Antibiotic Allergy - Is Desensitization Possible?

I am allergic to the penicillin family (has put me into shock) as well as sulfur based antibiotics and list of other drugs. I am also allergic to any of the -caine family of painkillers. Add to that breastfeeding as well. There are many options available. The doctor just needs to be willing to do their job, which I have sadly seen some that aren't willing.
In the past we've run into doctors that just won't move outside of their bubble for myself and my son who's also allergic to penicillin. You have to be proactive and assertive to get the doctors to look further than their "go to" options.
I have some good doctors now that have taken the time to find what I can safely take if I need anything.
There is nothing you can do to become less allergic to these types of medication and the reaction can and most likely will get worse the more you take it.

Actually, the more you're exposed to those antibiotics the worse the allergic reactions will be. These aren't like contact allergies aka skin contact/seasonal allergies where you can go get injections that build up tolerance. There are other families of antibiotics that can be taken and are just as effective. My mother can't take any form of -cillin at all and there's a wide range of antibiotics she can still take.

This is an issue that her current doctor will have to research and consult with other doctors about. That's what they do. He may very well refer her to a specialist for her condition, whatever it is, and that would be a good thing. A general practitioner may not be the way to go with this, but a specialist.

No, these type of allergies cannot be desensitized, and they get progressively worse, my mother, daughter and cousin being personal examples, and from what I've read and been told. They can progress to anaphyactic shock where a person's heart stops. There are other antibiotics available. Make sure she wears a medical alert bracelet noting her allergy at all times.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001847/

I am allergic to almost everything under the sun and thankfully I am able to have some meds----The doctors make me a coctail--and that helps. But I haven't been able to get desensitized so that I could take pcn, amox, or any of the others.....

Hi B., there are so very many different antibiotics and pain killers available now (so many you've never even heard of) it's likely her docs will find something that works for her when the serious need arises. There's also an endless number of alternative measures. Probably her docs have already told her this and it's why she's unconcerned.

:)

I am allergic to leviquin and I just make sure that the drs know what I can and can't have. I was in the hospital with double pneumonia a few years ago and they almost gave it to me and I told them NOOOOOOOOOOOO They said well I might not have the same reaction to it but I was not going to chance it. So they found something else.

.