Drug Allergies

Any time you go to the doctors they always ask if you have any known drug allergies. My answer has always been 'no'. Unfortunately, that can no longer be my response.

I came down with mastitis (yes, for the third darn time!!) since nursing Levin and since I knew Levi was headed out of town soon I decided it was time to go in for a stronger treatment. This was by far the worst occurrence I've had and it struck full force in 3 hours flat. I went from being perfectly healthy and content to bawling my eyes out on the bathroom floor with the shakes. I cried for Levi to run grab the breast pump (at 5 in the morning) and emptied it out immediately. I don't know why I'm so prone to this god awful condition, but they say once you've had it once you're susceptible to getting it again. Oh joy.

Anyways, considering I was so weak that I couldn't even hold Levin, I rushed myself to an urgent care center for some treatment. It seemed like I knew more about the condition than the doc...firstly because I'm a women and he was a man, but secondly because I'm almost an expert at this point. I showed him that I had all of the classic symptoms (pain, redness, warmth, etc) and he agreed that I needed a prescription of antibiotics. All of the natural remedies I was doing at home helped, but I think they just masked the symptoms and let them return at a later date. I couldn't afford to get sick again while caring for the boys solo, so I agreed that this was definitely my best bet.

Doc came back in with a prescription for Sulfameth/Trimethoprim and sent me on my way. As with most antibiotics, you take two a day for somewhere between 10 and 14 days. Mine was a 10 day regiment and I was feeling back to my healthy self by the next day. I continued taking them as instructed and on day 9 I noticed a few small bumps on my left wrist area. I passed them off as bug bites and went on my way.

The next morning, I woke up and noticed the bumps had multiplied. I still didn't think too much of it at that point and just let it be. But before I knew it, I was covered from the neck down in the worst rash that my eyes have every physically laid eyes on. I itched more than I thought was humanly possible and I was absolutely miserable!!

I'll spare you all the hideous pictures, but this is what I looked like everywhere. Thankfully it spared my face though. Awful, huh?

I had gotten an e-mail the day before about a student in Lucas' class who had just been diagnosed with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, so my mind automatically went in that direction. But after researching it, I quickly realized my situation was completely different.

I went back to the clinic and was told exactly what I had expected...I was allergic to the antibiotics. No more sulfa drugs for me! It's frustrating that it took over an entire week of consuming them before any symptoms showed up because there was quite the build up in my system. I stopped taking them immediately, which really only meant skipping out on the last few pills, but the condition continued to worsen before it got any better. I put the poor pharmacist at Walgreens to work by asking her to compare each and every antihistamine I could think of. I needed to find the safest option for a nursing mother...you can never be too cautious! Benadryl won the title, but the drowsy side effect was awful. Thank goodness my boys are now on a similar nap cycle because we all passed out for 2.5 hours that first day! It was the only thing that stopped the itching, and it really did help lessen the rash over time.

I am almost 90% back to normal, with a few light patches still on my thighs. I swear, everything always has to go wrong while the hubs is out of town. But I'm happy to be itch-free and no longer looking like a walking science experiment. That was no fun. None at all!