You know those drug commercials where they end with, "Do not take XXX if you are allergic to XXX...?" Sadly, you don't know that you are allergic to XXX until you experience some pretty significant medical events.
In hindsight, I probably wouldn't go down this road again, but I can't back it up now.
Timeline:
October 25 Endoscopy - For the past four years I have had a hoarse throat and I could no longer carry a tune. Seriously, my singing voice sounds awful. My doctor said it was just silent acid reflux. In the past six months, my symptoms have increased such that I hear crackling in my throat when I lay down, I hear other crazy wheezing sounds too. Hiking this year has been much more difficult as I struggled to catch my breath.
November 8 Endoscopy Follow up - My doctor noted that I do have silent acid reflux and started me on Prilosec and referred me to an ENT Doctor.
November 14 ENT appointment with Dr. Cavanaugh - Met with the ENT where he switched me to Pepcid AC instead of Prilosec. Confirmed the silent acid reflux diagnosis and gave me dietary changes to make.
November 26 - Felt very impressed to STOP taking the Pepcid AC as it seemed to be causing some painful side effects.
December 3 - Woke up with a crazy itchy burning rash on my head, neck, and torso. Started taking lots of Benadryl just to get through the day.
December 4 - Woke up with a spreading rash that was now on my face, lips and starting to progress in my mouth. My throat felt as though there was something in it.
Chris was in Las Vegas for the week, so I was pretty much on my own. I felt very impressed to go to Urgent Care ASAP. They got me in quickly, and even before the nurse had finished checking me, she had the PA come in and look at my throat to make sure that it wasn't requiring emergency intervention.
They gave me a steroid shot in my hip and another shot akin to Benadryl in my arm. They watched me for a bit to make sure I was ok and sent me home noting that if my ability to breath got worse I should go to the ER. I should have been sleeping for the afternoon with the Benadryl, but I wasn't a bit sleepy. I continued with allergy meds morning and night plus Benadryl through the day per their instructions.
Leaving urgent care
My sleep was minimal with the itching and burning. Even the steroid cream was not effective.
I called the ENT office and left a message letting them know what was going on. I mentioned that I had stopped the Pepcid AC.
December 5 - Woke up without much change in my condition. Pretty much just endured the day with lots of Benadryl as best I could.
I called the ENT office again because they hadn't called me back. The medical assistant I talked to said that after a week of stopping the Pepcid AC it was highly unlikely that it was causing the allergic reaction.
December 6 - Woke up with the rash now presenting on my arms and forming hives.
I called my Doctor's office because I just couldn't handle the itching and burning anymore. And I was obviously NOT getting better. I was routed first to a scheduling nurse from the scheduling switchboard. I was able to tell her all that was going on. Even before I scheduled an appointment, this nurse listened to all that I was going through and got me an appointment for the afternoon with another doctor in the office who was available. She scheduled the appointment for me for 2:20 pm and requested the office call if there was a cancellation earlier in the day.
I received a call from the Doctor that they had a cancellation that moved my appointment up 40 minutes. It wasn't much, but I was grateful for any help.
Chris was on his way home from the airport and met me at the office. Allison Klein was the PA who saw me and was so helpful. Any of the doctors who have seen my back and rashes have just groaned and noted how uncomfortable it looked.
I received another steroid shot and an extra strength dose of Benadryl as a shot. After the shot, I quickly made the 10-minute drive home because they said the Benadryl could start making me sleepy within a short amount of time. It didn't.
Allison Klein sent a bunch of prescriptions to Costco which Chris was kind enough to pick up for me. I am now the proud owner of epi pins in case I have a severe reaction again with airway compromise.
I am so glad Chris was home. I think I had reached my breaking point.
I did start to feel better after an hour or so.
Allison Klein called around 5:30 to let me know that in her research she did feel as though I had an allergic reaction to the Pepcid AC and that I was not able to metabolize it and that it triggered an accumulation in my system. She found cases where symptoms of rash did not appear until 7-10 days after stopping a medication.
December 7 - Today, I am still itchy but the rash that appeared last on my arms is starting to recede. It is still on my front and back but improved.
Moral of the story: Listen to your impressions. Stopping the Pepcid AC was essential. I am still suffering through the allergy, but it could have been so much worse.