allergic to most antibiotics

I was beginning to think I was the only person with so many drug allergies. Even though I hate to hear that anyone else is having the same problem, at least I know I'm not the only one. I have been suffering with this for about 30 years. I'm even allergic to Tylenol. My doctor said I was probably the hardest patient she had ever treated because of the drug allergies. Everything from penicillin to a mild muscle relaxer will send me into a bout of hives. I wish I had an answer. I have been to an allergist and the only conclusion was that I wasn't allergic to dust, grass, etc. No help at all. This is one of the most frustrating things I have ever been through. I always get scared of an ache or pain because it might involve taking medicine. I have cried in the doctor's office when she prescribed antibiotics because I didn't know what kind of reaction I might have. It would be wonderful if anyone had an answer.

I am allergic to all forms of antibiotics also. I found this site while looking for help because I think I have a UTI, and all the doctors throw their hands up when i come in with a problem. I was made to believe that I was the only person who had this problem, and so it is a little nice to know I am not... but I just wish they could give everyone some answers!!

I am actually on my way to the Mayo clinic in June to see a Drug Allergist. I am too severly allergic to all medications. I have so many proceedures that need to be done, but medication allergies hampers the progress of the treatments. To the person that awaits on the Mayo Clinic in Arizona to review the records.... What was the outcome? I am spending alot of money to travel to the midwest to go to the Mayo Clinic for help..... just curious if they can help?

Can you tell me more about the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. I am not familar with the test or treatment you spoke about. ( ehlers danios) what is that and what is the treatment process? I am on my way to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota searching for help with this terrible condition. Please email me at Thanks so much for any info you can send my way!!!! Best of luck to you!! ] I also am allergic to all antibiotics. I know how frustrating it is when doctors do not believe you. First you need to go to an allergist. Have them give you a paper that states you are allergic to them. Cary it with you always. I am being admitted to the hospital because I have a kidney infection. They are going to do a bladder wash, since I can not treat it,. I get to have a wash wash my bladder and kidneys for three days straight to rid the infection. NOT looking forward to it. If it was just a bladder infection, I have found oil or oregano, ( the real stuff) works, with taking lemon grass tea. I use Zinger brand that I order on amazon. It is lemon grass and ginger. It usually clears the urinary infection, and I can get them bad. These two things are the only thing that works. Oh and cococut milk will relieve the pain. You can find it in the multicultural food sections in the grocery store. Dental infection, oil of oregano again. Kills the pain AND any abcess and infection, you put it on a cutip on the tooth, works for 6 hours. It blocks pain to the nerve and will get rid of the worse abbcess in about 4 days. I am also allergic to novacain. Rare allergy, but true and tested allergy. I am also allergic to all opiates, iodine, beta blockers, etc. These are true allergies, that are well documented. I have need multiple surgeries including gallbladder , and no one will touch me. They say I am high risk with my allergies. I live in pain from dislocations and stenosis, again, needs surgery, no one touches it. I would love if someone can tell me pain remedies that actually work! I am in Arizona but Mayo does not take my insurance,I wish they did as I have ehlers danlos and they are the only one in the county that has a treatment plan for it. I know what you are all going through. I cry myself to sleep at night as there are no remedies for me. A severe infection could kill me. Last time they had to give me an antibiotic I had severe seizures, and had no choice as it was the only one to rid that infection ( vanco) I also had taken a lot of penicillin as a kid and wonder if that started this roller coaster. Drug allergies like this run in my family and I think there is a genetic link. I wish there was a study. I actually had a great grandfather die from a toe infection they could not treat. Know you are all not alone. feel Free to email me, I know what you are going through. [ ]***this post is edited by moderator *** *** private e-mails not allowed ** Please read our Terms of Use

So sorry to hear of your condition. I do not know if anyone will get my responses, but I am trying to respond back to many of the people in the forum. I too have many allergies like yourself. I am on my way to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I am desperately on a mission to seek for answers or for hope of treatment with my severe allergy condition. You could check out this hospital. From my research there are only 9 DRUG allergy specialist in the US. 2 are at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, and 7 are at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Most of all the other allergist are just general allergy doctors. Please pray for a answer or cure for all of us! God Bless!

Ehlers Danlos Syndrome is a Collagen disorder, where the body does not produce enough, which creates severe joint laxation that causes a lot of painful problems and dislocations when you get into your 30's. It is very painful. I need surgeries but can not even tolerate anesthesia, with the risk of hypothermia and other thing. The worse thing is my gall bladder is so bad I have no life, but can not get it out, unless it explodes, as the risk is too great.

I recently was diagnosed with pneumonia. I had it for two weeks before we knew what it was. I was prescribed antibiotics and had an allergic reaction almost a week later. Then I was given a second antibiotic. Now, after taking it for at least a week and a half, I'm having allergic reactions again. A few summers ago I had an allergic reaction to an entirely different antibiotic. I've been sick for a month now and I'm really starting to get depressed. This rash is excruciating and I have complete and utter sympathy to everybody who has had this same problem. It is by far one of the most miserable things I've ever felt in my life. Good luck to you all. I hope they figure out an alternative soon. This is ridiculous.

I, too, am allergic to multiple antibiotics! I am so relieved in a way but also saddened by the stories on this site. I'm glad to know that I am not the only anomaly. Doctors seem to have no answers for me. I feel that I have been living with a low-grade infection for several years and is partially the reason why I am on disability. For years I had sinus infections and took lots of antibiotics and finally developed a sensitivity to pretty much all of them in the mid-90s. I live in New York City and there's an allergist who specializes in drug allergies. She did skin testing and blood testing to try to determine if there were any allergies to medications and what I could take safely. These she then wrote up a letter that I carry with me always and give to all my doctors. I'm not sure these tests are truly accurate though. I have a few books on herbal alternatives to antibiotics and I use Chinese herbal medicine as an alternative. I've also tried colloidal silver without very good results. I can't take garlic because of stomach upset. Ozone has been recommended to me. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers or some such thing also recommended. Have not tried either of these. I'm very interested in corresponding with others about this. Thank you so much for your honesty.

I JUST FINISHED WITH A SCARE, BEING HIGHLLY ALLERGIC TO ALL ANTIBIODICS...EVEN HAVING ONE I.V. RIPPED FROM MY ARM WITH ONE FIRING UP MY ARM, DOCTOR INSISTED I TAKE FOR PNEUMONIA. YESTERDAY I DEVELOPED ALL SIGNS OF AN INTERAL INFECTION REGARDING THE SCAR TISSUE EVIDENCE FLARING FROM AN ANTIBOIDIC ADMINISTERED DURING AN OPERATION OF TWELVE DAYS AGO TO REMOVE A HUGE MASS FROM MY BACK. WHAT/ GO TO THE HOSPITAL AGAIN AND HAVE THEM CHARGE ME ANOTHER $50.00 CO-PAY FOR TRYING TO SAVE MY LIFE? ANYWAY, I CALL THIS MY JESUS CURE AND HERE IT IS:START POURING CUP FULL AFTER CUP FULL OF MANZANILLA /CHAMOMILE TEA INTO YOU...THIS (Col Name Tadin) has NATURALHERB ANTIBIOTICS IN IT. YOU CAN DRINK IT COLD. I MADE UP WATER BOTTLES AND WENT BACK TO BED, LAID COMPLETELY STILL AND IN PRAYER. WHICH I AM DOING AGAIN TODAY. AWAKENING THIS MORNING - GONE WAS THE INTENSE BURNING, THE SWELLING AROUND THE AREA OF OPERATION, THE TWO LINES OF RED TURNING INTO A DARK RED AT EACH END, MY FEVER AND MY FEAR!!! THE LATER OWING TO THE MAN UP STAIRS OF COURSE!!! I'M NOW 75 YEARS OLD, AND STILL HERE. HOPE THIS GIVES YOU NEW INCENTIVE IN LIFE.

I am just experiencing this right now (age 47/female)...I really think it's perimenopause that is causing this sudden allergy to meds. Very frustrating, docs think I'm a liability and don't want to offer more choices to me becasue of my allergic reactions to many antibiotics already (and pain meds too)....

Hi everyone... I am so glad i found this site. I have soooo many allergies to both foods and medicines, its not funny. I cant take antibiotics either. I want to pass on to everyone my saving grace...and i hope all of you take note and give it a go.. Whenever i get sick...i mean really sick like with glandular fever or an infection of some sort...i go to an alternative medicine doctor (called environmental doctors here in australia) who is also a traditional doctor, and he gives me: INTRAVENOUS VITAMIN C at high doses of 30,000 mg or 60,000mg via a drip. I sit on it for about an hour until it is finished, and i have it about 3 times a week when i'm acutely sick. Sometimes he has given me what he calls a 'cocktail'...with a mixture of vitamins and minerals in it. I always get well within about a week or two. It is a little expensive - $75 per treatment in Australia.... but well worth it. ITS MY MIRACLE treatment, and now i don't have to worry about when i get sick. I just call his surgery, tell them i'm sick, and ask for a series of intravenous vitamin c... works a treat. Good luck with finding someone like my doctor everyone. I think they are called 'COLLATING' doctors or the procedure is called 'COLLATION THERAPY'. Love to you all xox

If you're allergic to ANTIbiotics, you might want to try PRObiotics! I, too, am allergic to all the heavy-duty antibiotics, but fortunately, my family physician listens to me. I'm also allergic to NSAIDS (aspirin, acetaminophen, naproxen, etc) so treating me for anything is a challenge. Read the information on antibiotics most frequently prescribed by physicians and you'll find that many of these antibiotics are deadly to the "4-5 %" of people who are allergic to them. My reactions are so severe that I'm thinking of having "I'm allergic to antibiotics and NSAIDs" tatooed across my chest! Unlike many of you, I didn't take a lot of penicillin in my youth. I grew up in a time when you didn't go to the doctor every time you ran a fever, and other than the normal contagious childhood diseases like mumps, measles and chickenpox, I was a really healthy kid. I tell people I earned my immunity the old-fashioned way, by catching everything that came down the pike! :) I only missed school if I was so sick I couldn't eat, and even then, my parents had a "wait a couple of days and see" attitude about going to the Doctor. However, I am now recovering from just two doses, 12 hours apart, of Amoxy-Clav. Hadn't had that antibio yet so my doctor wanted to try it when I developed a cyst on my posterior. I suffered a severe allergic reaction after those two doses: kidney problems, swollen tongue, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, plus the usual stomach cramps and constant nausea and diarrhea. I'm off the med now, but the cyst remains. BUT, I'm attacking it the best way I can--through PRObiotics like Live Culture Acidophilus. I started taking that and eating Yogurt the day after my near-fatal second dose of Amoxy-Clav. I usually start my inner war against bacteria the instant I feel out of sorts, but I was more concerned about needing to cancel a long-awaited vacation than I was about this cyst. My B! Here's my suggestion: If you can't take ANTI-biotics, try PRO-biotics. I'd say even if you can take Antibios, take the Probios along with them. To explain why I feel so strongly about PRObiotics: Last year my father-in-law nearly died from C-Diff, an illness basically created by physicians prescribing antibiotics in large doses for extended periods of time. Prior to the C-Diff problem, my father-in-law, who lives three states away, suffered from bronchitis which became pneumonia. He was prescribed Antibios for eight weeks without being prescribed the PRObiotic, Flagell (sp?). A big problem with Antibios is that they destroy ALL bacteria, not just the bad bacteria. You have both good and bad bacteria in your body. When you destroy all the good bacteria, C-Diff--which is a very tenuous bacteria that works for you when balanced with other bacteria--takes over (look it up sometime). This "man-made" illness is known to be deadly, especially to the very young and the elderly. C-Diff is what eventually killed my mother-in-law, who'd been sick and on antibiotics for most of the year prior to her death. After he'd prescribed several rounds of Flagell in an attempt to cure the C-Diff, my 89-year old father-in-law's physician told him there was nothing more anyone could do for him. I contacted a friend (who is now an MD) who spent eight years in research (studying blood chemistry) at a prestigious medical university prior to entering medical school herself. She recommended PRObiotics. I.e., live-culture GOOD bacteria. (BTW, she commented after her first year of Med School that she was disappointed; she'd thought she was going to learn to CURE people, but all she was being taught was how to treat symptoms with man-made pharmaceuticals--the makers of which support medical schools and so-called research studies). She's an excellent Internist now, partly because she understands so well how various medications interact with the body's various systems. PLUS, she also realizes there is no "one size fits all" in medical treatment. When I talked to my father-in-law about why he should eat yogurt and take Acidophilus, he remembered that back in the 1940s and 50s, when penicillin was still considered a wonder-drug, HIS old family doctor always told him to drink lots of buttermilk for a couple of weeks after being given a shot of penicillin. Buttermilk = LIVE culture probiotics. To make a long story shorter, my father-in-law began taking live-culture acidophilus and eating a carton of yogurt and a snack of cornbread with buttermilk every day. It took three months, but eventually he "restocked" the GOOD bacteria in his system, thereby bringing the C-Diff back under control. To his physicians surprise, my father-in-law recovered the illness. It might not work for everyone--and not everyone would be that dedicated to the effort--but it worked for him and made me an even bigger believer in the power of PRObiotics. So, if you're allergic to antibiotics (and even if you aren't), think about taking Live-Culture Acidophilus, eating probiotic yogurt or drinking a big glass of buttermilk every day. I personally prefer drinking yogurt smoothies to eating yogurt but at the moment I am drinking smoothies AND eating yogurt. Your pharmacist may have to order the Live-Culture Acidophilus for you because it has to be kept refrigerated. If you've never eaten yogurt, etc, I'd suggest starting with a little and increasing your intake as you determine how your system handles the Probios. Hope this helps someone out there.

I have been through ALL the classes of oral antibiotics. I have been diagnosed with Multiple Antibiotic Allergy Syndrome. It's a fact. It exists. I have used "big gun" IV antibiotics in the past. It's do-able. You need an ID doctor (infectious diseases) in your arsenal. If you are sick and need an antibiotic to save your life - it can be done. It's called "rapid desensitization immunotherapy" and it is performed in the hospital ICU. You will be given the antibiotic necessary to cure your illness (even if you are severely allergic to it) along with a truckload of NSAID and allergy meds to counteract the effect of the necessary antibiotic. It's a long, tough process, but you will live. .... talk to your PCP... see an Immunologist... get an ID Dr (one will see you in the ER if necessary)... calm down ... you will live.

I like all of you am allergic to all antibiotics except 2 but one of them I think I am resistant to now it didn't work last time I took it macro bid and Cipro but I am not suppose to because I had encephalitis as a child and it could do damage to my brain if I take it but I lead up to all mine thru the years it all started after my second child i started having allergies to certain things like animal dander then after my third child it started adding up with medicines and perfumes I actually started looking for some alternatives because my third child was also allergic to certain medicines I was told one time if they didn't find something that he could take there would be to alternatives put him in the hospital and desensitize him hopefully or if he got really sick and they hadn't found anything he could die thank god by 4 he had three infections and finally found zithromax and thank god 1 other I on the other hand started running out of options for bladder infections I started getting them all the time and my doctor was concerned that I would get resistant but I found a natural remedy it's called D-manose and I didn't have one for a year and a half instead of every month for other things I try 2 be cautious but sometimes I do get sick Ive had phenomena 10 x but only 2x has it been since I couldn't take antibiotics it takes me 3 months and no work alot of probiotics supplements and rest but I'm still here but I to am afraid that something so simple as a cut getting infected could end up killing me but I figure natural remedies were around alot longer than penicillin so hopefully I will find a remedy for everything that happens to me and will be able to fix myself because as we have found out from the medical community they sure as hell can't fix it and I think it started with the stuff they put in our food antibiotics fed to the cattle and chickens it's not all genetics my son and I are the only ones in our family like this and I think our numbers will continue to grow unfortunately.

Have any of you heard or tried desensitization of the antibiotics? Just curious. What about a have load of benedryl just before any type of dosing. Check for polymorphisms and drug drug interactions as well since these can effect the way, rate, and how drugs are metabolized in your body. Some drugs will cause another drug to INCREASE in potency if taken together. Just thinking... I just have a friend who is going through this so I am researching a bit for her and ran across this link. K