Went to the doctor this morning. Been ill for 11 days now and the last couple had a fever controlled by ibuprofen and paracetamol. Then last night I noticed that my tonsils were swollen and spotty and by this morning it was agony.
Anyway, doc calls up my medical records:
"Oh, you're allergic to penicillin and erythromycin?"
I always get a comment when they notice both. I didn't realise it was such a shocking scenario, but I usually get "oh my god, what are you normally prescribed then?!" or "that makes life interesting" or somesuch. I suppose I'm lucky that it's very rare I have ever needed antibiotics that 99.9% of the time it's never an issue. I had some back when I had mastitis with ds1 (forget the type now, wish I'd written it down) about 4 years ago, and the only time i remember having antibiotics before then was erythromycin when I was 19 and I had HORRENDOUS stomach cramps with it - not being melodramatic but at the time I really was very scared it was killing me - was told at the time it was an allergic reaction and to avoid.
ANYWAY, so the doctor asks me about my experience of erythromycin, I tell him. He kind of pooh poohs it and says, well try these - it's the same family but has less history of stomach side effects. Okay, I go home feeling a little nervous, but he's the doc right, he knows what he's doing?
Less than half an hour after the first tablet I'm feeling VIOLENTLY sick and pretty much immobile by the toilet as waves of nausea crash through me again and again. Dh calls the surgery and I manage to speak to doctor in a lull between the waves...
"Oh, that's interesting, that's an extremely unusual reaction ... right, have you tried x?" At this point, I really don't care (WHY can't they just read your notes to check what you had before?!) and said I didn't know. Send dh out to get the prescription.
Dh comes back with Cefalexin. The patient notes online have a warning to be used in caution with penicillin allergy. So I phone the surgery back up. Yes, yes, that's quite alright, that's what you're supposed to be having.
So I'm sitting in front of the packet, feeling not unlike an interesting lab rat, knowing that I have a 10% chance of being allergic to these as well. Wonder if he's chatting to his colleagues and making bets on what reaction I'll have this time
I haven't opened them yet. Original antibiotics dose should be through my system by about 9pm and I guess that's when I take the plunge.
On the whole, pharyngitis is looking quite attractive at the moment...