I am allergic to...

Nurses General Nursing

Published

We all know there are patients who claim to have some OUTRAGEOUS allergies. Some we have to hold our chuckles back... Post some of the best "allergies" you have ever heard...

1) I had a patient tell my PCA that she was allergic to cocaine when he was registering her. He couldn't bring himself to ask her what happened when she used it. So I go into the room and ask... turns out it gives her a bloody nose and heart palpitations.

2) I am allergic to Tylenol. Why? It doesn't work for me.

3) I am allergic to Benadryl. It makes me really tired.

4) I am allergic to Morphine and Dilaudid, but they gave me Fentanyl last time I was here.

I could keep going all day...

Specializes in ER.

I had a patient that seemed like she was allergic to EVERYTHING. The list was ridiculously long, but when I talked with her, she had developed a chemical allergy. I felt bad for her...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CCU MICU Rapid Response.
I have had not one but TWO different pts in last 3 months allergic to........."generic brands of everything" what in the world???

Oh my gosh, now that you say that, we had that patient too, and the pt's kid was a pharmacist...;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

my mom is one of those people with numerous genuine medication allergies or serious adverse reactions. to read her allergy list, you would think, "okay, this woman is nuts," but she's not! she knows how it looks & she expects people to say, "are you -really- allergic to all this stuff?" she's had hives, angioedema, hypotension...to so many medications (oral & IV narcotics, antibiotics, ACE-inhibitors, etc., etc.). it scares me to death. i keep a list of her allergies in my purse. i couldn't memorize them all!

she also has a contrast dye allergy & recently had to have a CT w/contrast... and despite major pre-medication (i think she got 100 or 200mg of benadryl, plus all the other stuff), she had vomiting and respiratory issues (she said she cleared her throat/coughed and the tech ran over & flipped on the light and said, "what's wrong? i'm getting the doctor..." and my mom thought it was nothing, but then had vomiting...they said she should never get contrast again...i am TERRIFIED if she ever needs another cardiac cath/PTCI...okay, i'm not going to think about it...).

she is scared to try any new medications, of course. thank goodness she can take aspirin, being a cardiac patient.

re: generic medications, mom has come across several of them that have wheat-based fillers, so she can't take those either (she has celiac disease), and has to have brand name only. high maintenance! :)

but i know what y'all mean about patients not really having an allergy, just an intolerance...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Formaldehyde, and no she did not work in a funeral home! She worked in some type of factory that used it in their manufacturing process.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency Department/Trauma.

That is used a lot in making carpets (cheaper stuff from what I recall). I find it rather annoying having patients list every expected side effect of all the medications that they have ever encountered in their lives and listing them as allergies. It is getting to the point with many people that we should just microchip them and scan them into the computer. Would save a ton of time.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

I had a patient who was "alergic" to Oxygen!- it made her short of breath!- it must be a bummer to live on Earth with that problem. Theraputically do I have to hold a pillow over her face to keep all that dangerous Oxygen from getting to her? After all , the patients are supposed to be the primary directors of thier care needs.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
This may sound stupid but I was actually diagnosed by an ER physician for Tylenol 3's not having any desired effect on me. I had a piece of my jaw removed and was placed on Tylenol 3's for pain. Not once in the 3 days of taking them did I have any relief and went into the ER and was "diagnosed" with this. The physician stated that up to 20% of the general public do not get some if any relief for Tylenol 3's. Just some food for thought.

tylenol 3 is tylenol with codeine. 10% of codeine is metabolized to morphine and this is the active analgeisa of the drug. i was told 10% of people do not have the enzyme required and therefore codeine is non effective. For these people we would try tramodol.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Acute Care.

About the rabbit allergy....

I remember being told being tested for a rabbit allergy with my RAST test to help determine if I was an appropriate candidate for Xolair (injection for asthmatics caused by too much IgE in our blood with subsequent allergies). That would be a valid way that someone would know these things!

I have had the scratch test on my back that demonstrated I was highly sensitive to horses (amongst almost everything else). I would have had no idea otherwise.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.
I had a patient that reported to be allergic to potassium... and another patient who reported to be allergic to insulin. How do their bodies work?!?!? :)

We had a patient the other day who wore a medic alert bracelet that they were allergic to adrenaline (epinephrine) and we were wondering how this could be possible, I looked it up online and appearantly some people are allergic to the preservatives in the medication, not the actual medication itself.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in critical care, PACU.

One time my mother subjected me to a very prickly skin allergy test as a child when she was working as an MA. It turned out I wasnt allergic to anything...BECAUSE SHE GAVE ME BENADRYL BEFORE

needless suffering = hilarious blonde joke for years to come

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, Research, Corrections.

I have had 2 different patients, 2 nights in a row, stating they are allergic to cortisone. The latest one was pediatric cortisone! Since cortisol is a natural body hormone, I inquired further with the second pt's husband. "It makes her sugar go up" I tell him, that is normal!

Upon further investigation with him, I find she has a REAL allergy to IV ferrous sulfate with hives. I told him, NOW that's an allergy!

About a month ago I had a pt that listed every psych med known to man. Luckily for me, she was intubated and sedated so I never had to deal with the psych med issue.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC/Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.
I have had not one but TWO different pts in last 3 months allergic to........."generic brands of everything" what in the world???

I have a narcoleptic pt. with obsessive compusive personality disorder who takes dexadrine for the narcolepsy. She refuses the generic. So every three months we have to get a prior authorization for her...it's a total PITA, since she likes to MD shop as well. If the pills do not look the same, she refuses. We are now going through the same thing with her protonix vs. prilosec. She's sure she has some sort of an an allergy to generic medications!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment