Fun with allergies
"Do you have any drug allergies?" Asks the pharmacists.
"Not that I know of," I reply.
Well I do now! Ugh. So I had this nasty sinus infection last month and my primary care doctor put me on a course of steroids, antihistamines, and antibiotics to fight it off. With prescription in hand, I dutifully went to a local pharmacy to have it filled. At the counter, the technician goes through the usual series of questions.
"Name. Address. Phone number. Do you have insurance?" And then she pause while trying to make sense of the doctor's random scribbles. After a few moments, she looks up and asks, "Do you know what he's putting you on?"
"Antibiotics, a(n off brand generic) cortisone steroid, Nasonex, Claritan - which I can get over the counter, and some sort of motion sickness tablet to help control the vertigo." I answer.
When I come back to pick up the prescription, the pharmacist quickly goes over the drug regimen, stating vehemently that I must follow the antibiotic course in order to the prevent the growth and spread of drug resistant bacteria. Ok, fair enough. I program into my cell phone reminders every 8 hours that I must down the pills.
I'm on the drug course for a little over a week before I make it in to see an ENT (ear nose throat specialist) to check out why I was having (positional) vertigo. Things check out ok as the sinus infection is receding and other cold type symptoms have subsided. To check out the extent of "damage" that is causing my positional vertigo, I'm then scheduled for a balance and audio test. Oh, and in order to get good data, he tells me to stop taking all drugs until the exam.
OK Doc, I'll follow my orders.
The next morning, I wake up and absently start scratching my shoulder. In the afternoon, the itch starts in the back and neck. Dry skin, I think to myself and do my best to ignore it. On the third day, I start to notice a pattern in the itchy areas. Boy, this is beginning to look like an allergic reaction, but to what?
The last (and only) time I've ever had an allergic reaction was nearly 7 years ago when some joker added a ton of laundry detergent into the coin op I was using. Not knowing that my clothes were impregnated with high concentrations of this stuff, I broke out with contact dermatitis practically immediately after putting on the supposed "clean set of clothes." Boy, that was a very unpleasant experience. Anyhow, the walk in clinic gave me benedryl to counter the itching and symptoms quickly subsided after I rewashed my clothes.
Thinking that the same thing was happening, I decided to play it safe and swapped out all my soaps and detergents with the "clear and free" type. I rewashed all my clothes, linen, and thought I'd be good to go after 2 days or so. Nothing could have been more wrong.
So it's now day 7 after I came off the drug course and 3 days after the hypoallergenic change with my personal hygiene and this rash won't go away. If anything, it's spreading. I have no fever or any other signs and symptoms that this is anything but an allergic reaction. After doing a little reading online, I surmised that the claritan that I was taking and the other anti-inflammatory steroids were simply masking the drug allergy. I called up some of my doctor friends and they all said that this could be possible. Pursuing that line of thought, I decided to swing by my local pharmacist to have someone validate my theory with someone who specializes in drugs and their effects. She agreed. I then asked how long the allergic reaction would last. The pharmacist responded by saying, "as long as the drugs remain in your system. For amoxicillin, that could be a couple weeks."
A couple weeks! DOAH!
She recommended that I take some antihistamines to make my life easier, but as those would influence my upcoming balance test, she said, "Sorry, you're out of luck. You're going to have to tough it out. Maybe trying an Aveeno bath for the symptoms."
Hahaha.
So I took a dip in an oatmeal bath last night, the first since my last allergic reaction. Well, it helped a bit... all of maybe half an hour.
Basically, at that point I decided that this just isn't worth it. I'll call up my ENT doc and delay my balance test for a week and popped some Benedryl.
There are things that I can tough out. A full body allergic reaction ain't one of them.
"Not that I know of," I reply.
Well I do now! Ugh. So I had this nasty sinus infection last month and my primary care doctor put me on a course of steroids, antihistamines, and antibiotics to fight it off. With prescription in hand, I dutifully went to a local pharmacy to have it filled. At the counter, the technician goes through the usual series of questions.
"Name. Address. Phone number. Do you have insurance?" And then she pause while trying to make sense of the doctor's random scribbles. After a few moments, she looks up and asks, "Do you know what he's putting you on?"
"Antibiotics, a(n off brand generic) cortisone steroid, Nasonex, Claritan - which I can get over the counter, and some sort of motion sickness tablet to help control the vertigo." I answer.
When I come back to pick up the prescription, the pharmacist quickly goes over the drug regimen, stating vehemently that I must follow the antibiotic course in order to the prevent the growth and spread of drug resistant bacteria. Ok, fair enough. I program into my cell phone reminders every 8 hours that I must down the pills.
I'm on the drug course for a little over a week before I make it in to see an ENT (ear nose throat specialist) to check out why I was having (positional) vertigo. Things check out ok as the sinus infection is receding and other cold type symptoms have subsided. To check out the extent of "damage" that is causing my positional vertigo, I'm then scheduled for a balance and audio test. Oh, and in order to get good data, he tells me to stop taking all drugs until the exam.
OK Doc, I'll follow my orders.
The next morning, I wake up and absently start scratching my shoulder. In the afternoon, the itch starts in the back and neck. Dry skin, I think to myself and do my best to ignore it. On the third day, I start to notice a pattern in the itchy areas. Boy, this is beginning to look like an allergic reaction, but to what?
The last (and only) time I've ever had an allergic reaction was nearly 7 years ago when some joker added a ton of laundry detergent into the coin op I was using. Not knowing that my clothes were impregnated with high concentrations of this stuff, I broke out with contact dermatitis practically immediately after putting on the supposed "clean set of clothes." Boy, that was a very unpleasant experience. Anyhow, the walk in clinic gave me benedryl to counter the itching and symptoms quickly subsided after I rewashed my clothes.
Thinking that the same thing was happening, I decided to play it safe and swapped out all my soaps and detergents with the "clear and free" type. I rewashed all my clothes, linen, and thought I'd be good to go after 2 days or so. Nothing could have been more wrong.
So it's now day 7 after I came off the drug course and 3 days after the hypoallergenic change with my personal hygiene and this rash won't go away. If anything, it's spreading. I have no fever or any other signs and symptoms that this is anything but an allergic reaction. After doing a little reading online, I surmised that the claritan that I was taking and the other anti-inflammatory steroids were simply masking the drug allergy. I called up some of my doctor friends and they all said that this could be possible. Pursuing that line of thought, I decided to swing by my local pharmacist to have someone validate my theory with someone who specializes in drugs and their effects. She agreed. I then asked how long the allergic reaction would last. The pharmacist responded by saying, "as long as the drugs remain in your system. For amoxicillin, that could be a couple weeks."
A couple weeks! DOAH!
She recommended that I take some antihistamines to make my life easier, but as those would influence my upcoming balance test, she said, "Sorry, you're out of luck. You're going to have to tough it out. Maybe trying an Aveeno bath for the symptoms."
Hahaha.
So I took a dip in an oatmeal bath last night, the first since my last allergic reaction. Well, it helped a bit... all of maybe half an hour.
Basically, at that point I decided that this just isn't worth it. I'll call up my ENT doc and delay my balance test for a week and popped some Benedryl.
There are things that I can tough out. A full body allergic reaction ain't one of them.