Advice on allergies...

[Jonny_Darko]

One thing I've always been quite lucky with is that I've never been allergic to anything. Well, until now.

I spent three days last week in hospital with Salmonella...but that wasn't the worst that happened. The first day I was there, I was given some paracetomol and Antiobiotics, and two minutes later I had a severe allergic reaction / anaphalactic (sp?) shock.

My face swelled up, my nose blocked, my ears and throat were in horrendous pain, and I felt like my chest and back had had petrol poured over them and been set alight. If a sexy lady doctor wasn't holding my hand and asking me to calm down I would have been crying my eyes out and I don't tend to be sensitive to pain! I also went blind for about an hour

It wasn't very nice, and I would have died if they hadn't hurriedly given me a huge dose of antihystemines in the backside. Took me a full 24 hours to go down to my usual size and get my vision clear again.

I'd imagine what happened is pretty similar to a shock that someone would get if they were allergic to nuts or bee stings.

Anyway, what's most terrifying is that I have no idea what caused it and neither do the doctors. The next day they gave me the same pills again and stood at the ready, (which was quite nerve-wracking) but nothing happened - they said it had happened far too soon for it to have been the pills...

So basically, I'm now living in fear that there is something out there that could kill me in a couple of minutes, but I don't know what the heck I'm supposed to be avoiding. And the doctor said next time it'll probably be worse because my body has been sensitised to it...

The only other thing that had passed my lips in the last hour was a couple of glasses of Robinsons No Added Sugar Orange flavoured Fruit & Barley. I haven't had that in probably a couple of years, but I've definitely had it before, and many times, and never had a reaction.

Does anyone know anyone else who is allergic to that? And if so what ingredient in it is likely to be setting it off? (I'm now scared to touch any squash drinks!). And does anyone know how I go about getting allergy testing done and what's involved? The doctors didn't seem to know what to suggest.

 

[Munkey-]

I'm allergic to pennacillin (sp) and i'm sure i had that reaction to it when i took it. Dont quote me on that, i only rely on my second hand knowledge of it all

 

[Xtro 2.0]

Same here - allergic to penicillin and despite being told this doctors have nearly killed me twice with it.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

If it's the sugar free shit, it is gonna have more E numbers in it then are worth counting. Not good

I am severely allergic to Aspirin, it causes my blood vessels to rise to the surface under my skin and then burst. Causing severe blood loss and i look very very red/purple.

And also like Xtro i have been almost killed once by doctors thinking im making it up. That was till i feinted in a bloody red heap.

 

[GDW]

The only advice I would have with something as serious as that is
....join BUPA and go private.

 

[~Mobius~]

I am allergic to some sort of antibiotic....apparently its not very common though.

Sounds like you went through alot of crap, at least your alright now though.

 

[Bym]

Anaphylaxis can be caused by such a massive variety of things, it could be anything that caused it that day. There is also a 'version' of anaphylaxis that is not caused by anything in particular, and even exhaustive searches for causes show no cause.

Better to get yourself tested for allergies if you are worried though, go private if your doc won't take you seriously.

 

[leggy]

Jonny.

I assume they gave you an epipen or however you spell it

Basically if this happens again you jam the bastard into your leg and it releases adrenaline into your system. This should stop the onset of shock.

If they didn't I advise you to get one immediately. This happened to my friends mum just before she went on holiday. I think she would have cancelled if they hadnt given her the pen.

 

[Jonaldo]

Originally posted by Xtro 2.0
Same here - allergic to penicillin and despite being told this doctors have nearly killed me twice with it.

Maybe 3rd time lucky then eh?

But in all seriousness a kid at my school found he was allergic to bee stings when he put his hand on one as he sat down in the school field one day

He still kinda lives in fear of anything buzzing in the summer as it could potentially kill him if he got stung and couldn't get treatment rapidly.

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Originally posted by leggy


I assume they gave you an epipen or however you spell it

Nope. But I shall make enquiries.

 

[throdgrain]

Any more of these open yer heart threads an Ill kill ya meself

 

[throdgrain]

IM ONLY JOKING CARRY ON

 

[Mr.Monkey]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko

My face swelled up, my nose blocked, my ears and throat were in horrendous pain, and I felt like my chest and back had had petrol poured over them and been set alight. If a sexy lady doctor wasn't holding my hand and asking me to calm down I would have been crying my eyes out and I don't tend to be sensitive to pain! I also went blind for about an hour

Dr.Monkey says: Here is a classic example of the cooties.
You touched a girl, and contracted cooties. This is why school boys do not touch girls.
You should have learned your lesson laddo!


Girls ar ebad, M'kay?

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Staying clear of girls is something JD seems good at

 

[dysfunction]

Originally posted by throdgrain
IM ONLY JOKING CARRY ON

So you are not going to kill yourself?

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Originally posted by Deadmanwalking
Staying clear of girls is something JD seems good at

Leave it! Anyway, that's not true. They stay clear of me.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

 

[mank]

I'm sure I heard of one of my Mum's friends having a variety of tests done to test any possible allergies and it turned up she was mildly allergic to dairy products. I might however be talking bollocks, which may not come as a surprise to most of you.

 

[SoWat]

I would have thought an allergic reaction of that severity would kick in pretty quickly after whatever caused it entered the body.

Did they give you both the paracetemol and the antibiotics the second time?

Or did they give you the wrong dose the first time? (suspicious old me!).

 

[Jonny_Darko]

Well they didn't give me the paracetemol again at all actually. But there seemed no need, because I told them I often take it. I can't be allergic to that...can I? I've not had it since...

Now I'm worried...

 

[SoWat]

I was thinking more of what the combination of both might have done to you (assuming they didn't OD you on antibiotics ).

 

[Damini]

Just because you haven't reacted to something before, doesn't mean that it's not the thing you're allergic to. Some reactions develop after years of exposure to these things. Shellfish allergies typically develop after time, and are triggered after eating large amounts of shellfish, so you could eat it several times then one time have a lobster blow out and POP, there goes the shock.

I nearly died after taking penicillen, and I'd taken it several times before.

I'd go back to your GP, explain how this has got you very much on edge, and ask him for advice.

 

[rynnor]

Originally posted by Damini
Just because you haven't reacted to something before, doesn't mean that it's not the thing you're allergic to. Some reactions develop after years of exposure to these things.

Damini's dead on there - allergies are a learned response - its very likely to be something you have been exposed to a lot and one day your body decides that it is now a deadly threat and kicks your auto-immune response into overdrive.

You can be skin tested for most allergies - its pretty obvious which things you are allergic to on these types of tests since the allergic patch swells and reddens within a minute or so - the degree of swelling/reddening indicates the strength of the allergy.

With such an extreme reaction its important that you isolate the cause.

 

[Cdr]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko
(I'm now scared to touch any squash drinks!).

heh, just an excuse to drink nothing but beer

 

[Jonny_Darko]

So it could actually be paracetemol?

I've had a lot of headaches in my life, and I've taken a lot more paracetemol than the average person probably has. Most medicines contain it in some form or another...

Ooo-er.

 

[mank]

Jonny, is your sig from Buffy? The episode where they all lose their memory?

 

[kameleon]

Survival of the fittest if you ask me

 

[Damini]

You know, it could even have been a reaction to the latex in the doctor's gloves, which has been known to cause anaphylactic shock in some people.

 

[Tom]

I sense a convergence of threads here:

A question about the female of the species:

Jonny asks why hes not good at approaching women

Advice on allergies:

Jonny holds a woman's hand and becomes seriously ill


Anyone?

 

[MYstIC G]

Originally posted by Jonny_Darko
Anyway, what's most terrifying is that I have no idea what caused it and neither do the doctors. The next day they gave me the same pills again and stood at the ready, (which was quite nerve-wracking) but nothing happened - they said it had happened far too soon for it to have been the pills...

That is outrageous on two levels, a) giving you a repeat dose of something you had that level of reaction too & b) "not knowing" what caused it, they're supposed to be knowledegable. If they'd done that to me I'd have been after there blood.