Posted by djmmm on October 1, 2003, at 18:02:20
In reply to HIVES! Lexapro?? freaking out..., posted by Peter on October 1, 2003, at 17:49:07
> I woke up at 5a.m. this morning 'cause my body was so itchy. I turned on the light and saw that I had what appeared to be hive-like welts on my hands, face, and one or two on my arms. I took a claritin (the only antihistamine I had handy) and 5mg ambien to get back to sleep for a few hours. The conditiom has persisted throughout the day today, and the areas around the hives are more swelled-up. Also, a rash has popped up on my neck - little red spots all over my neck.
> Now, I've been taking lexapro for 26 days and nothing like this has happened before since I started it. I've also been taking adderall and klonopin with it, and I haven't added anything new to the mix; in fact, I've been decreasing the adderall,for the last week, following the orders of my pdoc.
> Is it possible that this is an allergic reaction to the lexapro? But how could it happen this late into treatment? I thought allergic reactions to meds happen pretty soon after you start them. I called my pdoc's private line, because I've been bugging-out all day about this; I think he was with a patient so the conversation was very short; but he said I should take benadryl and see if it helps - he said he didn't see how this could be an allergic reaction to the lex this late into treatment. I didn't have time to ask him anything else. Then I looked up 'hives medication allergy' on the web, and I found a few sites describing allergic reactions to meds - they said that one rarely has an allergic reaction the first time the body is exposed to a med - it's only after the body begins to recognize the foreign substance that the immune system begins to respond. I might be thinking unclearly because of the high level of anxiety this has provoked in me, but when I read that I started thinking that allergic reactions to medications do NOT happen immediately, and now I'm paranoid that this is a dangerous allergy to the lexapro. Any feedback? I'm really anxious.Call your doctor. I can't tell you to discontinue a medication (im not a doctor), but If I was in your position I would discontinue the newly added medication (lexapro) until you can see your doc.
I had a similar reaction to the immediate release version of wellbutrin...It gave me hives nearly 2 weeks after starting it, and the hives disappeared almost immediately after discontinuing the medication.
Hives can lead to full anaphylactic shock.
poster:djmmm
thread:264784
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030928/msgs/264788.html