MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
20 November 2006
Does Amoxicillin make anyone else all itchy?→[More:]I have to take it for an ear infection, and it's driving me fucking crazy!
You could probably ask for a different antibiotic if it gets too bad. My problem was that my doctor assumed that I was allergic to something else when I reported my itchiness, and gave me a shot of amoxicillin in addition to the pills, which caused a rather extreme reaction. Damn you, Dr. Petersen!!!
Yes, call your doctor immediately and get on something else. You are allergic. It's possible he will tell you to take an antihistamine, but don't wait until it gets worse, this is potentially very dangerous.
I had a severe allergic reaction to an antibiotic that started with itchy feet and palms. Stop the antibiotic if there's any question, take the antihistimine (the sooner you take it the more effective it is against the allergy), and call your doctor a.s.a.p. If you start to swell or have any problems breathing, go to the emergency room. (I swelled up like Veruca Salt in Chocolate Factory; required I.V. steroids by the time I got to the hospital, a couple hours later; did the trick.)
I've been taking three a day since Friday night. Think it's still that dangerous? I don't actually have a doctor, since I don't have a job or heath insurance. I went to the emergency room for a burst eardrum, and was prescribed the Amoxicyllin and some eardrops--which burned, so I stopped taking them.
I don't know... Not a doc, I'm afraid; I'd still look into it, though. Maybe the ER would switch your medication if you called? You may have to go back in, though. Hope you feel better.
What Specklet said (call the doctor and stop taking it). I once took a med to quit smoking that caused me to itch. After researching on PubMed, I found out my symptoms had led to a few deaths (!!), so the nurse who told me to take antihistamines was slightly wrong. Good luck.
It took my little one 3 days to develop a reaction to amoxicillin. It started as itching and then became frightening looking, but that was the worst of it. I asked if it could kill her and they told me that if all she got was a rash, a rash was all she was going to get. (But that was from a pediatric epidemiologist, so the assessment likely does not apply to you.)
Stop taking it and get something different. Something that doesn't end in "cillin."
And tell them the ear drops burn. It's possible they're supposed to.
Then report back to us and let us know you're OK before taking a nap and healing up.
I've taken amoxycillin a few times and the only side-effect I ever had was that starchy food tasted funny. So I would say your experience is not standard. Oh, I also took some non-penicillin antibiotics once (can't remember the name) and they didn't help at all. YMMV.
It took six weeks of taking wellbutrin xl for me to develop a pretty severe allergic reaction. Once I got the itchies on my hands and feet it was about 6-10 hours before huge welt-like things developed on my arms and legs. By the time I got in to see my doctor a couple hours later those welt-like things were everywhere. There was not an inch on my body that did not itch.
Get your prescription changed! If you have any chest tightness or difficulty breathing get to the ER!
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
