Officially being the proper age for my first colonoscopy, I “enjoyed” this procedure recently. To my surprise, it was easy, painless and simple. To my dismay, I was asked the morning of the procedure if I was allergic to peanut, egg or soy?! After I answered a short list of questions, I circled back around and asked why they needed to know about a potential food allergy. Clearly, things were not going to be put in my mouth and you know where my mind went! The medical staff explained that some anesthesia contains allergens and they need to confirm any food allergies. I can’t even begin to understand how a drug would contain these allergens, but I was grateful for the question and scared to death regarding my children and their life threatening food allergies.
What if they were in a car accident? How would emergency department staff know about their allergies before “putting them under”, I worried. After calming down, I thought about solutions. My big life lesson theme these days with my children is…find solutions! I keep harping on that life is about finding solutions.
disclaimer: I was not paid or asked to mention any of the companies listed below. I’m simply sharing items that I use in my life that I believe you might find interesting.
On that note, I brainstormed possible solutions to my new worry about allergens potentially found in medications:
- Wear a Medic Alert or medical ID bracelet that can be easily identified.
- Consider creating an Online profile in the Online Allergies – an online platform that stores allergy and medical information so that friends and family can have access to a patient’s health history during a medical emergency.
- Check out the article, “Potential Food Allergens in Medications”. Someone posted this important piece on Facebook and I lost track of the poster–so thank you who ever you are for sharing.
- Always share information regarding allergens with all medical personnel–even if the situation appears to not involve allergens–you just never know!
UPDATE this morning from Homa:
Caroline – did you know this petition to the white house ends this week? It is asking for more disclosures:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/direct-food-and-drug-administration-require-labeling-all-food-ingredients-prescription-medications/PqmdDtRK
My post about the petition:
http://ohmahdeehness.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/ingredient-disclosures-for-prescription-medications-or-a-worthy-cause/
The moral of my colonoscopy story is that allergens lurk in odd places and it is simply imperative that people managing life threatening allergies wear proper medical identification and to not be shy about their allergies. They should also remember to always tell their physician and attending medical staff of any life threatening allergies–even if it seems as if no allergens will be present.
I am happy to report that my tests results turned out quite well and I had nothing to fear. The thought of medical equipment taking a tour of my colon did not thrill me in the slightest, so I was happy when the procedure was over!
Have you found allergens in other medications? If so, please share below!!!
p.s. The top image of the medical professional is courtesy of stockimages via freedigitalphotos.net
One of the hardest things I find about managing both life threatening food allergies and asthma is talking to others. I hate to be the one that might be perceived as demanding, pushing or for asking too much. What I now know, fourteen years later, is that honest, clear information presented with kindness works!..
Caroline – did you know this petition to the white house ends this week? It is asking for more disclosures:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/direct-food-and-drug-administration-require-labeling-all-food-ingredients-prescription-medications/PqmdDtRK
My post about the petition:
http://ohmahdeehness.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/ingredient-disclosures-for-prescription-medications-or-a-worthy-cause/
Thank you Homa! I confuse to see so many petitions out there that sometimes I get lost in them. Thank you for sharing! I’m going to put your links into my blog post right now…
You’re the best! Thank you!
Thank you for having the back of our food allergy world!
My son wears an Alert ID tag on his shoe that states all the medicines he’s allergic to (penicillin, amoxicillin, etc.). He’s only six, my fear is if we were in a car accident or something he needs someone or something to tell people his allergies.
Michelle,
I forgot about the shoe ID’s. I think those are brilliant since if something happens, the patient is always laying down and the shoes are eventually removed! When my kids were in car seats, I used to take allergen alert labels on their car seats. I too was concerned about a car accident and not being able to say, don’t feed my kids anything! There was a point that my son could not drink many juices due to lemon and apple allergy.
List of drugs that contain eggs like rabies, vaccine and anasetic.
http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/eggscript.htm
List drugs and treatments that contain nuts
http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/peascript.htm
I was given inhaler that contained lactose/ milk protein!
Karen, Thank you for taking the time to add this links…is Avoiding Milk Protein your blog? It’s fabulous!
Thank you Avoiding Milk Protein is my website. My newest blog (that talks about hidden allergens) is http://chemurgy.blogspot.com
Believe it or not, soy is in a lot of allergy medicines. Take a look at my “Soy-Free NON-Foods List” to get the idea: http://naturalandfree.blogspot.com/p/soy-free-non-foods-list.html Soy is in at least ONE form of these products: Benadryl, Claritin 24 hour, Allegra and Zyrtec. Also, you should always ask your pharmacist about any prescription, especially if it is a liquid, chewable or fast melt. You have every right to see the ingredients label on the bottle, especially when it comes to an allergy.
As I’ve told anyone that will listen, there is always ONE of EVERY product, food and non, that contains soy, period. It can be a real nightmare, especially with the vagueness of some labels and the FDA guidelines which state that soybean oil and soy lecithin are “safe” for “most” people with soy allergies, so if a product contains only those, they can market their product as NOT containing soy. This is the same as companies marketing things as MSG-free because they didn’t put MSG in it, though it does contain things that make naturally occuring MSG. Not ok, but still done. That’s why you really have to dig for info, talk to the manufacturers and use ONLY trusted companies. Sad, but true.
Hope this helps. Also, I will be linking this article (with your name attached, of course) on my blog in a few places so that people are aware of this. Definitely a scary thing, but at least they asked ahead of time and not after the fact!!!
Julie, thanks for sharing and adding to the conversation. I was surprised to learn about about these allergy triggers. Bronwyn adds in some good points about latex–a very overlooked allergen.
I am grateful that at least the medical community has allergy-friendly alternatives in a lot of instances. I know not everyone can accommodate everyone at the same time, but I am glad that they are at least aware that they need alternatives and are working to fix some things in most cases. It is a shame that the FDA does not see allergens as the threat they truly are and allow for so much leeway when it comes to labeling. It is my hope that some day this will change.
On a separate note but somewhat related, there is a desire in me to establish a restaurant that is free of as many allergens as possible, though I know I could never cover them all. If I knew of one in existance, I’d do all I could to help it along. It is also my wish to see some doctor somewhere step up to the plate and offer as allergy-free as possible services. If I knew of such a thing, I’d do all I could to promote them and support them. There is a need…I just wish more people saw it that way.
Julie, When I win the lottery, we are going to open a restaurant! That is my fantasy!
Sounds awesome! I’d love to!
Sometimes a particular food allergy triggers medical professionals to be extra vigilant about the possibility of a previously unrecognized different allergy, such as latex.
http://latexallergyresources.org/cross-reactive-food
Propofol is a common anesthesia agent that should be avoided in people with certain food allergies too:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12639172
Bronwyn, Thanks for chiming in with these important links!
I have been reading so much lately about food allergens in medications. Unfortunately, most pharmacists are not educated in this area either. For those reasons, I have decided to start a blog dedicated to food allergies in the pharmacy. Please come visit at foodallergypharmacist.wordpress.com.
I am just starting this endeavor. So any questions and topic suggestions would be much appreciated.
Tiffany,
Thank you for sharing! I do have one question to start off with: temperatures–how long an an epinephrine auto-injector be above the temp before it losses efficacy? My concern is when my kids are outside playing and even though their back packs are in the shade, how is the heat effecting the injector.
This is definitely a huge questions most people have.
Epi-Pens, according to the manufacturer should be stored at room temp in general. However, they allow for “transient” spikes up to 104F as long as long do not exceed 24 hours. Wrapping the pen in a thermal protector is also suggested; as well as keeping it out of direct sun light. There is a Medscape article from 2004 that had been published in the Am J Health Syst Pharm 2004 titled “Stability of Advanced Life Supoort Drugs in the Field”. This article concluded that epinephrine can tolerate spikes up to 125F for a cumulative time of about 13 hours (13.25 to be exact) without degrading.
So, what this means for our everyday use is that carrying the epinephrine on our person, wrapped in a thermal, and out of direct sun light, the pen will be fine. When you and the kids get too hot (because we can’t tolerate extreme heat) and go inside, be sure to take the pen with you. The pens aren’t as fragile as we may first think, but we do need to take precautions.
Tiffany, Thank for your sharing your wisdom! I truly appreciate you joining our conversation with data that makes a difference. I can breath a touch easier this summer thanks to you!