I got my ppd today- last one was in May, before I started working in the ED. Now, right where my test was given, it's red about one half inch all the way around where it was injected and slightly raised (I can tell when I look at my arm at an angle). I've never had this happen before.
I'm scared. Mainly because I'm 6 months pregnant. Can I take the meds if I'm pregnant? Good grief!
I thought for sure I'd know what a positive reaction looks like, since I've never had one. But I'm sitting doing the whole "Maybe it's a local reaction and it will go away". I've marked the site, drew a line around it to see if it spreads.
Now the interesting part. I was pretty concerned about what this would do to my schooling and volunteer work if positive (the pamphlet said you take the meds for 2 to 9 months, and it can cause liver failure). The NP said that you could refuse treatment! I asked how that would affect my schooling/career, she said not at all. That brought me to the question of "why have the test if it doesn't matter if you are positive and you can refuse treatment?" Answer: A positive PPD w/o s&s of active TB (night sweats, cough, weight loss) is Latent TB, ie you have been exposed but cannot transmit the disease. APX
I hear what you are saying but you should check the policies where you plan to work and where you are going to school. They may require tx and documentation of tx for a + skin test. The liver failure is a rare occurance and you do get your liver enzymes checked frequently to catch it in time. (The people who die from it are usually the ones who never get their liver enzymes checked and the liver damage goes unchecked) I believe the rationale for tx when latent is that it helps prevent it from becoming active. I took the meds for a + skin test w/ - CXR and it was really no big deal at all. Plus now that I had treatment I don't have any more PPD tests. I don't know if they would make you keep getting them, thereby risking a worsening reaction. Just a thought.
No comment on the thread, just in awe that you have a six-month-old baby and you're six months pregnant. Those will be serious Irish twins...
LOL I am thinking you are making a joke but just in case...her post was from 10/05; I think the signature that she added w/ the baby's dates shows up on all her old posts.
A suspected positive pregnant pt came into the clinic during last semester's OB/PEDS rotation and the nurse midwife said they do not start pregnant pts on meds until after the delivery.
This woman was proven positive, not just a positive reading, but active TB. I know she was started on meds because she exposed the ER and OB, where we sent her for fetal monitoring. There was question about whether or not she could be started on the usual meds or if she needed something else because of the baby. She ended up on Isoniazid.
Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.
Aneroo said:
I got my ppd today- last one was in May, before I started working in the ED. Now, right where my test was given, it's red about one half inch all the way around where it was injected and slightly raised (I can tell when I look at my arm at an angle). I've never had this happen before.
I'm scared. Mainly because I'm 6 months pregnant. Can I take the meds if I'm pregnant? Good grief!
I thought for sure I'd know what a positive reaction looks like, since I've never had one. But I'm sitting doing the whole "Maybe it's a local reaction and it will go away". I've marked the site, drew a line around it to see if it spreads.
-A
Ugh...deja vu...Back in the early 90s when I was a paramedic student in Virginia I had to have a TB test...of course. Like you my arm was just slightly red after the injection. When I went to the health department to have it checked the site was still pink and about the size of a nickel.
What did the nurse do? She scrapes it with a key...so the entire area just gets beet red and starts to swell...and tells me I have tested positive for TB. Now from what I understand...and correct me if I'm wrong...but don't you always test positive for TB after a true positive??
Anyway...I was told to take that NASTY Isoniazid for 6 months. All I can say is ewwwwwwww! Oh, yeah,..and when they say "DON'T DRINK WHILE YOU'RE ON THIS MEDICINE"...they truly mean it. One night my roommate and I were sitting around and I'd had about a half a beer...I just wanted to die, I felt so bad.
Oh, and I've had a TB test every year since, and not once ever tested "positive" again. Whew.
At the MR-DDS facility I've been at for 23yrs, the first few years I was there they used the Tine tests. Never so much as a red spot. When they switched to PPD, I had a huuuuuuuge red raised area, even at 72hrs. The nurse who did them passed me since I'd never reacted before. It's gradually gotten smaller over the years. The worst part was other people asking "OMG, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR ARM?"!!!
I have had the PPD test for 5 years in a row. This Is my first time where it has a slight pink tinge about 1/2 an inch surrounding the injection site. The only thing different this year is that I am 5 months pregnant. I believe that the only reason for the change is. My immune system has become sightly decreased since getting pregnant or my body would fight off the pregnancy. But who knows. I work in home health and Thank GOD for proper precautions. It has saved me from quite a few things. You never know what people have, I just know that following the rules saves lives.
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catlady, BSN, RN
678 Posts
No comment on the thread, just in awe that you have a six-month-old baby and you're six months pregnant. Those will be serious Irish twins...