat, rye and barley. I also have a corn intolerance. Most medications and processed food use fillers that involve grains so I've learned to checked on all before I use them. It can be difficult recovering from an attack when healthy - let alone an AVR.

Celiac is a malabsorbtion disease so hard to absorb vitamins such as calcium therefore get osteoporosis, vitamin K so can get excessive bleeding, B vitamins leading neuological problems and so forth. Because of the consequences I'm extra careful and double check everything.

Bobco

 

[perrybucsdad]

Not sure about what's in the meds, but the food was less than desirable. I remember some homeless dude across the hall throwing the food at the wall because it was so bad. I also remember my wife saying, "the food isn't even fit for a homeless person."

You might want to ask to speak with the food services person to see if they can accomodate your dietary requirements. If not, talk with your doc and see if they will permit someone to bring food in for you. I know my doc allowed my wife to sneak food in for me because I wouldn't eat the crud the hospital had. The worst was the Grey Beef stew. It was aweful looking and looked like something my dog would have yaked up on the kitchen floor after chowing down on some kitty litter.

- John

 

[char2mar]

What are some of the typical medications used before/during/after surgery? Same question for food in hospital.

I have celiac disease, an auto-immune disease where your immune system attacks your intestines when exposed to gluten and sets off an inflammation process. Gluten is in wheat, rye and barley. I also have a corn intolerance. Most medications and processed food use fillers that involve grains so I've learned to checked on all before I use them. It can be difficult recovering from an attack when healthy - let alone an AVR.

Celiac is a malabsorbtion disease so hard to absorb vitamins such as calcium therefore get osteoporosis, vitamin K so can get excessive bleeding, B vitamins leading neuological problems and so forth. Because of the consequences I'm extra careful and double check everything.

Bobco

Hi Bobco:

My daughter has celiac disease and when ever she has been hospitalized they have been pretty good at giving her gluten free food and drugs. The only problem she faced was that the food sucked. She doesn't like gluten free breads of bakery items so she stuck to meat, rice and potatoes. The food was very bland, and more often than not she passed on dinner. I had to bring food in for her. Her mainstay was apples. I'm sure the hospital you are in will have a dietician and your meals will be totally gluten free and so will your meds. When you are admitted make sure you tell them that you are a celiac. Good luck!

Char

 

[windsurfer]

drugs more difficult

drugs more difficult

Thank you Char. It is good to hear that hospitals were able to avoid gluten in your daughters food but drugs may be more difficult. I've read on the celiac list yesterday (has thousands of members worldwide) (http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0506d&L=celiac&F=&S=&P=7060) that some could not find gluten free aspirin and so I expect corn-free will be even more difficult. Some have resorted to getting custom-made calcium supplements/vitamins. For example, Merck will not tell consumers whether their Fosamax is corn free - have to go through your doctor/pharmicist and they don't know either. So this takes preparation time, thus my interest in planning ahead.

Since I hope to get a tissue valve, I expect I'll need some aspirin. So I'm starting my search for buffered gluten free and corn free aspirin. I've heard that Walgreens may have some gluten free but not sure yet if corn free. I've heard that Bayer will not guarantee that their product is gluten free. Still searching - and that is just for the most common drug with the most competition and choice - imagine that repeated for more niche medications needed for AVR and recovery.

Thank you,

Bobco

 

[perrybucsdad]

Bobco,

If that's the case with Aspirin, they may put you on a low dose of Coumadin (although I don't know if that's gluten free either).

- John

 

[Joel]

Celiac

Celiac

I know that coumadin is available in an injectible form. But, if you have a Vitamin K deficiency, is Coumadin even necessary? I'd be curious about what your doctor says about that.

 

[windsurfer]

no coumadin

no coumadin

Doctors don't think a mechanical valve is good when you have a malaborption disease since you cannot predict the portion of any medication that will be absorbed thus making it very difficult to manage coumadin. It is impossible to avoid gluten and corn and casein (milk protein) all the time since they are so pervasive. The consequences of such accidental ingestion is sometimes immediate and sometimes delayed for a few days so you may not know that an attack is underway and reduced to perhaps no absorption has begun. Thus the difficulty of managing critical dosage levels like coumadin. Better to find safe drugs. I was on calcium plus vit D for a year to stop osteopenia and only when it turned into osteoporosis did I discover that the calcium supplement had corn starch and I wasn't absorbing the needed calcium.

Bobco