Dear All, This is a follow up to a previous question.
My son was put on a sulfa-based antibiotic. He took 3 doses over 1 1/2 days. He had an allergic reaction. He developed a rash over most of his body -- mostly on his lower face, arms and legs.
I just read -- that in contradiction to what the dr. told us -- the drug causes some photosensitivity to the sun. Although he was in the shade those days, he was a bit in the sun as we live in a sunny climate. so his rash could have been made worse by this???
My question...how long does an antibiotic stay in the system? If indeed he developed a slight burn on top of the rash :( what do you recommend I put on it to help it heal faster?
I am confused here as I have a great doctor who gave us wrong advice so I don't know whom to trust on how to care for my son.
Thanks for advice. Please, nothing negative.
Thank you. Jilly
depends on the drug....Zpacs are taken for 5 days, but stay in the system for 10 days according to my dr.
It all depends on the med as to how long it stays in the system. And the pharmasist should have told you side effects and given you a print out. But I know all don't tell you everything you need to know. When my kids get rashes no matter where they are at (Unless close to eyes) I put Budros (SP) butt paist on it. It helps their rashes go away fast. That's what I would try. Also I would give him yogert with live cultures in it. That is supposed to give him back the good bactrias that the antibiotic took out. Not sure if they will help his rash but will help his system in the long run. Or give him asadophalis.
Good luck and God Bless!!
How long it stays in the system can depend on how efficiently your body breaks it down and clears it out. Meanwhile, aloe vera and tea tree oil are useful for treating rashes and burns (tea tree oil is strong so some natural cream that includes that with other ingredients would be ideal). Doctors are very much fallible - in my view the use of antibiotics was unnecessary in the 1st place, as there are other ways of clearing out infections using less expensive and more natural substances and changing one's diet. My overall advice is to research and educate yourself rather than trusting blindly what health care practitioners say - their education is flawed and many are too busy to give adequate attention and care to providing the best treatment, even though they may be great well-intentioned people.
i'll tell you what happened to me this summer. I got a staph infection from a spider bite. doc prescribed Bactrim. I started taking it and I thought the staph was spreading. all of a sudden the half inch wide spot on my inner elbow went all the way up my arm, and roughly 30 spots of varying sizes all over my chest, back, breasts and a couple on my legs popped up. they were horrible looking. went back to the doc after about 5 days because my husband was freaking out. different doc saw me, thought i had MRSA and admitted me to the hospital for IV antibiotics. They had an infectious disease doc check me out. He is the one who said it was not MRSA (though they cultured one of the spots just to be sure) but a bad allergy to sulfa. he put me on a strong IV steroid and the huge "rash" on my arm was almost gone after a few days in the hospital on the IV meds. They gave me Triamcinalone 0.1% cream to use and it worked amazingly well!!! It is a steriod cream/ointment. They also prescribed it to one of my twins a few months ago to help with his eczema. you can put it on their body just not the face. maybe they can call some in for him? so sorry, I know how painful/uncomfortable it was for me.
p.s....it took a little over a month for all of my rash to clear up and that was with putting the ointment on 2 times a day. I took 2 doses a day for 6 days though so I dont know if that is why it took so long for mine to clear up, but I also have a lot of allergies so maybe that also factored in, i'm not sure. I hope you little one clears up soon!!!!!! maybe also try the Aveeno Oatmeal baths, they are super soothing!
Good morning, no need for anything negative. I have allergies to sulfa drugs and tetracycline. The tetracycline allergy didn't develop until about five years ago when I broke out in hives over my whole body. I stopped taking the meds and also took some benadryl for a couple of days. Not sure about the histamine response with tetracycline but it did clear up in a couple of days. I didn't do anything topical because that would have been my whole body.
I work with physicians every day and they just assume you know or will be counseled by the pharmacist for a new medication. Good luck!
I'm sorry. I don't have any idea about how long it would last. Hopefully, it goes away soon. But I will say that the doctors just gave my dog a shot of a new antibiotic that stays in the system for 2 WEEKS. That's so cool, for the dog LOL. So if that's awesome and considered very long, then your son should be better soon.
Hi J.,
It will heal about the same time that any skin abrasion takes. I discovered a product called Solar Recovery in a beach store that restores the moisture to the skin and prevents burning and peeling. It was almost a miracle and very reasonable...about 7 dollars. And yes, even a little sun can cause a reaction (I was on sulfa drugs as a kid...).
Please be aware that anyone that has reations to sulfa drugs can develop an allergy to latex. It is a progressive allergy so it sneaks up on you. My sister had this happen to her and we learned a lot about it. To complicate matters there is sooooo much synthetic latex in everything now. The stretchy clothes, shoes, EVERY sock...the elastics are not made with real latex anymore.
Just an FYI, doctors can't educate themselves on drugs as much as they used to simply because there are so many more now. It's hard to keep up. Double check them all with your pharmacist and triple check online before administering anything new.
So sorry he's having trouble. I used to react to almost everything so I can relate :(
God Bless,
M.
I got a horrible sun reaction on sulfa 30 years ago, sitting in SHADE all day long at a garage sale. It's not a true sunburn, but a reaction in the skin to solar radiation (in my case, radiation reflected from a nearby white house). And for me, it stung like I'd dipped my hands in boiling water, and left scars over my knuckles, as if they'd been in a fire.
I discontinued the medication immediately after calling my doctor, but the burns took another week or two to heal, just like any burn would.
Your pharmacist may be the best source of information on how long the drug actually remains in the system. He/she will be able to look up the half-life of the drug. That's how long it takes the body to break it down and metabolize it by half. That long again for the next half, etc. After four or so of those time-periods, only a small fraction of the drug will be left in the patient's system (and individuals will process drugs somewhat faster or slower).
But if the rash is a sun reaction, the rash itself may take a bit longer to heal.
Hi Jilly,
I want to let you know this experience in case it helps... although it's a bit scary.
I had an allergic reaction to sulfa in my teens. I had hives over most of my body. After a few days it progressed (hives spread internally) so that I could not breathe... I began wheezing when upright, would faint and then when prone the airway opened again. We went to the emergency room and waited it out with no further trouble, I was just hydrated with an IV.
Anyway, watch him closely. A good bit of advice I once heard from a pediatrician regarding kids & sickness is this - If it's serious, you'll observe it getting worse. If it's relatively benign, you'll observe it getting better. Just be a close watcher and best wishes. I hope it will resolve itself with time.
Just a heads up - since he had a reaction to sulpha, watch for any other meds he takes that could also have photosensitivity! If I remember, think either Amoxcillian or Augmentin does as well - I'm allergic so it's been a long time since I've seen those bottles (and little one has been on a good health run)!
