Antibiotic allergies?

Hi, I'm on my second antibiotic for an ear infection (the first was augmentin), cefuroxime axetil (Ceftin).  Yesterday was my second day of it and when I woke up I noticed that my hands were red, swollen, and itchy.  I kind of wrote it off as nothing, but this morning my hands aren't any better, and I have two red and itchy patches by my knees, and on my one elbow.  I've had hives before, but when I did it was within minutes of ingesting what made me sick, and it was extensive, red and raised patches.  The question is; have any of you had allergic reactions to antibiotics before? If so, what were they like?  I'm trying to determine if this is that, or something else.  Thanks so much.

Oh, I should mention that I've already stopped taking the antibiotic, just in case.  And, I've had viral bronchitis for about two weeks now.

If you've got a reaction and the only thing that has changed is your medication then go straight back to your doctor and don't take any more pills.  I get a skin rash reaction to penicillin and some antibiotics make my face swell alarmingly!  The doc now has the offenders on my records in the 'never give this person this ever!!' category

I found out about my allergy to the sulpha drugs prescribed for bronchitis on the last day of a two week prescription...to make it more fun, it also happened to be New Year's Day and I'd changed insurance and doctors!

I called my new doctor (had been my primary before) and got told to stop with the sulpha and had a Rx phoned in for a Z-Pack.

Not only does the doctor have my offenders on record (sulpha & coedeine), but I make sure I write it down on any form that has a spot for it.

I had an allergic reaction much like that to amoxycillin that only started on my 5th day of taking it. I started getting hives that actually looked a lot like chicken pox. I called my doctor, who said I could stop taking it, but since I only had one more day and the hives weren't so bad, I didn't quit. (I guess the "always finish your entire prescription of antibiotics" message really got through!)

The only downside is that it was right before Christmas, so in all the Christmas photos I'm covered in little red dots.

My fiance has allergic reaction to all kinds of medicines, including antibiotics. Usually his are more severe in that he vomits constantly and goes through holy hell.

YOU NEED TO GET A NEW ONE QUICK or you will become resistant to antibiotics, which would really suck. He has had this happen to him because of his allergies. So it takes him twice as long to get over. Please go to your doctor ASAP!

I'm on Ceftin for an ear infection too! It's also my second antibiotic, I was on zithromiacin (sp?) first and it didn't work.

But anyway- Ceftin has something like a 10-20% cross reaction with people who are allergic to Penacillin. Since I am, my doctor warned me about this. Since your first antibiotic wasn't Arythromiacin I wonder if you're allergic to Pen too? If so then I would definitely consider it an allergy and talk to you doctor about it regardless!

I'm allergic to penicillin. I haven't had any tests done to see if I still am though. I had a severe reaction as a child. The test back then said I was... but allergies can change.

I had never had any kind of allergy or allergy attack  before the beginning of this year. I got a Christmas present of a sinus infection from my family, so I was on the 8th day of an antibiotic containing sulfa when I broke out in red dots everywhere! (and I mean everywhere) It was late at night so I just went to bed. Next I woke up with waves of fever followed by chills that had me shaking uncontrollably. Very scary.

As, of course, the next day was Sunday a friend drove me to a quick-care center and they prescribed me a different antibiotic, steroids, and gave me a shot of Benedryl. They apparently didn't observe me long enough because I fainted picking up my prescription in the grocery store. The good news - my friend was still around to help and the bottom of the shelves in the pharmacy aisle looked very clean.

A few days later my grandfather died (after a long illness), so I had to go to the funeral - and my spots had not faded yet. Talk about a bad start to the year!

Moral of the story - even though you have been taking the drug for a while without symptoms you can still suddenly be allergic to it! Stop taking the meds, go to your doctor ASAP, and, if your symptoms worsen, go to a quick-care center or the ER. (the quick-care Dr. remarked that if my symptoms were any worse she would have sent me to the ER anyway - yipes!)

Good luck.

Hi!

I am allergic to three different antibiotics. My symptoms included: lip swelling (I looked really funny!) , hives, nausea, and my throat got a tight feeling.

Scary. Make sure you are really careful. If you are allergic, most often, the reaction is worse the next time.

Maggie