Best listed "allergy" yet

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TrumpetDoc

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I almost fell laughed right in the room :

Allergies; Carbon.

Asked for more detail and she was adamant about it.


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I had a guy last week that was allergic to haldol. It makes him sleepy.
 
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Last month I actually had a patient tell me she is allergic to Dilaudid. Seriously.

I have joked for years about seekers who are allergic to all non-Dilaudid medications including IV fluid, and then a couple of months ago I had a patient insist that she is indeed allergic to IV fluid ("the latex in the bag" which meant that I had to give all her meds PO, heh heh).
 
"I am allergic to nerves"

Before I could ask my first question bout it, lady became belligerent and said she didn't want to explain herself.
 
Had a chick who was allergic to "pills."
 
I hesitate to post this, because I find the word so offensive. But the story is too good to resist. I once asked an agitated patient about allergies (as the nurse was drawing up some Haldol) and he said, "Yeah, I'm allergic to f@ggots, so get the f*ck away from me!"

It pretty much made my day, and I suppose that's a big part of what makes me an ER doc.
 
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"I'm allergic to alcohol. It makes me break out in handcuffs."
 
Oxygen...

I've seen two sides of this one.

Person 1: Crazy.... Actually just meant they didn't like the way the NC felt. But since nurses (or worse, the MA/CNA) get to the allergy list before I do, oxygen it is. I deleted it.

Person 2: History of testicular cancer, now with Bleomycin pulm toxicity and had been warned about getting high O2 concentration. But since the EMR only lists oxygen and makes no distinction between allergies and sensitivities...there you go...oxygen allergy. I added a comment about bleo toxicity and left it.
 
1. All non narcotics

2. Oxygen

3. Saline

4. All non DI water

5. Benadryl

6. zofran- it makes me vomit

7. Narcotics- unless its pushed into my IV
 
Took care of an old cardiac surgeon once with the following allergies:

-Epinephrine: makes my heart race

-Succinylcholine: makes me stop breathing

-Ativan: makes me sleepy

-NSAIDs: GI bleeding

-Senna/colace/miralax: diarrhea

-Lasix: excessive urination

-Nitroprusside: hypotension


Pretty much the most awesome list of allergies and something I can only aspire to list someday
 
My favorite listed allergy that was officially listed is "trace metals". I've actually seen this one a couple of times. I'm not sure how one knows they are allergic to "trace metals" or even how one could avoid them....
 
Luv em!
Have "heard" of the O2 but never encountered myself...yet ;)


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had to have a big workup before having a spine implant (i get reactions to nickel so i had to make sure i wasn't allergic to various other things - LONG story, and the moral is - don't get a recurrent annular tear!)... so i have quite an impressive list of allergies. i don't list them all anywhere but at the allergist/dermatologist b/c i know they'll think i'm nuts - but they're legit and don't require me to have any fancy treatment, just avoid certain things.

one of them is glutaraldehyde - used in cold sterilization solution. apparently it's 8x more common in healthcare workers.

another is azithromycin - and i swear it's true. i felt crazy when i realized that it was my only med change and i had the worst pruritis... that required steroids (leading to feeling insane, as usual) and went away exactly 10 days after i'd started the damn zpack for an asthma flare w/ nasty productive cough. lucky me, an asthmatic who's allergic to azithro!

stated allergies to prednisone, benadryl, and "all antibiotics" are some of my favorites. those people are impossible w/ whom to reason.

i do feel fortunate in that i have no idea if i'm allergic to haldol. love it when a patient claims no psych hx, but an allergy to haldol/geodon/clozapine. things that make you go hmmmm....
 
1) Orange Juice - unless there's vodka in it

2) Lortab 5 and 7.5,-- "I can only take the 10s"
 
Here's my favorite: I asked an old guy if he had allergies and he said "Only to commies!"

Last week I had a lady that had a listed allergy to cortisol. I called bs on that and gave her decadron for her nearly obstructing strep throat.

Love this thread...
 
I had my first patient say she was allergic to dilaudid yesterday and that it gave her a rash. Plus, it was her only allergy. I never thought I'd see the day.
 
Patient who was allergic to glucose. Was he anaerobic? I don't know.
 
don't feel bad, I'm also macrolide allergic and pen allergic (confirmed by testig), with chidhood rashes to 1st gen cephalosporin and sulfadrugs I hate going to the ER and listing my allergies as it makes me look crazy =p.

had to have a big workup before having a spine implant (i get reactions to nickel so i had to make sure i wasn't allergic to various other things - LONG story, and the moral is - don't get a recurrent annular tear!)... so i have quite an impressive list of allergies. i don't list them all anywhere but at the allergist/dermatologist b/c i know they'll think i'm nuts - but they're legit and don't require me to have any fancy treatment, just avoid certain things.

one of them is glutaraldehyde - used in cold sterilization solution. apparently it's 8x more common in healthcare workers.

another is azithromycin - and i swear it's true. i felt crazy when i realized that it was my only med change and i had the worst pruritis... that required steroids (leading to feeling insane, as usual) and went away exactly 10 days after i'd started the damn zpack for an asthma flare w/ nasty productive cough. lucky me, an asthmatic who's allergic to azithro!

stated allergies to prednisone, benadryl, and "all antibiotics" are some of my favorites. those people are impossible w/ whom to reason.

i do feel fortunate in that i have no idea if i'm allergic to haldol. love it when a patient claims no psych hx, but an allergy to haldol/geodon/clozapine. things that make you go hmmmm....
 
im allergic to amoxicillin but not penicillin they only figured that out when i had an anaphalactic reaction to it and an epipen didn't do the job! yet each time i'm admitted to hospital...(i get lots of reading done) they don't put down that i'm allergic
 
Succinylcholine - "makes me stop breathing"
 
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Rendar -

i've had rashes from keflex and bactrim as well - but i don't list them as allergies b/c i don't want to be flagged as pcn allergic b/c i'm not. they were drug rashes.... so while i prefer not to take them, if there's no other choice i'd have to just live w/ the rash.
 
Something you will only see while doing a residency in Tennessee...

Allergies:
Squirrel = vomiting


Is there any other physiologic response to squirrel ingestion?
 
People can be allergic to epinephrine. Some people are allergic to the serum proteins in it when it's isolated from horses.

A lot of people who are allergic to synthetic hormones are allergic to the chemicals used to produce them.

One of my family member's became anaphylactic after being prescribed steroids for a viral URI with a pretty nasty cough. Ended up needing an epinephrine shot. Cleared up. Doc ordered a shot of Solu-Medrol and he immediately anaphylaxed, had to be intubated, and placed on an epi drip.

Be careful about dismissing allergies to meds we normally treat allergies with.
 
People can be allergic to epinephrine. Some people are allergic to the serum proteins in it when it's isolated from horses.

A lot of people who are allergic to synthetic hormones are allergic to the chemicals used to produce them.

One of my family member's became anaphylactic after being prescribed steroids for a viral URI with a pretty nasty cough. Ended up needing an epinephrine shot. Cleared up. Doc ordered a shot of Solu-Medrol and he immediately anaphylaxed, had to be intubated, and placed on an epi drip.

Be careful about dismissing allergies to meds we normally treat allergies with.

Completely agree. Benadryl is another one. Often they are allergic to one of the chemicals in the PO form but can take IV, others can't have either. I had a family member who had an anaphylactic reaction to benadryl. I usually ask the patient for specifics or if they've ever had IV before and if they had any problems.

Now for contribution: Saline

And to the above - was the CT surgeon joking? He had to have known those were all side effects. It actually sounds like a great joke to do at some point!
 
Potassium.

Epinephrine - "It makes my heart race"
 
radio-opque contrast was one i heard today. i was doing a quick History in radiology and asked if the pt had had contrast before she said yes so i asked if she was allergic and she said yes so i proceeded to ask what happens and she panicked and said 'i just can't have it i glow and go see-through' so thats what i wrote down...'glows and becomes transparent' they called psych!
 
radio-opque contrast was one i heard today. i was doing a quick History in radiology and asked if the pt had had contrast before she said yes so i asked if she was allergic and she said yes so i proceeded to ask what happens and she panicked and said 'i just can't have it i glow and go see-through' so thats what i wrote down...'glows and becomes transparent' they called psych!

The problem arises is that nurses list everything stated by the patient as an "allergy". They should only list ACTUAL allergies, like things which cause hives, rashes, difficulty breathing, throat swelling or severe GI symptoms. "feelling funny" or my favourite "it makes me crazy!" are not allergies and should not even be seriously recorded as such.
 
im not a nurse, i have a history in radiology and have done history taking for contrast MRI, CT and angio's before but you occassionally get the ones that are new to the service and i did ask my senior if this was a new patient or a FF but she was new and for some odd reason they document it all.
 
True to the above. Lots of potential real allergies to the adulterated or even simple preservatives etc in meds.

I never blow off allergies, but I do ten to u quite as to the the actual reaction.

Iodine! Is another.


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People can be allergic to epinephrine. Some people are allergic to the serum proteins in it when it's isolated from horses.

A lot of people who are allergic to synthetic hormones are allergic to the chemicals used to produce them.

One of my family member's became anaphylactic after being prescribed steroids for a viral URI with a pretty nasty cough. Ended up needing an epinephrine shot. Cleared up. Doc ordered a shot of Solu-Medrol and he immediately anaphylaxed, had to be intubated, and placed on an epi drip.

Be careful about dismissing allergies to meds we normally treat allergies with.

Yeah, my epi allergy was actually "tachycardia" though when given it for anaphylaxis
 
Yeah, my epi allergy was actually "tachycardia" though when given it for anaphylaxis

That's not an allergy. The reason this is important, is that often these meds are medically necessary and we seriously limit ourselves if we confuse the non-harmful "reaction" with a potentially serious allergy.
 
knew a nurse in residency who was allergic to a preservative in racemic epi... and she worked in the PICU! saw her in the ED once... this was a children't hospital and i was the only EM resident on. peds residents wouldn't go near her b/c she was a grown up.
 
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