Gluten-Free Drugs

Gluten-Free is not simply about the foods that we eat. You need to ensure any medication that your child takes, both prescription and over the counter, are free from gluten containing ingredients.

Share this Article

One way to determine a medication’s gluten-free status is to call the manufacturer. You can also ask the pharmacist for the medicine insert from the manufacturer which lists the ingredients in a medication.

Another way to find out if your medication is gluten free is with DailyMed on the NIH website. This site works for both prescription and over the counter medications.

The link below will take you to the DailyMed home page. Use the search bar to locate your medication. If you type in a word like Tylenol you will then need to use the search results to find the specific Tylenol you are using. Is it regular strength or children’s? Is it a pill or liquid? Once you have the page for your specific medication you are able to check the ingredients, both active and inactive. The site does not specifically tell you if the medication contains gluten. However, the source of the starch is included in the ingredient list.

If your doctor or insurance plan prefers generic drugs to name brand drugs, you will need find the manufacturer’s name for the generic drug. Your search will need to check the medication from that generic manufacturer. If a medication contains gluten it is most often in the inactive ingredients and those ingredients are not necessarily the same in brand name drugs and their generic counterparts.

Go to DailyMed