<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
I spent some time yesterday trying to come up with a safe over-the-counter
allergy medication and thought what I learned might be helpful for some of
you.
 
After the Advil info that has been shared on this list, I find that I no
longer trust what customer service people say.  I had another incident
yesterday which confirmed these suspicions.  I called Schering-Plough
Health Products and talked to a customer service person who assured me that
their 8-hour Chlor-Trimeton was gluten-free.  I decided to follow that call
up with a call to their medical department and after several attempts spoke
to Watson Brook (1-800-842-4090) at Schering-Plough regarding their
Chlor-Trimeton.  This was a very confusing conversation.  He began by
confirming that the product is gluten free and then added that one of the
ingredients--zein--is sometimes derived from gluten but insisted that when
their customer service people say the product is gluten free that this is
correct information.  He finally did agree that celiacs should probably not
use it, but continued to insist that the customer service reps were giving
out correct information!  Pretty unbelievable.  He did say, by the way,
that he is a pharmacist.
 
After that fiasco I decided to call the 900 pharmacy number and see if they
had any information on over-the-counter drugs.  They do not but the
pharmacist I spoke with was particularly helpful and when I asked what he'd
suggest a celiac do when allergy relief was needed, he suggested I purchase
liquid Benadryl without alcohol.  This seems a reasonable solution because
as he explained, there is no need for a binding agent in a liquid so it is
inherently gluten-free.  Does anyone see any problem with this suggestion?