Am I allergic to Penicillin now?!
Question: Okay in the past I've taken amoxicillin and nothing happened. Well I went to the DR. cause my tonsils swelled up and he told me I had strep and prescribed penicillin and it makes my face break out. It gets blotchy and itchy. I read somewhere that it was nothing to worry about and it's common if misdiagnosed. Anyway I took it and it didn't help so I went back to the DR and now they think I have mono. So did I develop an allergy cause I took it when it wasn't needed. I was just wondering cause I though people who were allergic to Pencillin went in anaphylactic shock.
Answers: Okay in the past I've taken amoxicillin and nothing happened. Well I went to the DR. cause my tonsils swelled up and he told me I had strep and prescribed penicillin and it makes my face break out. It gets blotchy and itchy. I read somewhere that it was nothing to worry about and it's common if misdiagnosed. Anyway I took it and it didn't help so I went back to the DR and now they think I have mono. So did I develop an allergy cause I took it when it wasn't needed. I was just wondering cause I though people who were allergic to Pencillin went in anaphylactic shock.
No -- you most likely aren't allergic to Pcn.
Strep and mono can look very similar in the early stages and can be easy to misdiagnose as one when it is really the other. Basically if a patient that you suspect has strep gets a rash from pcn then it confirms that the patient actually has mono instead.
Allergic reactions get worse the more often you are exposed to whatever you're allergic to.
The first symptoms of an allergic reaction to penicillin is often a rash, like you describe. A subsequent exposure might well be anaphylactic shock. That's why the medication is stopped immediately after a rash.
It's quite possible that the rash was an allergy to penicillin, especially if that was the first time you took it. Check with your doctor to be sure.