New Allergies/Reactions?

Pam M

Team,

Happy Fourth of July. Thank you founding fathers, revolutionaries, military personnel (deceased, retired and active and formerly active), and people who stand, put their hand over their heart and join in when the Pledge of Allegiance is beginning.

Now - haven't had a whine in a while - that dry patch is over.

I broke a tooth recently. Of COURSE it's in my lower jaw, on the right side (side with heaviest rads). I saw the dentist last week (after getting a cleaning during which the tech checked me for oral cancer, but no light was involved), and he said I would not need HBO treatments (rads doc said to be sure to get them if needed), since we could do a root canal and crown, and not cause trauma to the jaw bone. Well, I was in no pain, so when I got my quote for the fee on Friday morning, I was in no hurry to start the show. By the time I called to make an appointment, it was just after three, and I was too late - the office was closed til the fifth.

NATURALLY, I woke up Friday night/Saturday morning in pain. Not crippling pain, but enough to wake me up, keep me up, and prompt me to hit the computer to Google (when used as a verb, do you capitalize "Google"?) toothache home remedies (with very little success). I made it throught Saturday cookout and fireworks - pain was there, but manageable - only mild difficulty eating (hey for us, it takes a lot to be called "serious difficulty eating") - that is, eating on one side. UNTIL I woke up Saturday night/Sunday morning. Pain was juicy, I had some swelling, and a knot had popped out on the FRONT of my right ear. Aargh. When morning came, I called my dentist's emergency number (it wasn't bad enough for me to get someone out of bed). The doc told me to stop the Aleve, start taking ibuprofen (triple the recommended dose on the box) and penicillin (you know, he didn't say stop the Aleve - I assumed that). He did ask about allergies - I assured him I had none to those drugs.

SOoo I started the new regimen yesterday afternoon. Oh My Goodness. Two and a half hours later the pain is GONE. Yay. I feel some pressure only. Later, I did notice that the swelling seemed bigger, so I'm guessing it'll take longer for the penicillin to kick in. Then last night I notice more swelling. I was able to sleep from 2:30 til 7:30 (meds time), and got up to see more swelling. Last night, swelling was in my face and jaw, around bad tooth site, I thought, and back to my ear (forgot to mention mild earache came on before - no pain since ibuprofen kicked in), also under my jaw and corner of my lower lip and right side of chin. Today, I feel lumps under my chin and jaw - my cheek is swollen enough for my teeth to make imprints on it, skin over my jaw is stretched tight, and I have 3/4 of an Angelina Jolie bottom lip. My skin is red in some places (from stretching, not rash, I think). Ugh. And of course, you know the first thing I thought of with the ear knot was "RMKBrad developed a malignancy on his ear". Then I gave myself my best Ahhhnold S "Eet's NOT a tumah".

Whew - just realized I'm taking two days to tell a half hour story - sorry.

I am wonderinging - have any of you developed any new allergies or reaction to drugs since treatment? Seems odd that I'd have all this swelling, but only in the areas I believe were heaviest radiated, and that my cheek, not just jaw, would be involved. Sigh - fifteen minutes til I call the emergency number again - you KNOW I'm calling again - I can feel a difference in my breathing (no difficulty - just a difference).

Enjoy the day. I will.

arndog64

I would go the er, if you
I would go the er, if you dont get a response from dentist asap. Keep us updated.

arndog64

bump on tongue
I noticed that there is a sore on the side of my husbands tongue and it's on the same side he received radiation on. It protrudes out about a 1/4 inch. I noticed it has been there for a long time. Just a little worried because before treatment he was complaining of his tongue hurting. Is it normal to have a I guess ulcer for 6 weeks?

KTeacher

I have had many allergic reactions to meds over the years. The breathing issue needs to be addressed. The rest only sound like topical and you did not put a cream on for the pain. My reactions were whole body, everything itched, places that I didn't think could itch did. Hot showers or bath make it worse. Rashes all over. You sound like you might have developed an infection. If you do not hear back from your doc. get to some medical treatment, we have walk in facilities so we do not have to go o the ER.

Please keep us posted.

(I cannot take Aleve due to the allergic reactions, do take Motrin)

Hondo

Hi Pam
Sorry to hear about all the pain, as you know my jaw don’t open enough to remove or to repair my teeth so I live with the pain. I did find that using Sensodynne and baby Orajel mix work well for tooth aches. But in your case I believe you have a very bad infection. I can’t use penicillin it will not work on me at all, I have to use one of the other antibiotic on the market but never had a reaction to any of it like you did.

Sorry about your pain
Hondo