So, after I passed the blood test to see if I was allergic to penicillin, I had to prepare for skin tests. I had to buy one capsule each of the penicillin-derivatives Amoxicillin and Keeflex, plus one from a different family, Cefdinir. I brought them to the doctor’s office. I took the morning off. I was steeled for needles.
Before the skin tests began, she gave my arm a tiny shot of 5 % penicillin mixed with 95 % saline, then an inch below that half and half, then 95 % penicillin and 5 % saline went in my arm below those two.
Five minutes later she checked and said, “We're done before we started. You’re allergic to penicillin.” Evidently the 50/50 mix got me. It was red, and the 95% area was a hard red bump. I think the initial blood test came back clean because I'm not allergic on a microscopic scale.
So I got Allegra and prednisone, and queries as to my status every ten minutes until I was cleared to go home. No Keeflex again ever. (I suppose I was lucky to puke it up when the dentist gave it to me years ago.) No amoxicillin either. Cefdinir, however, is still on the table.
It was all very safe. And mom-in-my head said, "I told you that you were allergic to penicillin. How could you doubt me?" I told Mom I might have been able to take a derivative, and that Grandma said they gave me penicillin once. “She just liked stirring up trouble,” Mom-in-my-head said.
So, in the new year, I go back to see if the non-penicillin Cefdinir is an option to treat any drug-resistant bugs I may pick up as I age, not to mention the syphilis I am certain to get in assisted living.
Well, that's conclusive!
(also, sorry Mom-in-your-head, but you can shut up - it's okay to want to definitely *know* something)
(also the dentist WHAT???)
(admittedly, I once had an ER doc prescribe me an antibiotic I'm allergic to [and am listed as allergic to *in the medical records of that hospital* so I don't honestly know how he was able to prescribe it], but that was at 2 or 3am and he was reaching the end of his excruciatingly long shift, so I assume the sloppiness was sleep deprivation+desperation. But dentists don't have shifts like that...)
Posted by: KC | December 18, 2023 at 10:50 AM
KC - Mom-in-my-head says, “Who is this KC chippie, telling me to shut up?” Also, I think the dentist felt that long ago they just said everyone was allergic to to penicillin just to be safe, and that I could tolerate a deriviative? Plus he had Grandma backing him up.
Posted by: theQueen | December 18, 2023 at 12:24 PM