Medication Allergies - Five Tips on Quick Recovery

Identification:

To identify a reaction you have to make sure you are listening to your child and watching them closely. Any change should be noted. This is so you will know when they occurred and where, this makes a difference when you are talking to the doctor.

1. swelling
2. pain
3. fever
4. itching
5. rash
6. sore throat
7. difficulty breathing

Reaction To medication:

First off i hate having to use medicine, i believe strongly in preventative / alternative methods to remain healthy but that is not always under our control. My son needed an antibiotic to combat an infection he got from a bacterial problem, and this lead to the doctor prescribing a Sulpha based antibiotic.

Before this my son had never had a reaction to any kind of medication and i was kind of pleased with this, thinking of how healthy he was, but the Sulpha led to my son's immunity system fighting the drug and to begin swelling. It started off slowly enough but within an hour or so his ears were heavy and hanging. His face had become puffy but not enough to scare me earlier but when he showed me his face again an hour or so later, i panicked i had never dealt with allergic reactions.

The only thought in my mind was to get him to the doctor, the ER to be exact.

Things to be aware of:

1. fever
2. swelling
3. itching
4. rashes / redness of skiin
5. headaches
6. irregular breathing
7. throat constriction

Feelings:

I have never dealt with real allergic reactions. My children have been healthy overall with only slight battles with infections and health problems that we couldn't take care of at home. Thank God.

Until this, this last medical issue with my son, i thought i had a good grasp on taking care of our health problems at home. But when my son's face began swelling up and his ears began to grow and stretch, i was momentarily stumped as to what to do next.

Once i got past the initial moment of indecision, i rushed him to the ER only to have them treat it with a kind of coldness that bordered on rudeness. If i discuss the bedside manners of some doctors today, i could write a book, but i digress.

I felt helpless. For me that is an unusual feeling most of the time, so i started praying wildly, at least under my breath. I kept my cool as not to upset my son any further than he was, thank God for small mercies, because a sense of peace replaced the unease.

While we waited on a doctor to come to our room, my son whined and critiqued the fact that the ER personnel stood in the corridor telling jokes and laughing. Interesting?! But i tried to explain to him that they were the professionals.

Yet the whole while i watched his face swell, and his forehead remained hot to the touch, i would glance at the clock on the wall and count the time it took the doctor to show up.

Other feelings:

1. Exhaustion / Weariness
2. Frustration
3. Anger
4. Negativity
5. Sadness

Ways to combat reactions:

1. benedryl
2. advil
3. steroids
4. zantac
5. yogurt
6. humidifier
7. throat spray
8. cool water and wash cloth for bathing the skin and cooling down the body
9. water
10. ice

I used all these things with my son, praying the whole time that it would all work and soothe him. When he wasn't sleeping, he was drinking water or taking medicine. I hated the ordeal, but the Sulpha meds were being processed out of his body any way it could. I watched his skin tighten and the pores open wide releasing the poison out of his body every way it could.

It was scary. I kept vigil through the night, kept him in my room, waking and sleeping with him as much as needed to make sure he was comfortable. My son lost three days then had to be taken back to another ER where they changed his meds yet again because he'd developed a rash and intense type of tingling, itching that bordered on pain.

Quick 5 tips:

Needless to say he recovered and i was grateful for the meds but the top five things that i would recommend when dealing with any sick person is to:

1. Pray for wisdom and peace
2. Make sure they are comfortable
3. Have water and ice on hand
4. Allow them to sleep as much as needed
5. Follow drug instructions but use common sense