Herbal Health

The preventive measures outlined here apply to all drug reactions, including allergic.

Most important, if you have allergies, don’t self-medicate. As you can see, some of the most common causes of drug allergy – aspirin and other pain relievers – can be purchased without a prescription at the supermarket or corner store.

When your doctor does the prescribing, the cardinal rule is careful and conservative use of medications: the lowest doses, for as short a time as necessary.

‘The simplest way to reduce or prevent allergic drug reactions is to prescribe medication only when clearly indicated,’ writes Dr DeSwarte in the book, Allergic Diseases (J. B. Lippincott). ‘Medications, especially antibiotics, are often used inappropriately, too frequently and over a prolonged period of time.’

Too many people demand a ‘penicillin shot’ for every little cold or sniffle – unnecessarily upping the odds for an allergic reaction. Dr DeSwarte says that out of a group of thirty people who died from penicillin-induced anaphylaxis, only twelve really required penicillin.

Chances are, though, that sooner or later you will have a legitimate need for medication. Ideally, your doctor should be well versed in adverse reactions to the drugs he or she selects. But a quick glance at the cumbersome volumes which list dozens of possible reactions to thousands of drugs, makes it obvious that no doctor could possibly keep abreast of it all. They must be particularly cautious with newly introduced drugs, and be prepared for reactions which have not yet been reported. Penicillin, for example, was initially regarded as a very low-risk drug. As time passed and more doctors prescribed it, reactions appeared.

You can help your doctor guard against problems by looking up possible side effects yourself. My husband and I, for example, were planning a holiday in the Caribbean, so we asked our family doctor for an antibiotic to take along in the event we came down with Montezuma’s revenge or some other traveller’s scourge. He prescribed Minocin (minocycline hydrochloride), an antibiotic which he told us to take prophylactically – starting three days before we left – to stop any trouble before it began. He said that Minocin was widely used by people like ourselves who were headed for the tropics.

Before going to the chemist to have the prescription filled, I looked up Minocin in Physicians’ Desk Reference, which said that the drug can induce photosensitivity – a skin reaction to sunlight. That could be bad news for two people looking forward to a week of swimming and beachcombing. We took the drug anyway, but the knowledge of a possible reaction prepared us to discontinue its use at the first sign of red or itchy skin.

If you, your child or an elderly parent ever experience a drug reaction of any kind, be sure to jot down the name of the drug (both trade name and chemical name) and how you or they reacted. Ask your doctor or chemist for the names of suitable alternatives and possible hidden sources of related chemicals. Add that information to your home medical file and bring it to the attention of medical personnel should you or your relatives land in a hospital casualty department or change doctors. (That includes dentists.) Better still, buy a tag or card designating drugs to be avoided.

And last, when your doctor takes your medical history and asks if you’re taking any drugs, don’t forget to mention things like mouth-washes, vitamins, birth control pills, menstrual aids and suppositories. When it comes to drug allergy, you just can’t take anything for granted.

With these preventive measures, drugs should do what they’re meant to – help you get healthy again.

*59/65/5*

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Tags: Allergies

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 4:08 am and is filed under Allergies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.