Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Benadryl Allergy Sinus Headache

Question:
Wondering if anyone has any experience with allergic reactions to ibuprofen. The Friday before Christmas (just over a week ago), in the afternoon, I started itching on my hands. Thinking it was dry skin, I put hand cream on. Overnite, I woke up with a swollen bottom lip and hands. By Saturday morning, I was itching all over and still swollen so I went to the ER. They looked and said it didn't look like a food allergy but gave me Solu-Medrol and Benadryl via IV and sent me home after a few hours. That brought the swelling down and put the itching on hold for a bit. They told me to take Benadryl as needed. By Tuesday, I still had hives all over that came and went and was itching off and on so I called me doctor and he gave me a prescription for the Medrol Dose Pak. All last week I took that and Benadryl and found that I was able to get down to only taking the Benadryl before bed for minimal itching. Yesterday and most of today I had little to no itching and was thinking I was getting over whatever caused it (disconcerting that no one could tell me what caused it and I didn't do/touch/eat/wear anything different). Anyway, tonite, I had a sinus headache and I took two Advil (as I've done for years with no problems). About 3 hours after taking the Advil, I started itching again and my lips started swelling up!! I immediately took two Benadryl and am hoping that I don't end up back at the ER (no breathing problems or hand swelling like before so I'm going to see what happens). I started thinking back to what I did/ate today and realized that I had taken Advil and it's the first time I took it in over a week (since you have to be careful about taking OTC stuff when you're on the Medrol Dose Pak).... Last time I took Advil was the Friday I started itching. Question is - I've read that people can be allergic to Ibuprofen (Advil) but can it just START out of the blue??? Never had a problem with Advil before but in thinking about what I ate today vs. the Friday before christmas and the timing of the reaction, Advil seems to be the common denominator. This is a new bottle I'm using but I HIGHLY doubt it's just something with that batch. Thanks for any insight as this not knowing what's causing it is driving me nuts. (And yes, I know, my doctor probably should have recommended allergy testing rather than giving drugs and I'm going to talk to him about that).

Answer:
I am sure that an allergy to ibuprofen is possible, and I have dealt with my share of finding a hidden allergy. So, the easiest solution to see if ibuprofen is the culprit is elimination. Just don't take any for a while, and see if symptoms persist. If they don't, then you found it more than likely. Be careful since most drug allergies can cross react with other drugs. Read the pamphlet, or the side of the box that the medicine comes in. Most will say something like, If you are allergic to X, Y, or Z, do not take this medicine. So, in other words if your new headache medicine says anything about an allergic reaction to ibuprofen find a different one. Since, you might replace one allergen with a cross reacting other.