I am curious how many of you with penecillin allergies have taken Omnicef with no problems.
I have never taken penecillin and my father is deathly allergic. I am a bit paranoid about taking omnicef for this reason.
Testing for allergies to penecillin are expensive and not a sure bet since allergies can develop down the line.
Thanks!
Posted by dontlikeliver (Member # 4749) on :
I don't think doing a blood RAST test is expensive. It is supposedly 95% accurate.
There is currently no other way to test for Penicillin allergy as the 'stuff' to do skin testing with is no longer available anywhere.
I am 'most likely' allergic to Penicillin, but am fine on Ceftin. I think only 5-10% of people with Penicillin allergy have a problem with Cephalosporins.
DLL
Posted by deb obrien (Member # 5239) on :
Hi Lymied - I became very allergic to penicillin and was at one tme hospitalized for that (35 years ago)- I have no problem with any of the cephalosporins and have now been on rocephin 5+ months. Deb
Posted by Jill E. (Member # 9121) on :
I had a suspected penicillin allergy as a child, but this was based on my parents' recollection, not mine, so we can't verify it.
My LLMD would not let me go on Bicillin until I went through comprehensive penicillin allergy testing.
However, I did go on Omnicef with no problems.
Before I went on Bicillin, an allergist did a three-step penicillin test on me: - First, he did the traditional skin test on the back. I had no reaction.
- Secondly, he injected some small amount of penicillin or whatever it was they used to test, in my arm. I was fine.
- Third, he had me swallow a penicillin tablet. I had some mild flushing but he did not consider it an allergic reaction, however it did worry me. A nurse monitored me the entire time.
I did start Bicillin and have been getting injections for months. For the first several, I would stay in the waiting room of a medical clinic for an hour afterward, just in case of allergic reaction.
The nurse said that penicillin allergies often happen after the second injection, when the body finally recognizes it as an allergy. She had an epi-pen standing by.
I've had no problems, but I never would have risked it without allergy testing in advance.
My understanding is that Omnicef is more related to Rocephin than penicillin - but perhaps I am wrong.