<p>Please learn from what happened to me yesterday:</p>
<p>I am having a tooth extracted on Tuesday. It was root-canaled ten years ago, but the endo never did get all the nasty stuff out of one tiny root, so I’m getting rid of it and might eventually have it bridged. It was bothering me when I ate, so I thought I should kill off the little bit of infection before the extraction to keep it from spreading during the procedure.</p>
<p>The dentist had given me a script for Kefflex (cephalexin), WHICH I HAD TAKEN AT LEAST A HALF DOZEN TIMES BEF0RE WITHOUT INCIDENT.</p>
<p>I came home yesterday afternoon and sat down to pay bills after taking the first pill. An hour later my head started to itch terribly. After a while I started to suspect the antibiotic and took a Benadryl. I went back to the bills, but within twenty minutes, my entire body was covered in a bright red, itchy rash, and I was having trouble breathing. I was there alone and without a car.</p>
<p>I am so cheap you wouldn’t believe it, but I called an ambulance. It turns out to be a good thing I did, too, because my blood pressure (normally around 130/85 these days from all the migraine meds I take) was around 74 over 58 by the time the first responders got here. I was in anaphylactic shock and they said I may well have died had I not called.</p>
<p>The EMTs and ER gave me a several drugs and I’m continuing with a variety of pills for a few days. The point is this: DON’T ever take the FIRST dose of an antibiotic when you are alone (and tell your college students not to, either), even if you’ve take it before. Take reactions seriously, please.</p>
<p>I intend to get a epipen to carry with me from now on in case something like this ever happens again.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, Ctymomteacher! What a horribly frightening experience! I am so glad you were able to think clearly enough to call an ambulance and that you got there quickly! </p>
<p>Hope the next several days will be okay, and that you have no more problems.</p>
<p>did the doctors tell you anything about why this might have happened? How typical is it to have an allergic reaction to a drug you’ve taken many times before?</p>
<p>Based on what I learned from internet research after I returned home, it’s after taking a drug more than once that such a reaction is more likely to occur. Sensitization from past use is what happens in a case like this. Of course, I have no medical expertise whatsoever. I just posted in the hopes that someone might be spared my eperience someday.</p>
<p>Great post, ctymomteacher. Thank you for the warning. So glad you called EMT. I think it is when we are in these crisis situations that we often do NOT think clearly enough to call the ambulance. So glad you did. See you soon in NOLA?</p>
<p>He’s fine - open-minded re change of major vs. transfer for change of school. His mom? She’s a little more “challenged” by it all. Nose to the grindstone on transfer apps starting Tuesday…</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up ctymomteacher! Grateful you realized you needed that ambulance in time. Heavens.
And Jmmom, I don’t blame you one bit for being reluctant to start on the application merry go round again…at times like this I try to take note of how my son is actually “handling it better than I am” and you are lucky that your son has shown wonderful resilience, friendship capacity and ability to cope. I take my hat off to him and to his compadres who scattered to the winds for their freshman first semesters. We look forward to hearing about his engineering coursework paths and options as you wade through this. The Best in 2006!</p>
<p>As a physician, I must say that the BIG take-home point here is don’t just take Benadryl if you think you are having an allergic reaction and stay at home. It may just delay a full-blown anaphylactic reaction until later. If you have an allergic reaction, immediately get to an emergency room. If it is systemic, e.g., trouble breathing, widespread hives, etc, call 911. There is no time to wait. It could cost a life.</p>
<p>Thank you for sharing, ctymomteacher, and I hope you are feeling much better soon! Several years ago, I left a doctor’s appointment with several packets of antibiotics he wanted me to try. It was nearly time to pick up my DD (4th grade at the time) from school, so instead of going home across town and then right back to school, I arrived at her school ~30 minutes prior to pick up. I sat in the car and read a book. I decided to go ahead and get started on the antibiotics and washed one down with some water. By the time we were almost home, DD asked if I had been to lunch with friends that day … she told me I was talking funny and driving funny. I didn’t even realize that . I pulled in to the driveway, opened my door and fell getting out of the car, fell two more times before I got in to the house and fell again once I was in. I was having palpitations and felt sick to my stomach. My head ached terribly and my ears felt like they were going to explode. I called the doctor who told me to throw away those meds and never take that family of antibiotics again.</p>
<p>Always be sure and let any doctor and pharmacy you use note your allergies. One of my doctors recently missed the notation on my chart and wrote me a prescription for another Quinolone (Levaquin) as well as several other medications to treat bronchitis and pneumonia. Luckily I realized it before I left the parking lot and the doctor rewrote the prescription.</p>
<p>I’m glad you’re all right - its definitely best to call 911 when in doubt about these things. Something that might seem minor could become life-threatening very quickly (esp. cases like this with anaphylaxis)
I doubt you’ll be able to get a script for an epi-pen for something like this, but at least now you know to stay away from that family of anti-biotics. Epinephrine is one of those drugs where I am always amazed at the immediate change it effects in patients. Same with D50 (basically sugar in IV form), adenosine, etc.</p>
<p>Why would I not be able to get an epi for this? My GP knows we’ll be living as nomads soon, and he knows we are both careful and like to stay as informed and independent as possible. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t want us to have one around.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post. I remember my Mother was in the hospital for oral surgery and she had a cold, but the oral surgeon said she would be fine, so they gave her meds for that, meds for the surgery, etc. I came home from college, and when she got home, she had little red dots all over her body, like measles, but no other symptoms. I called her GP, and he made a house call (those were the days!). He took her off all her meds, and said, “What did they do to you in the hospital?” He also told her to stay away from any chemicals for six months - no soap, detergents, etc. I had to call the GP’s office every hour with an update on her condition. Those little red dots were her pores closing up - he was afraid her chest skin might break open with breathing. Thank God the worst did not occur - we caught it early. Poor mom - having to wash with only water - no deodorant. Apparently the nurse in the hospital made some comment about her getting an awful lot of drugs. But those were the days when you didn’t question the doctor. Medicine has come a long way - epi pens, etc. Good luck and stay away from those meds!!!</p>
<p>OMG, what a frightening experience! I am so very glad that you decided to make the call for an ambulance when you did! </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing this scary experience with us so that we will know what to do if we find ourselves in a similar situation. I have never had any allergies in the past, but lately, I’ve found myself having mild allergic reactions to various things. When I fractured my wrist (in FIVE places) 2.5 years ago, the morphine they gave me in the ER made me itch like CRAZY! I’d better be careful with that one in the future!</p>
<p>At any rate, I am so glad that you are on the mend. Hope the tooth extraction goes smoothly on Tuesday. {{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}} to you!</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind thoughts. I’m fine now–just a little goofy from the continued pills they have me on for a few days. No one around here seems to notice any difference–heh!</p>
<p>Berurah, one of the reasons I posted was that I, too, have never had an allergic response to any med before, including this one. That may be why I didn’t take it seriously enough fast enough. I just want to try to help it not happen to someone else.</p>
<p>BYW, I had the same problem with a tooth. My dentist said a regular (is there such a thing?) endodontist wouldn’t do and sent me to an extra specialist endodontist - prof at the TX Med Center Dental School - he said there was a chance to save the tooth and redo the root canal - no guarantees - it would be tricky. He did it, and I have had no problems for many years, now! But no other endodontist would touch it! Good luck with the dental work. Hope it goes well.</p>
<p>Thanks. I had that choice also, but I decided to forgo it. It would cost another $1200 or so, the amount I already have in the tooth, and as you say, there’s only a chance it might work. If it doesn’t, I’m where I am now. This way, for $150, it’s out and for another $2100, I can have it bridged. I want the sure thing after messing around with this silly thing for twelve years. After all, there’s a pretty good chance that the several courses of cephalexin for this same tooth over all that time were what put me into shock the other day by sensitizing me to the stuff to begin with. I want it out of my head now!</p>
<p>All the same, I hope you end up in good shape with your different choice.</p>