Medical question

[Rexsname]

Does anyone have any knowledge of allergic reactions? I got a shot of bicillan yesterday. I have had one a month since my heat attack last year. I have never had any reaction except for a sore butt for a day or two. By the time I got home from the health department I had a bad headache and it got worse and worse throughout the night. I woke up sore in all of my joints with a vicious bad headache. I finaly called the health dept. and asked what I should do....... they told me to push fluids, advil, call us tomorrow. Is this normal? Should I just tough it out or should I be concerned?

I dont want to self medicate with beer but, boy oh boy that first one sure did taste good!! :beer:


REX

 

[DaktariEd]

No, that's definitely NOT normal.
It is a reaction that bears close watching. If it doesn't subside soon, I would seek medical attention...at an emergency room or your family doctor.

Granted I know nothing of your heart attack, but the whole bit about getting monthly Bicillin injections has me stumped. I haven't ordered a Bicillin injection in years and years...probably more than 10 years in fact...and that was for a strep infection.

I'd run that by a cardiologist if I were in your shoes.

Just my dos centavos...

 

[Martyn]

Contradictions to Bicillan can be found here http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?id=5311

A quick scan of the info shows that all of the reactions you have had could be caused by this drug.

 

[Rexsname]

The original diagnosis was a MI brought on by rhuematic fever. I had it as a little kid and then a bad fever knocked me down last mothers day. The bicillan was/is intended to prevent my getting sick again. The cardioligist that teated me said he had to go down into the basement and blow the dust of off the old OLD books to find out what was wrong with me.

I dont know how I made it from 1988 to 2003 in law enforcment with a weakend heart muscle only to have it bite me while sitting in a recliner but...

I get winded at the easiest things and am kinda wobbely legged on my bad days. I'm only 47 and I want to be able to play with my grandsons for more than a couple of minutes.

REX

 

[Rexsname]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Strep B

REX

 

[Rexsname]

I just got back from the health dept. They said the Doctor was too busy to see me and that "If it was an allergic reaction, you'd be dead by now" I guess I'll just tough it out. I dont remember ever hurting for this long......



REX

 

[MaddBaggins]

I just got back from the health dept. They said the Doctor was too busy to see me and that "If it was an allergic reaction, you'd be dead by now" I guess I'll just tough it out. I dont remember ever hurting for this long......



REX

HMO? That sounds all to familiar to me...

 

[Rexsname]

No, even worse. When I was medically retired from the Shreiffs office I lost my insurance as well. This was with the county health department. After having a few 'good' days in a row, this pain is hard to take in more than one way.

REX

 

[MaddBaggins]

No, even worse. When I was medically retired from the Shreiffs office I lost my insurance as well. This was with the county health department. After having a few 'good' days in a row, this pain is hard to take in more than one way.

REX

Sorry you're going thru this Rex. I'm sending good thoughts your way.

 

[Grim Reaper]

As for the weakness......Took me more then a year to get feeling strong again after a major MI and 3 stents.

A LOT of it is the drugs you are on. Blood thinners like Coumadin , bata blockers and blood pressure regulators are big drain on your system. Chances are you are WAY over medicated. My first cardiologist had me on a ton of crap. I felt so miserable I started halving my doses out of frustration with my lack of energy and the depression that was creating in me. I was to the point of rather die then deal with the drug side effects.


My next Cardiologist actually talks to me and works with me and has been honest with me that some of the medications have minimal aid (and we are talking 1-4%) after a year and often the side effects are not worth the benefits when they are that low.

I'm down to 40mg of Lipitor a day, 5mg of Lisinopril, 81mg aspirin and 500mg of niaspan. My Cholesterol tests have all been below 110 total for the last 2 years. My blood pressure after riding my bike home from work 4.3 miles in 18 minutes with major hills in 93f heat and 70% humidity is 116/70 and 140bpm. After 20 minutes of rest I am 108/64 and 86bpm.

Start working with your doctor and educate yourself on the drugs you are on. Chances are you are probably over-medicated like I was and all thats going to do is make you body weaker and need more. Start working on getting some more cardio exercise after getting cleared by the doc. Demand a "nuclear stress test" to make sure of what you can handle and that you don't have any other issues.

Above all else If your doctor doesn't have time for you then find another doctor. If you are that weak then they should be able to get you on disability and medicaid

If you are still in a lot of pain hit the ER. I'm no doc like Ed but I don't understand that long of a treatment with an antibiotic short of MRSA amd over treatment with Antibiotics is what got staph infections so out of hand in the first place.

Brush up on your Spanish if all else fails and walk into the ER clutching your ailing parts. You deserve the services, get them any way you can.

 

[Rexsname]

Well the good news is that I'm not on any heart meds at all. My blood pressure was 98 over something good. And the cardioligist that I saw last year didn't see any damage when he looked at whatever cardioligists look at.
They want me to have a nuclear stress test so I just have to wait until whoever approves those types of things decides that I need one. I had a blood test and a EKG yesterday but I don't know what they were looking for and I didn't study at all

Last year, business was good and we had a little money. This year Carrie is incarcerated and our business has tanked. Life changes SO fast, ya never know what may happen tomorrow.

I dont have a choice of which doctor sees me. I just get what I get. The doctor reccomended alot of walking, cut back on alcohol and drink plenty of water. I've never even driven past a medical shool campus and I knew that much. They say you get what you pay for.

REX

 

[AndrewP]

A couple of thoughts.

Frist-Rheumatic fever and it's sequelae do not cause "heart attacks". Valvular disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, yes, but not an infarct. That is caused by coronary artery disease or in very rare cases coronary artery spasm.

Second-Some form of secondary prophylaxis is often prescribed to prevent recurrent Rheumatic Fever. There are different ways to do this and different durations, but one of them IS monthly Bicillin (basically depo PenG) injections. Most would recommend stopping after 10 years from the episode of Acute Rheumatic Fever, but some authorities still believe in life time prophylaxis. It sounds like your physician does, but you might ask him to justify it. There are oral treatments that are equally effective, I don't know why they would persist with the painful Bicillin. That is very old school.

Third--Rheumatic Fever is caused by a particular reaction to Group A Strep, not Group B.

Forth-Your reaction sounds real, but not allergic. With the joint pain, it almost like a serum sickness type reaction. It will be interesting to see if the same thing happens next time you get the Penicillin.

Thinking ahead here, what does your echocardiogram show? No need to share unless you want to.

Good luck with this.

 

[DaktariEd]

Sorry it took a while to get back online....

Andrew is right on about the serum-sickness like reaction. I've seen a few people with it. It's not the most common reaction but it can happen...

The few people in my practice (Actually I can think of only 2 offhand) still taking antibiotic prophylaxis for rheumatic heart disease are on oral penicillin.

As for taking the Bicillin again and seeing if the same reaction occurred...personally I wouldn't. I don't know the figures for recurrences but the reaction can be quite severe. With oral meds available and the need for ongoing prophylaxis somewhat "controversial" (in medicine that means no one knows for sure but everyone has their opinion), I'd get a second opinion...

Best of luck!

 

[Rexsname]

Well....weather or not it was a 'heart attack' or a 'cardiac event' I dont know. It hurt, I didn't like it, and I dont want another one, whatever it was. I have a hard time focusing on details from time to time but I coulda sworn he said strep B. I know he said rheumatic fever.

The pain in my joints and achey-ness is just about gone now. I got the shot at about 3:00pm on Monday and its 9:30 pm now. I'm pretty sure I dont want another shot next month.:exclaim:

The doctor at the hospital last year said I would need a shot a month for the rest of my life. The cardioligist in Phoenix said once a month for a year and then he'd re-evaluate. Well we ran out of money before I got the chance for re-evaluation. Our lives have changed and this little set back is just one part of it. Hopefully the stress test will show that I'm ready to get well.

eepwall:

REX

 

[Rexsname]

Scarey afternoon

I had a scarey thing happen today while visiting Carrie. I was seated in the visiting area and felt kinda light-headed. I noticed that I was sweating quite a bit (I rarely sweat much, certainly not enough to be visible) and was short of breath. Carrie became concerned enough that she called a staff member over and they escorted me out of the room. The jail nurse checked my blood sugar (my first guess) my BP, temp, and O2 sat. All normal. On the way home I was so tired I had a hard time staying awake.


It just keeps getting wierder and wierder!!!


REX