Guest guest Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Thanks for sharing! I had no idea that different antihistamines block different allergic responses. The hydroxyzine would have me totally whacked out for a couple days! Compazine absolutely blew my mind and put me into repeat severe panic/anxiety attacks for years. It might have been complicated by prednisone for a few weeks as well as anticholinergic drugs (this was *many* years ago) but I would not take it now. I usually reach for the 3 or 4 day tapering dose of oral Triamcinolone. > > Hi All, > > This is a bit embarrassing because it turns out I didn't do 1/3 of what you're supposed to do but I'm sharing this because I hope someone else might benefit. On July 4th, we had a big family party outside and as per usual some of my many food allergens were around (watermelon & shrimp) so I thought I'd be fine just avoiding them as much as possible. Well, evidently not because despite just having my Xolair 4 days prior, I broke out in horrific hives - it looked like I was mutating or something. I took 1 25mg atarax(hydroxyzine)and thought that was sufficient to stop the reaction without putting me to sleep (atarax is a powerful sedative in addition to being one of the best antihistamines out there), the hives grew, so 2 hours later I took another 25mg of atarax. The hives continued to grow, up to my chest/neck, so I took another 25mg of atarax 2 hours after that. Then I slept for 9 hours, woke up the next morning with the hives exactly the same size and the same locations as they were the previous day. At that point I remembered that one of the pills (compazine) that I had been prescribed during my pancreatitis bit last fall was also an antihistamine, so I took 10mg of that and the hives seemingly magically disappeared. > > I brought this 'event' up with my doctor when I saw him (for the first time since this happened) this week. I brought it up kinda casually and confident in that I treated it correctly and my pulmo/allergist was like " Meagan you had a mild form of anaphylaxis, you could've gone to the ER. " But he said in the future if that happens again, and I don't go to the ER, not to treat it with just atarax at first because that's an H1 blocker and hives can be caused by H2's. He said that what I'm supposed to do is take 50mg of atarax every 4 hours, 150mg of Zantac (H2 blocker) every 12 hours while symptoms persist and 1 Singulair (which I take daily anyway). So I thought atarax covered hives, and it turns out it doesn't completely. The compazine that I took the next day is an H2 blocker, and my hives were H2 mediated apparently, so that's why the compazine worked so well. > > Anyway, I just wanted to let people know, so that you don't make the same mistake I did. > > Enjoy the rest of the weekend, > Meagan > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2009 Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 This is a perfect example of why you should never self-medicate. Take any and all medicine only as directed by your doctor. Especially don't combine medicines, because you don't know how they interact. You've just shown how taking a medicine that " logic " told you would help your problem made it worse. Sorry to preach. And thanks for the warning about the different forms of anaphylaxis. I had no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2009 Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hives were a regular part of my allergic response pattern as a child; my allergiest never associated them with anaphylaxis. I suspect it varies depending on the nature and length of the response, but I don't know. I took a regular antihistamine for children (I'm assuming it was an H2) that came in liquid form and smelled terrible. I will remember that smell until the day I die. Addy Group co-owner > > I wonder how many of us have had many episodes of mild > anaphlyxsis. Thanks for the advice. I always keep my epi > pens and children's liquid benadryl around plus pepsid, zyrtec, > zofran, etc. It is all so complicated. > I am sooo glad that you recovered. > Best, > Leigh > > > > > ________________________________ > From: instdesgn1 <instdesgn1@...> > > Sent: Sunday, August 9, 2009 4:33:27 PM > Subject: [ ] Re: Forms of Anaphylaxis > > > Thanks for sharing! I had no idea that different antihistamines block different allergic responses. The hydroxyzine would have me totally whacked out for a couple days! Compazine absolutely blew my mind and put me into repeat severe panic/anxiety attacks for years. It might have been complicated by prednisone for a few weeks as well as anticholinergic drugs (this was *many* years ago) but I would not take it now. I usually reach for the 3 or 4 day tapering dose of oral Triamcinolone. > > --- In , " meagainbenny " <meagainbenny@ ...> wrote: > > > > Hi All, > > > > This is a bit embarrassing because it turns out I didn't do 1/3 of what you're supposed to do but I'm sharing this because I hope someone else might benefit. On July 4th, we had a big family party outside and as per usual some of my many food allergens were around (watermelon & shrimp) so I thought I'd be fine just avoiding them as much as possible. Well, evidently not because despite just having my Xolair 4 days prior, I broke out in horrific hives - it looked like I was mutating or something. I took 1 25mg atarax(hydroxyzine) and thought that was sufficient to stop the reaction without putting me to sleep (atarax is a powerful sedative in addition to being one of the best antihistamines out there), the hives grew, so 2 hours later I took another 25mg of atarax. The hives continued to grow, up to my chest/neck, so I took another 25mg of atarax 2 hours after that. Then I slept for 9 hours, woke up the next morning with the hives exactly the same size > and the same locations as they were the previous day. At that point I remembered that one of the pills (compazine) that I had been prescribed during my pancreatitis bit last fall was also an antihistamine, so I took 10mg of that and the hives seemingly magically disappeared. > > > > I brought this 'event' up with my doctor when I saw him (for the first time since this happened) this week. I brought it up kinda casually and confident in that I treated it correctly and my pulmo/allergist was like " Meagan you had a mild form of anaphylaxis, you could've gone to the ER. " But he said in the future if that happens again, and I don't go to the ER, not to treat it with just atarax at first because that's an H1 blocker and hives can be caused by H2's. He said that what I'm supposed to do is take 50mg of atarax every 4 hours, 150mg of Zantac (H2 blocker) every 12 hours while symptoms persist and 1 Singulair (which I take daily anyway). So I thought atarax covered hives, and it turns out it doesn't completely. The compazine that I took the next day is an H2 blocker, and my hives were H2 mediated apparently, so that's why the compazine worked so well. > > > > Anyway, I just wanted to let people know, so that you don't make the same mistake I did. > > > > Enjoy the rest of the weekend, > > Meagan > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2009 Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 > > Hives were a regular part of my allergic response pattern > as a child; my allergiest never associated them with > anaphylaxis. I suspect it varies depending on the nature > and length of the response, but I don't know. > > I took a regular antihistamine for children (I'm > assuming it was an H2) that came in liquid form and > smelled terrible. I will remember that smell until the > day I die. > > Addy > Group co-owner > > > Addy, I remember taking Tedral in liquid form in the 60's, It was thick, yellow and tasted like licorice, which I HATE! I will NEVER forget that taste either. YUCK! For you younger people who have never heard of this OLD asthma drug, here is a website telling what it is: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DR600409 Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2009 Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 > > my sister was given tedral in tablet form....a very small tablet. I remember having to take one on time when I had an asthma attack. it made me very shaky. I was probably about 9 or 10 at the time. I can still remember curling up in the big living room chair and sleeping after my breathing settled down a bit. Wow...that was a long time ago! > I remember as a small child in the early 60's how my mom used to take me into a steam filled bathroom to try and help my breathing. Also, she would rock me in her arms and sing hymns of comfort to me. Another pill I took was Quadrinal. It was very similar to Tedral. http://www.medications.com/drugs/quadrinal To me, those were the covered wagon days in asthma treatment. Today, I live a normal life thanks to Xolair Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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