# Antibiotic warning FYI



## mrghostwalker (Sep 17, 2009)

Those of you who are allergic to Penicillin and/or Sulfa drugs should avoid Ceftin (Cephalosporin).
While most people can tolerate Ceftin without any problems, those who are allergic to Penicillin or Sulfa drugs have a 1 in 10 chance of developing an allergy to Ceftin. The problem it that you can take it once or twice without having a reaction. It often builds up over time. 
I myself have had it prescribed at 3 different times over the years and been fine. The 4th time it was prescribed for a sinus infection. Again I was fine until about 4 days after finishing it. Then my hands swelled up and got very painful and I was covered in hives. I went on steroids to clear it up but after finishing the steroids the hives came back. So far I've had three series of steroids and the hives and swelling have just returned for a 4th visit. Now I have to see an Allergist to find out why my body is still hypersensitive.
I'm trying to imagine dealing with an allergic reaction when there are no doctors...
Too bad, Ceftin worked really well.


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## drfacefixer (Mar 8, 2013)

mrghostwalker said:


> Those of you who are allergic to Penicillin and/or Sulfa drugs should avoid Ceftin (Cephalosporin).
> While most people can tolerate Ceftin without any problems, those who are allergic to Penicillin or Sulfa drugs have a 1 in 10 chance of developing an allergy to Ceftin. The problem it that you can take it once or twice without having a reaction. It often builds up over time.
> I myself have had it prescribed at 3 different times over the years and been fine. The 4th time it was prescribed for a sinus infection. Again I was fine until about 4 days after finishing it. Then my hands swelled up and got very painful and I was covered in hives. I went on steroids to clear it up but after finishing the steroids the hives came back. So far I've had three series of steroids and the hives and swelling have just returned for a 4th visit. Now I have to see an Allergist to find out why my body is still hypersensitive.
> I'm trying to imagine dealing with an allergic reaction when there are no doctors...
> Too bad, Ceftin worked really well.


Yep. There is a 10 % cross reactivity of the cephalosporin class if you have an allergy to the penicillin class. That pretty much means that fish antibiotics are a no go. There's not a great choice for aerobic coverage when you take out these two classes. Doxy will cover some aerobic but leaves so gaping holes which may select to worsen the infection. There are plenty of other great choices just not in the realm of fish abx. The penicillins and cephalosporins are usually first choice in head and neck infections because the are well tolerated (few side effects) , work well, and best of all extremely cheap. this is one of the many reasons playing with antibiotics can be horrendously scary. Can you imagine taking it and having a tendon rupture? Or taking another and ending up with a colostomy bag? Most of the times this isn't the outcome, but there are some real dangers as with any medication.


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