Penicillin Alergy

I'm allergic to penicillian and I vomit if I take it. My son gets a bad body rash. There is no test and my second son is not allergic. So you just have try it and keep an eye on it. I don't think he would have died from it.
I don't think the dr should apologize and he is doing things by the book as far as I know (from experience).

Im deathly allergic to peniciilin and all cillins and had the same worry. My DD was in the hospital for a month after she was born and was on an ampicillin IV the whole time. I asked the docs if she could be allergic to it because I am and he said its not likely. She never had any reactions to any cillin medicines but did have convulsions from a muscle relaxer they gave her.

I don't think drug allergies necessarily follow from one generation to the next. I am allergic to sulfa, but my son is allergic to amoxicillin. My husband is allergic to neither. So, by your logic, my son SHOULD have been given amoxicillin and not sulfa, but the truth is, he needs the opposite.

I don't think there is a test for drug allergies. Your son had a reaction but not anaphylaxis, so I don't think he was even close to dying from it. He got a rash/hives, you did the right thing. But it could easily have happened if he was given a different antibiotic.

I am allergic to "cillins" also and non of my three have showed me that they are allergic to it also. They have had their fair share of ear infections. I was also told by my doctor that there is no need to worry. So I think your sons Pediatrician was doing just fine. Sorry you had to deal witht his with your son, itis no fun for me to go through the reaction and it had to have been hard for him.

My dad is highly allergic to penicillian (not just a rash but life threatening allergy). He can not have any derivative (no amoxil etc). None of his 5 children are allergic nor his 8 grandchildren.

My point is that your doctor was right that he was not necessarily allergic because your hubby is. Just like with any medicine, he had to try it to know if it was a problem and many times penicillan is the best antibotic for certain illnesses (ear infections and strep throat).

When my daughter was young and seeing her Pediatrician, I made it a point to tell them that my father is allergic to penicillin. They wrote it down, and every time she needed meds (she needed meds a lot; she was always sick), the fact of penicillin-attack came up, and she was always put on sulfer drugs.

In fact, we did try her on Amoxycillin when she was two; she developed something (I can't remember what now, probably a rash), and the doctor took her off it right away and put her on something else. It was over a year before they tried any type of penicillin again, and then she was okay. We're not quite sure why the Amoxycillin didn't work the first time, but suspect she might have had a secondary infection that mimicked a reaction.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make is that a doctor should take any type of reaction--especially to medicine--very, very seriously, especially in young children and babies. If it were me, I would find a different pediatrician. I'd want a doctor who was interested in keeping my baby safe. Doctors are NOT God. And they shouldn't pretend to be. If he never apologized now, is he going to apologize if your son dies because of an allergic reaction? I'd think stronglly and deeply about this. No doctor should be so cavalier about something that's so potentially life-threatening.

It's very unfortunate and scary, but I think your doctor is right. Everyone in my family has allergies to antibiotics, but we all have reactions to different ones. I have always been told by various specialists that the tendency to develop an allergy is hereditary, but an allergy to a specific drug is not genetic. Unless you have reasons to be unhappy with this doctor for other reasons, I wouldn't necessarily switch doctors because of this incident.

I'm sorry, this was unbelievably irresponsible of your doctor, in my opinion. My boys' father and I are both allergic to pennicillin - mildly so. My doctor has in my boys' charts that we are allergic to it and so they don't even attempt to prescribe it for them. They have had derivatives, but not the main thing, and I intend to keep it that way. My doctor said the same thing, that just because we are allergic, doesn't mean that they will be, but chose the safe side. With your husband having a severe allergy to it, I'm horrified that the doctor even suggested it, much less prescribed it.
If it were me, I'd switch doctors and / or triple check with the pharmacist on every prescription I fill.

My husband's family is highly allergic to pennicillan. All our doctors know up front that we do not allow pennicillian antibiotics to be given to our kids. They say it's not herditary, but we don't chance it. There is a skin test that can be done, but usually not until the child is older. I think that some day we will have our kids tested, but for now better safe than sorry.
As far as the doctor goes, while I would have been dissapointed in the doctor it isn't his fault. After all you knew ahead of time it was pennicillan and still gave it to your child. My SIL's daighter is allergic to pennicillan and the doctor perscribed an antibiotic with benadryl to counteract the allegy. For future reference that might be something to ask the doctor. If your son needs penn. for something if he can take zyrtec or benadryl as well. Just know there are many other meds out there that don't have penn, but work very well. You don't have to give your child penn, if you don't want to and it makes you uncomfortable.

I'm severely allergic to Sulfa based antibiotics. Throat swells...very scary experience. Our pediatrician knows about my allergy but both kids have been prescribed those meds. The allergies are not hereditary so you just have to try it and know what to look for. I think the doctor was completely appropriate with the treatment and would not need to apologize for something like this. If you decide you don't trust your Dr.'s judgement, it would be better to look for a new doctor.

I think your Dr. is right. I am allergic to Pennicilin but neither of my children are. I was worried about it too the first time it was perscribed but I think you at least have to give it a try to find out because it is the best for fighting infection. A Dr. doesn't have a crystal ball and it's not his fault your son is allergic. You can't just assume something like that.

My husband and I are both allergic to penicillian but our daughter is not. It's not genetic.

Hi Z.,
Sorry to hear you had such a scarey experience with your son. I too am allergic to penicillin and have had the rash that you described. Every time I take my children to a doctor I tell them that, but they tell me the same thing - that allergies to penicillin are not genetic or inherited. As far as I know there is no test - expect for exposing them to penicillin-based products. So it doesn't sound like your doctor did anything wrong medically speaking. If you have had a good experience with him in the last 4 years I would give him another chance. I hope that your son feels better soon!

Hi Z., I'm severely allergic to penicillin also. All three of my kids were given it for some reason or another even though I was sure to tell them about my allergy. Only one of the three turned out to be allergic. I think it's pretty common practice. It's still the cheapest easiest most effective antibiotic available.

Still if you don't like the way your ped handled it, perhaps time for a new one?

:)

Allergies are genetic yes, but not the specific allergy. So, because your husband has an allergy simply increases your son's likelihood of having ANY allergy (drug, food, seasonal). My husband and I are both allergic to sulfa, and my daughter has a severe peanut allergy -- no drug reactions so far. Any future children we might have will have an even higher chance of ANY allergy, not just sulfa or peanut. That's the worst part of allergies, there's really no rhyme or reason to who gets what allergy and why.

We just recently had my son tested for allergies to amoxycillin because of strong family histories of allergies to penicillin (both on my side as well as my husband's side). We had an incident when he was an infant on amoxycillin that scared us so up until now, we have avoided it. The allergist did the test (my son is 5). They did a skin test just like they do for other allergies. When that one came back ok, they gave him a small amount of med. to drink and then monitored him for 30 minutes. He didn't have a reaction to that so they said he's probably fine. I never knew there was a test they could do until his pediatrician told me about it and recommended we have it done. Good luck and glad your son is ok!