I have a lot of food allergies and I have learned how to be extremely careful when it comes to what I put in my mouth. Because of my extensive allergy list, I don't eat anything my parents, my grandma or I don't prepare myself; that means no restaurants, no dining halls and no prepared foods sections at the grocery store.
Food allergies also pose an issue as far as medications go too. Many medications contain lactose monohydrate. While lactose is a milk sugar, it still has bits of whey and casein attached to it. I have always asked for my prescriptions to be milk free and it has never been a problem. No one had ever messed up with my medications until a few days ago.
I went to the pharmacy to refill my prescription for singulair, like I do every month. This time I got a brown square pill instead of a white round pill. I didn't really question it since they always check my medications and know about my allergies.
Food allergies also pose an issue as far as medications go too. Many medications contain lactose monohydrate. While lactose is a milk sugar, it still has bits of whey and casein attached to it. I have always asked for my prescriptions to be milk free and it has never been a problem. No one had ever messed up with my medications until a few days ago.
I went to the pharmacy to refill my prescription for singulair, like I do every month. This time I got a brown square pill instead of a white round pill. I didn't really question it since they always check my medications and know about my allergies.
Unfortunately, the brown square pill contained enough proteins attached to the lactose to give me an anaphylactic reaction and a bad asthma attack. After about 5 minutes of taking the pill, I could tell something was wrong. I had used my auvi-q after breaking out in a rash and had used my inhaler. Because it was 11:00pm by the time I took the pill and used the auvi-q and was alone, I texted my Student EMS group who I knew were still up since we had just gotten out of a meeting. Plus, they are EMTS and I have full trust in them. Because I am an EMT too, I often a little too stoic and take a while to admit defeat and give into going to the hospital. I was lucky enough to have two friends come over to meet me and check on how I was doing. After continuing to struggle to breathe and my increased use of accessory muscles which was pointed out by one of my friends who was with me, we went to the ER.
Like I said, I tend to be pretty stoic when it comes to being sick. Despite my labored breathing, I didn't want to bother Pittsburgh EMS so with the help of my friends, I walked (and piggy back rode) the five block journey to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital I was promptly taken back to a room and treated.
We didn't get out until 3:45am. This time, the walk back to my apartment seemed a lot shorter. My one friend stayed the night (which was very nice of her) and we woke up at 7:00am for a previously scheduled doctors appointment. So neither of us got much sleep
The main goal of writing this post is to help insure that something like this never happens to anyone else. I am so lucky to have the support of friends who love and care about me and my well being and are willing to spend the night (well I guess morning) with me in the ER. The truth is though, this reaction was completely preventable. Luckily the ER doctor gave me a good way to check ingredients in medications so I can prevent it in the future and help others prevent it too.
If you go to http://www.drugs.com/imprints.php you will go to a window that says pill identifier. You can put in the letters and numbers on your prescription, the shape and color like I have done below.
Like I said, I tend to be pretty stoic when it comes to being sick. Despite my labored breathing, I didn't want to bother Pittsburgh EMS so with the help of my friends, I walked (and piggy back rode) the five block journey to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital I was promptly taken back to a room and treated.
We didn't get out until 3:45am. This time, the walk back to my apartment seemed a lot shorter. My one friend stayed the night (which was very nice of her) and we woke up at 7:00am for a previously scheduled doctors appointment. So neither of us got much sleep
The main goal of writing this post is to help insure that something like this never happens to anyone else. I am so lucky to have the support of friends who love and care about me and my well being and are willing to spend the night (well I guess morning) with me in the ER. The truth is though, this reaction was completely preventable. Luckily the ER doctor gave me a good way to check ingredients in medications so I can prevent it in the future and help others prevent it too.
If you go to http://www.drugs.com/imprints.php you will go to a window that says pill identifier. You can put in the letters and numbers on your prescription, the shape and color like I have done below.
Once you press search, you should get a summary of the medication like the below, along with a list of inactive ingredients.
Please share this with your friends and family with food allergies so we can prevent incidents like this in the future! Also, special thanks to my friends Nick and Lekha for helping me out! You guys are the best!