eerw Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 OK..wife just had an emergency gall bladder surgery. all seems well from that. but in the last 12 hours or so, she has broken out in hives. she has never been allergic to pain meds before, but we have switched them twice trying to find the cause of the hives and given her zrtec and benadryl as directed by the doctor. She still has the hives. so far all on the skin surface, no problems with breathing or swallowing. anyone had any experience with something like this after a surgery? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skydiver Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Is your wife just on pain meds, or is she also on some antibiotic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 We worry about my wife as well. She gets violently ill if she takes most pain meds with codeine and she has been to the ER twice after taking popular antibiotics. As it turns out she is allergic to nearly every known antibiotic we have used. Terrible hives, tight chest, shortness of breath and her hands completely swelled up and now she has arthritis in her hands from it. The antibiotics basically poisoned her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Darvocet does the hive thing to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeMartens Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 My wife is allergic to sulfa, and this causes her the itching and hives and we always have to tell them this Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 If she is still in the hospital, it could be as simple as whatever the hospital washes its sheets/linens/pillow cases in. I have a special needs niece...prior to every trip to the ER with her they call ahead to make sure that they switch the sheets and pillow cases on the bed before she is admitted either into the ER and/or upstairs. otherwise, my niece does break out all hives like. and ...AND! this is a stretch I know...but your wife could have an allergy to the latex gloves or the powder in the latex gloves that the nurses/staff are wearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinj308 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Codeine does it to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyro Shooter Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 many meds could have this effect. pain meds , anti inflammatory, antibiotics , keep up with the doctors every few hours. keep calling the Insurance company patient advocate. . . . squeaky wheel = better medical care. . . if nothing else just to get you to stop calling and bothering them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Stu, The fact that she has hives but no associated difficulty breathing or chest tightness is indicative that this is not a systemic response but rather a localized reaction. Possibly to linens, surgical cleansers (betadine, hibiclens, chlorhexadyne etc), bandaging materials, tape and adhesives. I am assuming she had the cholesystectomy done by laparascope which could mean quite a large surface was exposed to these. Are her hives completely covering her body? or only localized to a smaller region? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck223 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Darvocet does the hive thing to me. The good(?) news is I believe Darvon and it's preparations were removed from the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Texas Granny Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Darvocet does the hive thing to me. The good(?) news is I believe Darvon and it's preparations were removed from the market. My understanding is that it was at least according to my letter from the VA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck223 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Darvocet does the hive thing to me. The good(?) news is I believe Darvon and it's preparations were removed from the market. My understanding is that it was at least according to my letter from the VA. I've never needed it, but I believe it's still available up here. If i got the story right, the FDA were concerned about some respiratory complications in a small number of patients. The US based doctor i heard it from was PO'd about it. While not as potent as the opiates, he would prescribe it to some of his patients who had negative reactions to codiene. For some older folks, having a healthy dump in the morning was more important than a bit of pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heckler Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 she has never been allergic to pain meds before, but we have switched them twice trying to find the cause of the hives and given her zrtec and benadryl as directed by the doctor. She still has the hives. so far all on the skin surface, no problems with breathing or swallowing. After an emergency appendectomy, the doctor switched me from morphine to Lortab. I had never been allergic to Lortab previous to then or since then, possibly the anesthesia caused it? When I took it I broke out in hives, my pulse raced, and I sweated profusely. I thought they had overdosed me. They switched me back to morphine for another couple days until I could come off pain meds all together. I have heard anesthesia can cause strange issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eerw Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 OK.. Good news is she is feeling better. It looks like the anesthesia mixing with the pain killers was causing the hives. Day 3 now the anesthesia seems out of her system and the pain killers are not causing any problems now. whew..but that is some crazy stuff.. Thanks for all the information and experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeMartens Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Glad to hear Stu, hope everything works out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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