So recently I've noticed that patients have absolutely no clue what an allergy to a drug actually is. As med students/doctors we've had to add the follow-up question after asking what alleriges they have with: "What happens when you take that medicine?" so we can screen out the true allergies from the phony ones. Now a true allergy is when you get a rash, your tongue swells up, you have trouble breathing, or your throat closes. Here are the responses I've gotten lately:
"The morphine made me nauseous." (sometimes followed with "That drug that starts with a d is better for me....what is called? hmmm....oh yeah! dilaudid! That usually works!)
"I threw up six times."
"It gave me a tummy ache."
"What happens when I take it? I've never taken it...didn't you hear me? I'm allergic!"
"It made me dizzy."
"I gained weight."
"I vomitted like a hour after I took it."
and my personal favorite:
"Last time I took amoxicillin, my mom said I got real violent. And angry."
Friday, November 16, 2007
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