Medrol (Methylprednisolone)

Unpleasant Surprises

Last week I found out that I'm allergic to sulfa drugs. I have had rosacea for 7 years and my dermatologist thought it was time to try out a new antibiotic - Septra. He told me a few of the side effects, but I only half listened. I'd never had an allergy and didn't expect to have any problems.



On Tuesday, approximately 10 days after I started the medication, I developed a light red rash to the front of my thighs. I thought it was a heat rash at first because I had been exercising. I took a dose of Septra that night and about an hour later I realized that the rash was probably related to the new antibiotic.



The next morning the rash had spread to my stomach. I called in at work and started taking benadryl. I then called my doctor and left a message that I was having a reaction to the medicine he had prescribed. The receptionist told me they were very busy and she would have the office nurse call me back. In the meantime I started researching sulfa drugs and what type of reactions other people had experienced. There were lots of nasty rash pictures that didn't look like mine so I wasn't worried. I figured it would take some time for my body to get the drug out of my system.



At 1pm I still had not heard from the doctors office so I called again to follow up. The receptionist told me they were still very busy, and the nurse would call me soon. I wasn't too worried. I kept taking the benadryl and trying not to scratch. The rash was starting to become a darker red and reminded me of measles. This is what my leg looked like:




The office nurse called back at 6:15pm. I didn't get to the phone in time to answer and it...

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