One month into 2019, my main goal is that it improves, at least from a health standpoint. I’ve had a unique and rocky year so far, neither which is a preferred descriptor when it comes to your health. Boring, uneventful, and conventional are words I’m aiming for during the next 49 weeks. It actually started last year, on December 27th when strep throat hit. It took me a few days to make it in to the doctor and when I finally did, my diagnosis was confirmed. The doctor asked if I was allergic to anything and although for the last 25 years, I have answered “amoxicillin” I decided a “no” was the right answer that day. When I was young, I broke out in hives, and the doctors weren’t sure exactly what had caused it. I had finished up a full dosage of amoxicillin (which I had taken many times before), and although the timing didn’t seem to add up, I’ve always listed amoxicillin as an allergy, “just in case.”
So why at age 36 did I decide to test my luck? I’m not sure, maybe its because I’ve never actually believed I was allergic to amoxicillin. Or maybe because in the last few years, I’ve seen my own kids had hive breakouts from viral infections, which is actually the leading cause of hives. And I have since learned from my doctor that only about 25% of people who list amoxicillin as an allergy due to a childhood reaction aren’t actually allergic to the drug. Count me in the lucky 25.
After two doses, while we were having a family fun night at a trampoline park, I was wondering what nasty bug attacked my ankles. After 15 minutes of itching, it dawned on me that I was having an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. I had some experience with these type of reactions and I hit up Target on the way home to stock up on some Benadryl. The reaction stayed pretty mild and the next day, I just had a mild rash. I called my doctor and she prescribed me Cephalexin to treat the strep throat (whose symptoms were totally gone at this point). My first dose was on New Years Eve. On New Years Day, I woke up and the rash had flared. I took another does of my Cephalexin along with some more allergy meds. I knew amoxicillin reactions could be delayed and assumed it was hitting its peak. Another dose before bed, at which point I was feeling truly awful, and another in the morning, at which point I had difficulty even getting out of bed. My children were so wonderful, as Eric had to go to work and I couldn’t get a babysitter until 11 am. I remember lying in my bed and feeling so thankful as they played nicely without me. Silver lining. I drug myself out of bed at 1 to go to Urgent Care. In the waiting room, I decided to google “amoxicillin and cephalexin” allergy and when I saw it was a type of penicillin and their was some crossover when it came to allergies, I was pretty confident I was allergic to both. According to the Urgent Care doctor, apparently there is only a 5% crossover, so it wasn’t out of bounds for the original doctor to prescribe that, although I felt a little less generous being in the potential 5%.
Here is a picture of me on January 2. As you can see, my arm is almost purple. The nurse and the doctor’s reaction told me everything I didn’t want to know.
I went off the Cephalexin and went on Prednisone, a steroid, and I felt optimistic as I left. Like I was over the worst of it! Doctor told me within 4-8 hours I would feel better, and drastic improvements would be seen after that. Come back on Friday if you’re not substantially better.
Improvements Wednesday evening came in that I felt like I could get out of bed, like maybe I didn’t have poison pulsing through my veins, but that was about the extent of improvement. I was so itchy that everyone around me became itchy. The nights were the worse. Nobody told me the potential side effects of Prednisone but thanks to Google, and my own experience, I can tell you that it can make you absolutely looney. I went back to the doctor on Friday when I didn’t get better, and she upped me to 60mg. I’ll be forever grateful for her, who I lucked out seeing on my followup to urgent care. She’d never seen me but looked at me and said, “This is crazy. You need a lifeline. Here’s my cellphone, call or text me any time. You can send me pictures, and that’s fine.” Little did she know that she would most certainly hear from me.
But back to the prednisone. All the nights were bad, but during one of the worst, I remember dreaming of moving my arms back and forth for some reason (that made sense in my dream). I woke up to find myself absolutely clawing my legs to the point they felt like they were on fire. One of the bad nights, I took four different oatmeal baths, one thing that seemed to cut a little bit of the pain out. My angels came in the form of Grandma and Pop, who descended from Newton as Eric ascended to Pittsburg, so make sure my children would be cared for. On Saturday morning, I walked down the stairs and I have deep regret that I didn’t take a video of my kids when they saw my face. A face only a mother could love.
The hives had gone up to my face on Friday nightand I felt it start to swell in the middle of the night. It was in full bloom by the morning, and into Sunday and a little of Monday. I really was a sight to be seen!
Thankfully, as Eric headed out of town on a work trip, my in-laws came in town to help out. I'm not sure if me, or my kids, would have survived the weekend without Grandma and Pop!
Avery, always willing to provide an honest assessment, sat in my lap one evening and as we shared a tender moment she said, "Mommy, you look different. You look changed. You look ugly." She really is the sweetest little girl anyone could ask for!
By Tuesday, January 8, I looked ok enough to venture out in public. My skin had mostly cleared and my face, while peeling, dry and flaky, had returned to its resting size. But the itching! I tapered off the prednisone, but had to go back on because while the craziness didn't keep me up at night, the itching did. I went back to the doctor the next week when the itching still didn't subside. She told me that no, its not normal, and yes, I should see an allergist. Of course, you can't call up an allergist and get in the next day, and eventually time healed before I had a chance to see an allergist. As of the beginning of last week, three weeks after step hit (a looooong 3 weeks), I finally feel normal and not like an itchy heroin addict.
Amoxicillin won all the battles and the war, but I will never take for granted having skin that doesn't itch!
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