Reactions to medications-UGH!

[DVS]

I'm one of those lucky people who have adverse reactions to medications. Those bad affects that are talked about in the PDR, the ones that they say are extreme and only happen in a small number of people? I'm in that category.

I'm taking a drug that has started causing a fever, overly tired feeling, a change in my urination, and I even passed out on the floor, about an hour ago. But, on a good note, I fell in an area that I didn't hit anything but the floor.

It was weird, because I didn't even know I was passing out. I woke up, and thought I was in my bed, but after looking around, I noticed I was on the floor. Talk about a strange feeling.

Well I've called my doctor and told them I won't be taking that drug, to see if my symptoms change for the better. Because of the problems, I've had to call off of work for tonight, too. I have to have my whits about me, and my mind would be on other things than the job...like thinking of where the next place I could go to the bathroom was.

So, what are some of your horror stories with drugs? Are you in the small percentage of people, like me, that seem to have those less than likely side affects? Do you drive our doctor insane, or does he just look at you like you're lying to him? Been there, done that!

 

[Shankara20]

and I even passed out on the floor, about an hour ago.

thankgod you are OK, my friend

Are you in the small percentage of people, like me, that seem to have those less than likely side affects?

No, I must be related to the lab rats they use for the last level just before human testing, so far I have not had any adverse reactions to drugs - knock on woody...

 

[nh23]

I do so so with meds. I'm just one of those lucky people that gets weird rare medical conditions. When I was pregnant with my two kids I had two separate medical conditions that happen to a very small percentage of people.

I've had my hep b vaccines three times and am still not immune. 1% of the population doesn't respond to them.

I'm currently facing a virus that 93% of women get and their bodies just cure it. Mine decided not to and to turn to pre-cancerous/cancerous cells.

I just posted I think I must have been a horrible person in a former life.

Hope you're feeling better!

 

[BiBunny]

I'm allergic to a couple of kinds of antibiotics. I don't go into anaphylactic shock or anything, though. I just get icky skin symptoms. Penicillin makes me break out into huge hives. Doxycyclin gives me a full body rash that itches so much, I have to gouge my skin until I bleed to get relief. Supposedly, it's kinda weird to be allergic to both of those at the same time, yet not allergic to anything else antibiotic-related. I can even take all the other penicillin-type drugs, like amoxicillin, but the regular old penicillin makes me break out. But then I have strange allergic reactions to things, period.

That's nothing compared to what happened to you, though. Wow. I'd have been really scared if that'd happened to me. I hope everything gets ok soon.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I did the anaphylactic shock thing in navy boot camp. Fortunately, they were smart enough to have each company stand at parade rest for an hour right outside the clinic where the shots were given, just in case anyone had a reaction. I did just fine for a few minutes, then within the space of a couple of seconds realized 1) I can't breathe, 2) I'm about to do a face-plant into the back of the guy in front of me, and 3) wow... I'm in a hospital bed with IVs and stuff growing out of me!

They said I had stopped breathing and my heart had stopped, but that the on-guard medic who was standing by essentially got to me before I stopped bouncing and was giving CPR immediately, along with a fast jab with either epinephrine or benadryl to stop the reaction. Either way, half an hour or so later, I was ready to get the hell out of that hospital bed, but they made me stay overnight

I'm very careful now to tell all my doctors, etc., that yes, I have a severe allergy to penicillin. I also get nasty rash-type reactions to egg- and horse-based sera, so I let 'em know about that, too, if they're planning to stick any needles in me.

Yeah, though - your decision to tell the doctor, "No, I'm not taking this shit any more. Mark it on my charts" was a good one.

 

[WriterDom]

Nothing that I know of. Pollen only bothered me for a couple of years but it went away again. Never had anything like poison ivy either.

 

[FurryFury]

I'm so glad you are okay!

*hugs and hugs*

I get opposite reactions, my daugther and mom get opposite reactions as well.

I remember when I had my girl. They gave me something to knock me out after the long labor but it didn't work. I was hyper, scared for my girl, that my ass hole husband who'd left me and wanted me to have an abortion, would try to come steal her or harm her.

My future husband spent the night with me but he had to go to work the next day. I just about talked his ear off, while writing thank you notes, and running down the hall to check the nursery for my baby.

Fortunately, my future husband didn't have any accidents at work the next day, the baby wasn't stolen or harmed and I eventually got some sleep. It may have been days or weeks or months but eventually, I got some sleep. LOL.

 

[graceanne]

-If there is ANY chance of a med making you drowsy or making you hyper it will make pass out. And if it's SUPPOSED to make you drowsy I will sleep for two to three times the time you're supposed to.

I'm one of the few people I know who gets sleepy on steroids.

-When I'm on prednisone, if I don't get enough rest I start seeing strange lights when I close my eyes. Like someone flipped on the lights and turned them off. It makes it really hard to sleep.

-Keflex makes me hurl.

-Barrium goes through me like a freight train.

-But the weirdest is how I react to IV's. For one thing they hurt me constantly. Supposedly they stop hurting once they're in - not for me. And I can't keep an IV for more than two days before that area swells up so bad that they have to take the IV out because the vein's collapsed. I have 'irritable veins'.

-Epiduerals don't work on me. My first cesarian they had to give me a local and then as soon as A was born they just put me to sleep. With B they couldn't get my legs numb, but my arms were good and numb. They finally just put me to sleep. With D I had to get a spinal tap, and that made me HURL.

-I'm allergic to the adhesive on bandaids and tape. I don't have problems with plastic allergies, but adhesive gives me a rash.

 

[Hisbeauty]

-Keflex makes me hurl.

With D I had to get a spinal tap, and that made me HURL.

There is nothing more embarrassing than being 34 years old, in the hospital with a very "hot" gallbladder, being administered Demoral through your IV, and having your poor mom hold a puke bucket for you to hurl into.

i wanted to sink through the floor and never return.

 

[graceanne]

There is nothing more embarrassing than being 34 years old, in the hospital with a very "hot" gallbladder, being administered Demoral through your IV, and having your poor mom hold a puke bucket for you to hurl into.

i wanted to sink through the floor and never return.

Actually, I can beat that.

I was 23. Sicker than a dog, getting a barium enema and have them ask you if the students can watch.

Granted, I had a blanket over me, but I was a text book case of crohns disease, and they wanted to show the students what it looks like when it's obvious so they can find it easier when it's not. lol

On the bright side, I can be totally naked from the waist down in front of the OB, the surgery staff, and the hernia doctor HURLING and not even blink an eye.

 

[DVS]

Well, I'm doing better. I still have a fever and am still weak, but I now know not to get up and walk without planning it, just in case. The urine thing still sucks, and I hope I don't need something to get rid of that. And on top of all this, I'm sure the doctor will say what I experienced was not because of the drug and that I should start taking it again.

Sorry, doc, but I need money to pay your fees. If I take this drug again and it repeats what it did this last 24 hours, I won't be able to work and I'm not going to be happy. I've been with this doctor for a long, long time, but he's never really seen me mad. That time might be coming soon.

Thank God you are OK, my friend.

No worries. I'm a tough old bird. I just whine for attention.

I'm currently facing a virus that 93% of women get and their bodies just cure it. Mine decided not to and to turn to pre-cancerous/cancerous cells.

Well, shit, that doesn't sound good.

Penicillin makes me break out into huge hives.

Oh, baby...been there, done that!

I did just fine for a few minutes, then within the space of a couple of seconds realized 1) I can't breathe, 2) I'm about to do a face-plant into the back of the guy in front of me, and 3) wow... I'm in a hospital bed with IVs and stuff growing out of me!

Now that would have been scary. Not being able to breathe? And I can't take benadryl, because it does just the opposite of what it's suppose to.

Nothing that I know of. Pollen only bothered me for a couple of years but it went away again. Never had anything like poison ivy either.

I've had allergies all of my life. My sister had them worse than me for a while, but her body has changed some, so they're not as bad. But because hers were worse, I'd say hers are about on the same level as mine, now. I take prescription meds for them, and sometimes two, when they get really bad.

On the Poison Ivy thing, watch out. As a kid, I could walk through the stuff and not be bothered by it. I did a lot of hiking as a kid, being in the Boy Scouts. But, when I moved into my present house in 1981, there was a mother load of Poison Ivy on a fence row, across the street from the back of my house. I tell you, there were Poison Ivy trees, it had been there so long. And of course, it was on city property, so they don't care about me.

But, that's where all of the Poison Ivy that's in my yard came from. And once it's got a hold, it's very difficult to get rid of. It's got roots like strawberries, and can travel a long way, before sprouting another plant. Just killing the part that grows above ground isn't going to do anything at all.

Anyway, since living in this house, I've had cases of Poison Ivy at least 4 times that were pretty violent, and a few times when I just brushed the plant and didn't get it too bad. But, it seems to me that once you get it, from then on, your body will react to it more nasty each time.

Usually, I have to wait until fall, to get the weeds in my fence row, because Poison Ivy gets a really bright orange and red, then. So, I can spot it...it's not green like everything else.

I was stupid and got it on my face once, and because I was sweating, it got into my eye. I had to get a Hydrocortisone shot and it made me all nervous and I couldn't sit still for nothing.

Since you haven't ever had it, you're lucky and I envy you.

I get opposite reactions, my daugther and mom get opposite reactions as well.

YES! YES! That's what I get with a lot of things, but there is no pattern, so I don't know until I take it.

I'm susceptible to panic attacks and my doctor was trying to find a medication that I could take that would calm those down. Several meds that are for mental disorders will also work for panic attacks.

He tried several things, like Buspar, which gave me heartburn, and seemed to mildly speed me up. I remember the first time I took it, I had to keep busy, so I cleaned my oven! But, he then gave me Paxil, and that shit was so nasty, my heart was racing 90 miles an hour, for about 12 hours. I even took some Xanax in an attempt to counter it, but that didn't seem to do any good.

So, I decided to try and get it out of my system, or wear myself out by running around a track. Yep, when you're alone and it's the middle of the night, you do some strange things. But, the running didn't do a damn bit of good. But I did make sure I told the doctor the next morning, NO MORE PAXIL!!! I ended up with Zoloft, which has no apparent side affects that I know of...at least in me. And now it has a generic! Woo Hoo!

I'm one of the few people I know who gets sleepy on steroids.
-When I'm on prednisone, if I don't get enough rest I start seeing strange lights when I close my eyes.
-Keflex makes me hurl.
-Barrium goes through me like a freight train.
-But the weirdest is how I react to IV's.
-Epiduerals don't work on me.
-I'm allergic to the adhesive on bandaids and tape.

Gracie, I always knew you were a little strange, but...wow.

i wanted to sink through the floor and never return.

I've never been in a hospital for any reason...so far. But, I really do cringe about the day it might come. I'll need someone there to make sure they don't give me something that will make my condition worse!

 

[graceanne]

Well, I'm doing better. I still have a fever and am still weak, but I now know not to get up and walk without planning it, just in case. The urine thing still sucks, and I hope I don't need something to get rid of that. And on top of all this, I'm sure the doctor will say what I exprienced was not because of the drug and that I should start taking it again.

I'm glad you're feeling better. *hugs*

Gracie, I always knew you were a little strange, but...wow.

*flutters lashes*

I blame my dad. He was doing acid when my mom got preggers with me.

But the stuff about poison ivy made me remember another one.

I'm REALLY allergic to poison oak.The last time I got it, my eyes swelled shut and it spread all over my body in about 24 hours. I had to go on steroids.

I also have really bad nasal allergies, but I wouldn't consider that something different. My mom jokes that if I was a superhero, my power would be my sonic sneeze.

 

[Cattypuss]

Effexor nearly killed me (and NOT from an overdose).

Nuff said.

 

[CurlyKat]

The only medication (or really, thing at all) that I know of that I'm allergic to is the active ingredient in a few muscle relaxers: methacarbamol. I don't think I've ever been so itchy in my whole life, not even when I was covered with mosquito bites. Skelaxin has it, so that one is definitely out, but Flexerol doesn't and is a wonderful drug all around (it makes me way calm and happy).

Metformin gives me all of the negative side effects, plus drops my blood sugar way too dangerously low, but apparently those side effects are pretty common all around.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I did just fine for a few minutes, then within the space of a couple of seconds realized 1) I can't breathe, 2) I'm about to do a face-plant into the back of the guy in front of me, and 3) wow... I'm in a hospital bed with IVs and stuff growing out of me!

Now that would have been scary. Not being able to breathe? And I can't take benadryl, because it does just the opposite of what it's suppose to.

As I remember it now, I wasn't actually very scared... more *interested* in what was happening - for the few seconds that I was still conscious.

 

[WriterDom]

I was cutting stakes for the garden and my brother goes "you know that's poison sumac?"

Gave me quite a scare but I just washed my hands and never had a problem.

 

[rebelslady09]

Allergic reactions....

gotta love em...NOT! My main one is Sulfa, anaphylatic shock with a less than one year old at home (single parent at the time) is not a good thing. That one ended me up in the hospital with respiratory difficulties, hives the size of dinner plates, puking, and blood pressure so low they were losing me. Also in my arsenal of can't takes: Penicillin, cephalosporins (Keflex), and IV morphine. The morphine makes it to where I can't urinate at all and itch like crazy.

 

[graceanne]

gotta love em...NOT! My main one is Sulfa, anaphylatic shock with a less than one year old at home (single parent at the time) is not a good thing. That one ended me up in the hospital with respiratory difficulties, hives the size of dinner plates, puking, and blood pressure so low they were losing me. Also in my arsenal of can't takes: Penicillin, cephalosporins (Keflex), and IV morphine. The morphine makes it to where I can't urinate at all and itch like crazy.

My big girl is allergic to penicillin and keflex, too. She gets HUGE hives. Woke up crying. I gave her benedryl and a bath and brought her to bed with me in case she started having trouble breathing in the middle of the night.

Heck, she was three the last time she had hives. She's ten, and she STILL remembers it.

 

[Netzach]

Prior to prednisone, I took everything, hunky dory, no issues.

Since then, and that's its own tale, I was


almost killed by low dose BC - a blood clot formed undetected in my superior mesenteric vein, and was only found because I had other issues that were being CT scanned. I'm one lucky fucker just to be around to bug everyone.


and I can't take antibiotics anymore without feeling like absolute ass.

I lived on them as a kid. I think it's the fact that you can't just get normal amox anymore, it has to be cipro or amox + colloidal silver and all this high power crap for the most minor of things.

 

[Keroin]

No extreme side effects. My insides are made of Kevlar or something. Oral contraceptives fuck me around a bit but I think most women would say the same thing. Progesterone, in a low dose, is the least fuckly of them so that's what I take for my endo. Other than feeling like a zombie, it's great!

I used to have some respiratory allergies/mild asthma but then I moved here and...gone. Hm, funny what getting away from a lot of shit in the air does for one's health.

Hope you're doing better DVS. Sounds like some scary shit.

 

[graceanne]

Prior to prednisone, I took everything, hunky dory, no issues.

Since then, and that's its own tale, I was


almost killed by low dose BC - a blood clot formed undetected in my superior mesenteric vein, and was only found because I had other issues that were being CT scanned. I'm one lucky fucker just to be around to bug everyone.


and I can't take antibiotics anymore without feeling like absolute ass.

I lived on them as a kid. I think it's the fact that you can't just get normal amox anymore, it has to be cipro or amox + colloidal silver and all this high power crap for the most minor of things.

The more often you take antibiotics the more likely you are to have an allergy. In other words, you can develop and allergy from over taking antibiotics. It's why my big girl is allergic to two of them. Until she was three she had chronic strep, chronic bronchitis, and chronic ear infections. She was always on antibiotic from 3 weeks of age (first ear infection). It surprised/surprises no one that she's allergic to so many different antibiotics.

I used to have some respiratory allergies/mild asthma but then I moved here and...gone. Hm, funny what getting away from a lot of shit in the air does for one's health.

My big girl is asthmatic, but normally it only bugs her if she's sick. Then we moved to these apartments that were in walking distance of the freeway, and suddenly she needed steroids and allergy meds, and fast relief inhaler, and a daily inhaler. Coincidence? I think not.

Then we moved here, and she's back to having no asthma problems.

I'd love to get out of the city and see what it does for her health. It's one of my long term goals.

 

[Miki647]

DVS, I hope you continue to feel better!

I have been in treatment for breast cancer for the last year. Right now I'm taking Tamoxifen, and it put me into a sort of early menopause, with all of the typical menopause symptoms, like hot flashes. I expected those. What I didn't expect was that it also makes me feel FREEZING cold at times! Here it is, July...Everyone is in shorts and tank tops, and I'm in a fleece sweater! But, anyway, this is a picnic compared to chemo! lol

 

[ecstaticsub]

I find this thread very interesting. In pharmacy school we are taught that every drug, including placebo will have side effects. The most frequent being NVD-nausea, vomiting and diarrhea (it became a joke when it came to test time that at least we would know some side effects to what every drug we were being tested on) We, of course, concentrated on the side effects that were most common and specific to that drug. We are also taught the theory behind drug allergies and cross-sensitivity.

Then there is reality. After 20 yrs in the profession trying to prevent or at least forsee interactions based on patient's history and knowledge of the drug has only gotten more complex. This is mostly because of more atypical drugs and people being on more than just a few at a time.

I have had arguments with MDs about side effects. In one case it was a drug that was started on myself. The medication had a slight chance of causing constipation. After 2 weeks my lower intestine stopped moving. Completely. No laxative or stool softner was going to help. My body was more responsive to this particular side effect than most other people. The Dr could not comprehend the seriousness of the situation and kept insisting that I just needed some Senna. It wasn't until I fully explained the chemical mechanism /structure activity relationship of what was going on that she changed my medication. That was the last time I saw her, I promptly switched doctors.

Which brings up pharmacogenomics. This is the explanation from Wiki:

Pharmacogenomics is the branch of pharmacology which deals with the influence of genetic variation on drug response in patients by correlating gene expression or single-nucleotide polymorphisms with a drug's efficacy or toxicity. By doing so, pharmacogenomics aims to develop rational means to optimise drug therapy, with respect to the patients' genotype, to ensure maximum efficacy with minimal adverse effects. Such approaches promise the advent of "personalized medicine"; in which drugs and drug combinations are optimized for each individual's unique genetic makeup.

I have gone to a number of lectures on the subjects and if i were 20 yrs younger and in a different point in my life I would try to get in on this research. It is already being done for some cancer treatments, blood clotting disorders and others which I can't think of right now.

For now I will just listen and pay attention to the unique effects that people report on their medication history.

 

[DVS]

I find this thread very interesting...

I have also found this thread to be very interesting. We are a world of individuals. I've been totally amazed that a drug can be made that will help with an ailment in 99% of humans, without fail. Although the posts here show the drugs don't always work as they should, I still think that's astounding.

But, I have my PDR and check it whenever I feel strange from a new medication. I hope I don't sound like a hypochondriac. I'm just one of the few that reacts differently with some drugs.

Thankfully, not everything I take is giving me problems. I'm taking something that the PDR says has a slim chance of giving me man breasts! So far, I'm OK. My pecs are still pecs.

 

[CurlyKat]

Which brings up pharmacogenomics. This is the explanation from Wiki:

Pharmacogenomics is the branch of pharmacology which deals with the influence of genetic variation on drug response in patients by correlating gene expression or single-nucleotide polymorphisms with a drug's efficacy or toxicity. By doing so, pharmacogenomics aims to develop rational means to optimise drug therapy, with respect to the patients' genotype, to ensure maximum efficacy with minimal adverse effects. Such approaches promise the advent of "personalized medicine"; in which drugs and drug combinations are optimized for each individual's unique genetic makeup.

I got so excited seeing this. It was one of those "oh, oh, pick me, pick me, I know this!" moments. It's so much fun when things from classes come rushing back at you.