I am a little over two months in on IM Bicillin shots (1.2ml in each side once a week).
Usually I feel a little funky the day after the shot. Sometimes I feel fine. Most days I have good energy.
The day after my last shot I was at the grocery store and nearly fainted. I ate some lunch in the sun, went to the bathroom and grabbed a cart, but suddenly everything started to fade and I felt like I was going to black out. Felt like I had trouble breathing. I calmed myself and went to my car. Came out of it fairly quickly but I was nervous.
Drove home a few blocks and took my BP. It was elevated at 150/94 but I was nervous. I felt fine after that but have been looking up adverse reactions to Bicillin and noticed that there was a large percentage that reported syncope.
I am wondering if this is a herx or if it is the meds. As I said, I feel fairly good most days on this med.
Anyone ever have near syncope with Bicillin?
Thanks for any feedback!
Posted by Myco (Member # 9536) on :
^
Posted by merrygirl (Member # 12041) on :
the only tim ei almost faint is when it gets injected after that it seems ok.
Posted by lymebytes (Member # 11830) on :
I had a horrible episode when doing 2 shots per week for about a month.
I woke up and couldn't walk because everything was spinning. Literally I would fall to the side like I had weights on me, OMG it was scary.
Most would call this vertigo, but I have had vertigo and this was different, very bad like vertigo (vertigo is usually from the inner ear) but I could seriously tell it was straight from my brain and it was SCARY!
I cut back on the shots to one per week and did ok after that.
How many shots are you doing per week? If more than one, ask to start w/only one per week. Bicillin can really help, even when I did only shot per week.
Make sure to let your LLMd know what happened.
Posted by farraday (Member # 21494) on :
I, too, have a strange kind of vertigo. When I turn my head a certain way, things start to spin and I get very dizzy. It is different from regular vertigo, I think. It will be interesting to see if it stops when the Bicillin shots stop.
BTW, in stores I always grab a cart to hold on to. Or I ride in one. It comes in handy with dizzy spells.
Posted by Myco (Member # 9536) on :
This was not vertigo though. Everything in my vision field started to brown out as though I was going to faint. Not even dizzy, just fading out. I felt short of breath, then talked myself out of it. I was very pale. I think it was a vasovagal reaction. I had been eating in the sun beforehand and came out of the bathroom and then went shopping but never made it very far into the store. Scary since I feel reasonably well.
Most of my symptoms now seem to be a series of scary spells. Nothing that lingers, but spells out of the blue.
I hate to cut down on the shots but will see what my LLMD says.
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
When I got my first shot, I got it standing up at the doctor's. (since this episode, I do all of them laying down)
We were only about 30 seconds or a minute into the shot, and I started to feel weak. It happened so quickly, it is hard to remember. All I remember is thinking, "I'm going down." I could just tell if this kept up, I was about to hit the floor.
First I said, "How much longer?" because I was hoping I would make it, and they were like, "a long time."
Then (and I am not one of those people that makes things dramatic) I started whimpering like a little baby, uncontrollably, because I was trying really hard to stay upright but I was starting to "loose it" and get really weak.
Then I said, "I don't feel so good....I'm gonna pass out." And I don't remember it very well, but I think they pulled the needle out really fast and I kind of collapsed, but I think they caught me. Apparently my face lost all color.
Then I just remember they shouted for the PA and she came running, and they laid me down.
They said it was a vasovagal reaction that some people get. They said it was from having a needle that big so deep in the muscle, which makes the body freak out, and that once your body gets used to having the needle in there, it usually won't happen again.
What is strange is that I wasn't feeling faint because I actually "felt" scared, it was like something uncontrollable came over my body.
But this wasn't just feeling like I was going to faint and then pushing through, I basically did faint. It sounds like merrygirl has had this too to an extent, but it sounds like she was able to push through it better.
Me whimpering is probably like you getting short of breath, Myco. Because that is kind of what it was like. I think I was breathing fast.
And you also got the pale face like me, so it sounds similar. But whatever triggered it must have been different.
It's strange that yours happened the next day though.
My guess is that it will probably be a one time occurance. It might just be from pushing your body too hard or something.
I know that if I do too much at once, really fast (like go go go), I will vomit, sometimes really violently. It is just a feeling that comes over me. I think it's a combo of too many meds with too much activity.
So I bet if you just take it easy, you'll reduce the chances of it happening again. Did you take a bunch of pills before going out?
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Also, do you do the shot laying down? You probably should. And maybe rest a little afterwards to let your body reset.
Posted by Myco (Member # 9536) on :
I know vasovagal reaction is common during shot, but mine happened the following day.
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Yes, I saw that. You asked if anyone got the syncope reaction with Bicillin, so I assumed you wanted to hear from anyone who got it from Bicillin at all. My apologies if I misunderstood the question.
You may still want to be careful with how you do the shot (lay down, rest, etc) because if the shot itself goes more smoothly, you may be less likely to react later as well.
Like in my example with vomiting, sometimes if I don't rest after taking my pills, I will vomit later on.
Posted by Myco (Member # 9536) on :
Thanks Hoosiers.
Posted by coltman (Member # 21272) on :
I read it a side effect , most prominent if injected into blood vessel. I had similar reaction a couple of times ( and I always aspirate) -dizziness, blurry vision, weakness. I take shot before going to bed so it doesnt make much difference