So we are switching to a new computer system at work. Not everything will carry over and we have to do some manual entry of certain things. Allergies is one of the items that falls onto that list. We are able to print out that info from the old system so we can put in onto the new, so the information has all been verified at some point by nursing staff or physicians. Which also means at one point it was all ENTERED by someone with a license or someone who is supposed to have enough medical knowledge to do such things.
Some of the "allergies" (complete with reaction, since it's a required field):
Nitroglycerin---"it makes my ears ring"
Tetnaus shot---"my arm hurts after I get one"
E-mycin---"diarrhea"
iron supplements---"makes my BM dark"
and my favorite:
Epinephrine---"makes my heart race"
Seriously?! I can shrug and say "meh" to many things, but truly?! WHY do trained professionals DO this? Go ahead and put some of these things down and attribute the poops after an ABX to a side effect, but not an ALLERGY. Yes, side effects, intolerances and allergies are all options to choose from.
I am not even entering the epinephrine "allergies", nope, not doing it.
While I agree that some "allergies" listed are ridiculous, it is important to note when someone doesn't tolerate a medication too. I absolutely refuse Epi for sutures or dental work because it makes my heart race (120s- 140s) for hours after administration. It has been recommended to me by cardiology to avoid it. Maybe instead of eye rolling and making fun, get the whole story. I'm all for an area separate from allergies to list intolerance's, but that just doesn't exist.
I'm truly allergic to sulfa meds. I had an anaphylaxis reaction to it & was almost at Stevens-Johnson syndrome. My skin didn't break open....I had the classic alligator....red/purple coloring.
Anyway, I told my MD & she rolled her eyes & said she heard that allergy a lot. I offered for her to get my ER record!
I did have a patient once with over 300 "allergies" & they basically were meds that either didn't work or made her tummy ache. Well, I haven't gotten Nitrofurantoin to work for my earache yet either!
Or the one who said she was Jewish, celiac, lactose intolerance, and allergies to milk, tomatoes, onions, red dye, peppers, and latex. She demanded to know WHY I parked the crash cart by her room when she ordered in pizza with the works, Mountain Dew red, and her kids brought in latex balloons! Did I mention WE couldn't use our stethoscopes that "might" have touched someone with latex gloves on?
Yes, she was FINE. I'm not sure what her rabbi would have said about the sausage, pepperoni, & ham. Or why she didn't have any bowel issues after eating 1/2 large extra cheese pizza.
Specializes in Infusion, Med/Surg/Tele, Outpatient.
My mom's friend is really and truly allergic to brewing coffee. Can drink coffee, cannot be in vicinity when being brewed. I Took those 2 ladies through the Starbucks drive-thru and she started having stridor!!! Epi-pen then straight to the ER next door. Crazy & never believed her until I saw it.
Once again, as the OP who started this rant post, the option for allergy, side effect and intolerances DO exist on both systems that I'm speaking of. It may not exist where you work, but that's not true across the board.
While I agree that some "allergies" listed are ridiculous, it is important to note when someone doesn't tolerate a medication too. I absolutely refuse Epi for sutures or dental work because it makes my heart race (120s- 140s) for hours after administration. It has been recommended to me by cardiology to avoid it. Maybe instead of eye rolling and making fun, get the whole story. I'm all for an area separate from allergies to list intolerance's, but that just doesn't exist.[/QUOTE]
It is very important to get the "full story". Carcinoid patients can't have epi or they will go into crisis. I get horrible tinnitus and nausea for days with aspirin bearing products so I'd rather not take it unless of course I'm having an MI and that's the only drug around then I'll deal with it.
To answer a pp, I have seen orders for abx that s patient had a mild allergic reaction to previously - such as hives - with explicit orders on what to do if signs of reaction occur, ranging from IV Benadryl to d/c call md administer epi. This was a patient with a stage 4 decubitus ulcer and abx resistant osteomyelitis
My favorite are the patients who list off an page worth of allergies, all of which include every medication we would use to treat pain BUT morphine. really? hmmm... makes you wonder. lol
Yes, I've seen that too. But I also warned MD & anesthetist that I had severe bronchospasms with NSAIDS that I've tried in past. They gave me Toradol in my IV and I'm glad they had me sedated with ET tube on standby....I needed it!
But I've tried to explain that Amoxicillin might give someone slight diarrhea & when they had a loose stool....they stopped taking it. Not diarrhea, just not really formed. And that's just ONE example.
Or the lady who said she's allergic to levofloxacin but not Levaquin. Why? Levofloxacin didn't treat her yeast problem but Levaquin fixed her bronchitis.
I'm ALL for adverse reactions & other issues being reported that way. IF they remember what the med caused!!!
In the ICU, I gave a med test dose of antibiotic & pt did fine. I gave them the larger dose (still fine). Daughter came in several hours later & started screaming she wanted all of our licenses. We were going to kill her dad since we gave him something allergic to. Explained he was fine & had been for several hours (getting better!).
Her brother started in on her in hallway & said that just because their MOM's brother was allergic to it...did NOT mean that it would kill dad!
Or the mom who told us since SHE is allergic to med, we can't give it to her child either.
I had a patient about a year ago say she was allergic to everything but Darvocet & she took it at home regularly. Ummm....how OLD is your script for that?
I remember it being pulled off market....
Note to self....don't mention that antibiotic being given IV is same as oral med patient said she's allergic to (that MD has given to same patient successfully earlier today without problems). We "don't know" brand names sometimes.
What a load of crap. Do you have any sources from a site that is NOT trying to get your money? "Every American should be tested for gluten sensitivity."
Really. Thanks for the laugh though. There are suckers everywhere.
It's really not crap. The lab is a reputable one in Texas, but perhaps it was a poor choice of quote as it's not from a research paper, but the point I was trying to make is that there is a lot of research out there trying to unravel this insidious problem. I worked with a renowned Master's educated dietitian in the UK (Dian Shepperson-Mills) who has written a book about the dietary effects of wheat and gluten on women with endometriosis, which is a disease i suffer from. Her research showed that an element in wheat caused severe problems to women with the disease because of the way the genetic structure of wheat has changed over the past 4 decades. Because of her I cut out wheat/gluten and it make a big difference to how I feel and how the disease effects me. I've seen evidence in myself of how many time, when I lapse and eat something with gluten in it, how unwell I become. I think there is much research to do in this area, and seeing how much worse the human race's health is compared to 4 decades ago, any research into causes should be welcomed. Sorry, but dietary effects on disease is one of my biggest interests and I've done a lot of reading about it. I'm very passionate about it and I completely believe in it.
I think you're confusing the presence of IgG antibodies with symptomatic sensitivity or allergy. It's not unusual to have circulating antibodies to a number of things you are regularly exposed to, that does not however suggest a relationship between those antibodies and adverse symptoms.
From the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immumology:
Thank you for that info. It makes interesting reading. That's the whole point of research...to find links between cause and effect. I don't think we've reached a point where we can definitively say if it's a cause or not, but if many people are reporting issues then it's deserving of more research. I've never pertained to being an expert on allergens, but I have a huge interest in the dietary effects on disease. I guess the point I was trying to make, in context with this thread, is that if a patient is reporting symptoms to a particular item, be it food, environmental, or drug, that is their experience and should be respected and believed. There's nothing worse than a health care provider dismissing a patient's concerns because they don't "believe in it". It's the patient's right to refuse any treatment they wish, and if they do not want to be exposed to a particular item, then we as nurses should put that in the medical record to encourage continuity of care.
I had a patient about a year ago say she was allergic to everything but Darvocet & she took it at home regularly. Ummm....how OLD is your script for that?
I remember it being pulled off market....
I took care of a LOL who took Darvocet every day, and called them her "Barbie Pills", because of the bright pink color.
Callie53
7 Posts
usually the only pain med they are not allergic to is dilaudid or fentenyal