Lightning-Nl
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2012
- Messages
- 1,245
Out of all the drugs it's possible to be allergic to; Clonidine is probably one of the lowest things I ever expect to have problems with.
Two days ago (Friday night, Saturday morning) at 2:00 AM, I decided it was probably a good idea to get some sleep. I had just been prescribed Clonidine by my nurse practitioner for anxiety and sleep. So I took the .1 MG starting dose like she told me to and then tried to go to bed. Within about 20 minuets, tons of bad things started happening.
The first thing I started noticing was my inability to breath. My chest felt so tight, I could barely breath. I knew that Clonidine was going to cause sedation and CNS depression, so I thought (at first) that my shortness of breath could be due to that. However, it just kept getting worse and worse. Around 20 minutes later, I felt such difficulty breathing that I actually thought I might be having an asthma attack. This didn't make any sense to me as my lungs didn't feel congested in anyway, but I used my inhaler anyways. When that didn't help, I thought I'd sit back and try to ignore it. But I'm actually really glad I didn't.
Only a couple minutes after that, I started to feeling extremely ill, very quickly. It almost felt like I had the flu. I developed a fever within minutes, got a horrible head ache, very sore muscles, etc... I went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face and noticed that my eyes were very swollen are my whole face was starting to get puffy. I also noticed the same thing in my feet and hands.
At this point, my tight breathing started to get even worse. At first I just thought my mouth was getting dry, however, I started noticing that it felt like my throat was closing. I looked in the mirror at my tongue and happened to notice that it was starting to swell as well.
By this point, I was getting very worried. I did some quick research and found that Clonidine, in rare cases, can cause an allergic reaction. I know how serious these are having been educated about them in many first aid classes and decided I'd call poison control to ask the hotline assistant's opinion on the matter. When the person on the other line picked up; I told her how I had just been prescribed Clonidine and that I thought I was having an allergic reaction to it. I told her I felt like my throat was closing up and that I couldn't breath. As soon as I said that, she told me that I should call an ambulance immediately.
Ambulance rides are incredibly expensive. So against the advice of the Poison Control rep, I decided to drive myself to the Emergency Room. By the time I got there, my face was so swollen, I could barely see (probably shouldn't have been driving) and my breathing was so bad I felt like I was going to pass out. I didn't have to even say anything to the person at the front desk; she took one look at me and said "Oh my god, did you get stung by a bee?" I told her, that I hadn't been stung by a bee, but that I believed I was having an anaphylactic reaction to a medication.
Due to the seriousness of the situation, she checked me into a room immediately. Within second the doctor came in and told me that he was going to start an IV and give me some Diphenhydramine and Prednisone intravenously. Needles give me panic attacks; so I told him that I would really like to avoid having an IV set up if possible. He told me "If you value your life, you'll let me do that."
He made it clear that I needed intravenous drugs immediately. I was in no position to argue, so I asked him if he could at least give me something to help with the anxiety. He said that in a normal situation, he would have no problem giving me Ativan, but due to the seriousness of what was going on, he couldn't risk increase CNS sedation and told me that I just had to deal with it.
Moments later, when he came back into the room, he said that because my breathing was so depressed, he was going to give an Epinephrine (Adrenaline) shot. This is where things got even worse for me.
He came back with a syringe and told me to hold out my arm. I do not tolerate needles well, but I knew I didn't have any choice. I looked away, but as soon as I felt the needle go into my arm, I started to feel the onset of a panic attack. Within about 15 seconds, the Adrenaline hit me and that made EVERYTHING much worse. As soon as the adrenaline hit, I had a panic attack. Panic attacks are very unpleasant, but don't ever last for more than a couple minutes. This was different...
I had all the normal symptoms of a panic attack - increased heart rate, hyperventilation, very hot and sweaty, etc. But due to the fact that the Adrenaline was artificial, it lasted for nearly 15 minutes!! What made the whole situation worse was the fact that he was setting an IV the entire time it was happening and while the adrenaline is what gave me panic, that just exacerbated it.
Going through anaphylactic shock is one thing, but going through anaphylactic shock AND a panic attack is at the same time is something else entirely. I can honestly say that's the closest thing to hell I've ever experienced. But I digress...
As soon as the IV was set up, he gave me an injection of 25MG's of Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and around 2 minutes later, an injection of 20MG's of Prednisone (A Steroid) and an injection of a secondary antihistamine brand name Pepcid. The Diphenhydramine & Pepcid made me tired instantly and stopped nearly all the allergic effects instantly as well. The Prednisone made is so I could breath and within about 5 minutes of getting all of that, I fell asleep.
I woke up around 2 hours later (now around 6 AM) with the doctors telling me that it was now safe for me to go home. The doctor gave me a prescription for Prednisone, Pepcid and told me to also get some Benadryl as well. He told me that I should take those 3 times a day for 3 days just to make sure I didn't have anymore problems.
It's now been nearly three days since that happened and I'm actually considerably angry. Not at the ER, but at my nurse practitioner! She honestly believes I am a drug addict and that I abuse substances purely so I can get high. I have tried to explain to her many times that if I had the correct sleeping meds, I wouldn't have to abuse OTC drugs in order to make myself fall asleep! I've even been able to prove it to her! I went to the ER a month before this event because of mania and the Psychiatrist there; even after I told him about all of my OTC drug abuse, gave me a 30 day supply of Ambien.
During the month I had that, everything was perfect! I could easily fall asleep, my anxiety was at an all time low, and I abused NOTHING! I even brought in a pee test to prove to her that I hadn't taken anything (but my prescribed meds) for that entire month. But she won't hear any of it.
Instead she keeps giving me drugs that make me sick, give me horrible side effects, and do more harm than good and then she wonders why I abuse OTC drugs!!!
Two days ago (Friday night, Saturday morning) at 2:00 AM, I decided it was probably a good idea to get some sleep. I had just been prescribed Clonidine by my nurse practitioner for anxiety and sleep. So I took the .1 MG starting dose like she told me to and then tried to go to bed. Within about 20 minuets, tons of bad things started happening.
The first thing I started noticing was my inability to breath. My chest felt so tight, I could barely breath. I knew that Clonidine was going to cause sedation and CNS depression, so I thought (at first) that my shortness of breath could be due to that. However, it just kept getting worse and worse. Around 20 minutes later, I felt such difficulty breathing that I actually thought I might be having an asthma attack. This didn't make any sense to me as my lungs didn't feel congested in anyway, but I used my inhaler anyways. When that didn't help, I thought I'd sit back and try to ignore it. But I'm actually really glad I didn't.
Only a couple minutes after that, I started to feeling extremely ill, very quickly. It almost felt like I had the flu. I developed a fever within minutes, got a horrible head ache, very sore muscles, etc... I went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face and noticed that my eyes were very swollen are my whole face was starting to get puffy. I also noticed the same thing in my feet and hands.
At this point, my tight breathing started to get even worse. At first I just thought my mouth was getting dry, however, I started noticing that it felt like my throat was closing. I looked in the mirror at my tongue and happened to notice that it was starting to swell as well.
By this point, I was getting very worried. I did some quick research and found that Clonidine, in rare cases, can cause an allergic reaction. I know how serious these are having been educated about them in many first aid classes and decided I'd call poison control to ask the hotline assistant's opinion on the matter. When the person on the other line picked up; I told her how I had just been prescribed Clonidine and that I thought I was having an allergic reaction to it. I told her I felt like my throat was closing up and that I couldn't breath. As soon as I said that, she told me that I should call an ambulance immediately.
Ambulance rides are incredibly expensive. So against the advice of the Poison Control rep, I decided to drive myself to the Emergency Room. By the time I got there, my face was so swollen, I could barely see (probably shouldn't have been driving) and my breathing was so bad I felt like I was going to pass out. I didn't have to even say anything to the person at the front desk; she took one look at me and said "Oh my god, did you get stung by a bee?" I told her, that I hadn't been stung by a bee, but that I believed I was having an anaphylactic reaction to a medication.
Due to the seriousness of the situation, she checked me into a room immediately. Within second the doctor came in and told me that he was going to start an IV and give me some Diphenhydramine and Prednisone intravenously. Needles give me panic attacks; so I told him that I would really like to avoid having an IV set up if possible. He told me "If you value your life, you'll let me do that."
He made it clear that I needed intravenous drugs immediately. I was in no position to argue, so I asked him if he could at least give me something to help with the anxiety. He said that in a normal situation, he would have no problem giving me Ativan, but due to the seriousness of what was going on, he couldn't risk increase CNS sedation and told me that I just had to deal with it.
Moments later, when he came back into the room, he said that because my breathing was so depressed, he was going to give an Epinephrine (Adrenaline) shot. This is where things got even worse for me.
He came back with a syringe and told me to hold out my arm. I do not tolerate needles well, but I knew I didn't have any choice. I looked away, but as soon as I felt the needle go into my arm, I started to feel the onset of a panic attack. Within about 15 seconds, the Adrenaline hit me and that made EVERYTHING much worse. As soon as the adrenaline hit, I had a panic attack. Panic attacks are very unpleasant, but don't ever last for more than a couple minutes. This was different...
I had all the normal symptoms of a panic attack - increased heart rate, hyperventilation, very hot and sweaty, etc. But due to the fact that the Adrenaline was artificial, it lasted for nearly 15 minutes!! What made the whole situation worse was the fact that he was setting an IV the entire time it was happening and while the adrenaline is what gave me panic, that just exacerbated it.
Going through anaphylactic shock is one thing, but going through anaphylactic shock AND a panic attack is at the same time is something else entirely. I can honestly say that's the closest thing to hell I've ever experienced. But I digress...
As soon as the IV was set up, he gave me an injection of 25MG's of Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) and around 2 minutes later, an injection of 20MG's of Prednisone (A Steroid) and an injection of a secondary antihistamine brand name Pepcid. The Diphenhydramine & Pepcid made me tired instantly and stopped nearly all the allergic effects instantly as well. The Prednisone made is so I could breath and within about 5 minutes of getting all of that, I fell asleep.
I woke up around 2 hours later (now around 6 AM) with the doctors telling me that it was now safe for me to go home. The doctor gave me a prescription for Prednisone, Pepcid and told me to also get some Benadryl as well. He told me that I should take those 3 times a day for 3 days just to make sure I didn't have anymore problems.
It's now been nearly three days since that happened and I'm actually considerably angry. Not at the ER, but at my nurse practitioner! She honestly believes I am a drug addict and that I abuse substances purely so I can get high. I have tried to explain to her many times that if I had the correct sleeping meds, I wouldn't have to abuse OTC drugs in order to make myself fall asleep! I've even been able to prove it to her! I went to the ER a month before this event because of mania and the Psychiatrist there; even after I told him about all of my OTC drug abuse, gave me a 30 day supply of Ambien.
During the month I had that, everything was perfect! I could easily fall asleep, my anxiety was at an all time low, and I abused NOTHING! I even brought in a pee test to prove to her that I hadn't taken anything (but my prescribed meds) for that entire month. But she won't hear any of it.
Instead she keeps giving me drugs that make me sick, give me horrible side effects, and do more harm than good and then she wonders why I abuse OTC drugs!!!
