the little things make you go uh ok

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so here is a short and sweet one. i was still in school when this happened. my patient had just come to me in pacu and we were going down the myriad of questions. when we got to allergies it went like this. do you have any allergies? she says "pepper" and we asked and what happens when you eat it or get around it? this i swear was her response "it makes me sneeze". i thought i was going to fall in the floor. i really was worthless for the next few minutes while i gathered up every ounce of energy that i had to not laugh.

Had a little old lady whose stated allergy was "dope". We never were able to pin it down to anything more specific, so that's what the stickers on her chart and allergy band proclaimed: "DOPE"

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I don't prescribe emycin because I've seen very few people able to tolerate it. My theory on that is that an antibiotic does little good if most of it ends up in the toilet or trash can.

It's important for patients to understand the difference. If a patient states an erythromycin allergy, I'm not likely to give Zithromax or Biaxin, either, since they're related. I will often ask the patient what happened with their allergic reaction, but a lot of providers don't.

My oldest had a terrible reaction to erythromycin; it went beyond simply being nauseated and vomiting. She was rolling on the bed, crying, holding her stomach (SEVERE pain) and retching uncontrollably (and she was a pretty stoic kid). Her doc classed it as an allergy.

My youngest and I both have a true allergy to the med--- hives, wheezing, etc. I find I have a very hard time convincing docs and others that yes, I really am allergic to erythromycin and no, it's not because it makes me sick to my stomach...

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thank you for explaining the difference guys. that makes sense.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

I thought if I listed Percocet as an allergy (adverse reaction is such a better term) I thought I was saving people the trouble of trying to give me something I will refuse and then calling for an alternative. But it sounds as if I because know that Percs make me violently ill, that I should just take them anyway because projectile vomiting is just a side effect. :barf01:

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I thought if I listed Percocet as an allergy (adverse reaction is such a better term) I thought I was saving people the trouble of trying to give me something I will refuse and then calling for an alternative. But it sounds as if I because know that Percs make me violently ill, that I should just take them anyway because projectile vomiting is just a side effect. :barf01:

Ya. i AM allergic to morphine and dilaudid (rash) but oxycodone is ummm i am not sure what to term it now. I get migrane like systems (headache, vomiting, severe sensitivity to light.)

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.
I thought if I listed Percocet as an allergy (adverse reaction is such a better term) I thought I was saving people the trouble of trying to give me something I will refuse and then calling for an alternative. But it sounds as if I because know that Percs make me violently ill, that I should just take them anyway because projectile vomiting is just a side effect. :barf01:

Nope, I don't think anyone here is saying that. We were just trying to clarify a point for a poster who asked. But as someone who's going to be administering meds, I'd like to know if said med makes you vomit, vs. if you're going to go into anaphylaxis. Either way, I won't give it to you, but I'd still like to know which one it is.

Santhony, you could give me some Emycin. For whatever reason it doesn't make me puke! ;)

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Well talking about the allergy vs side effect. If I eat shell fish even just one I start puking, loved shrimp as a child and could eat a boat load of it until I was 14, and I started getting sick every time I ate it (figured it was bad shrimp/seafood) Well had allergy testing done when I was 16. The doc asked "You don't like shrimp do you?" stated "Yes but the last few times I ate it I threw up." Doc states "Stay away from it, don't take Iodine you tested highly allergic to it." then he gave me an epi pen to carry with me. But even now if I am in a grocery store and they have lobster tanks that smell of iodine it feels like my breathing changes. Morphine makes me throw up as soon as I get it also, so I tell them I have an allergy to it, because if it makes me puke I AIN'T GOING TO TAKE IT. Like I have said before to others, if I would have puked during my pregnancies there would have only been one.

But talking about OH OK's. Showing a baby at the window tonight to some teenage girls. Girl A ask "when will you clean the baby up." I state "once he gets warm enough to have a bath."

Girl A "when will that be."

Me "when he gets warm enough."

Girl A "so will that be in 20 or 30 minutes"

Me "It will be when he gets warm enought."

Girl B "When will they mold there head."

Me "Pardon"

Girl B "Won't they mold his head?"

Me :no:

Girl B "You mean it will mold back on its own?"

Me :yes: :)

Once I put the curtain down on the window I just had to laugh.

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