Dangers of Antibiotics

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My daughter had repeated sinus infections. The doctor would prescript an antibiotic. Each time she would improve only to have the sinus infection return within a week going off the antibiotic. When she was 3 years old, the doctor decided to try a different antibiotic. She put my daughter on a sulfa drug. Unfortunately the doctor failed to realize that instead of a sinus infection my daughter had the Coxsackie’s virus, a common childhood illness, characteritied by a severe sore throat. Antibiotics, especially sulfa drugs can be very dangerous if given to a person suffering from certain viruses. It can result in developing Steven Johnson's Syndrome, a severe allergic reaction that can attack the eyes, skin, lungs, and the digestive symptom.

My daughters face swelled to twice it's normal size & broke out in blisters. Her lips looked as if she had been force-fed razor blades. The inside of her mouth was completely swollen with blisters. Her symptoms were similar to the ingestion of drain cleaner. She couldn't eat for a nearly week, then only Jell-O. It took several months before she could eat normally. Her arms & hands were also affected. Her treatment was similar to a burn victim. We had to scrubbing the affected areas once an hour with a toothbrush & peroxide until the skin was completely removed. This process was extremely painful to her. We had to continue this treatment for about two weeks. Then we were allowed to slowly increase intervals between scrubbings. Her eyes couldn’t bear sunlight with sunglasses for 3 years. She will always have to be careful to avoid sunburns. She has permanent scarring on her lips. Thirteen years later she still suffers from severe digestive problems and asthma. We were told that we were lucky. Her case was not considered severe. She could have been blinded, suffered severe lung damage, or been one of the 70% of victims of Steven Johnson's Disease that die.

We still use the occasional antibiotic but only if absolutely necessary. Now we ask a lot of questions before blindly filling a prescription.

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antibiotic-reaction

Posted By:

Okiemom

1 Year, 2 months, 2 Weeks, 12 hours, 19 minutes ago

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