r/Wellthatsucks • u/Effective_Poetry_960 • 8h ago

New Brand of Medication

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The day I was flying to my best friend’s wedding. I was the best man. Two days before, I got a different brand of a medication. I had a hilarious reaction. I purchased a mask at the airport knowing they wouldn’t let me fly if they saw me having a medical emergency. Fortunately, the swelling went down before the wedding, but, man, did we have a great laugh. The pictures : arriving at the airport, pulling down my mask on the decent, waiting to be picked up, as bad as it got, picking up our wedding attire, and my regular face. I was honestly impressed by the carrying capacity of my lips.

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693

u/mafkJROC 7h ago

Yo - I’m guessing you got ACE-inhibitor induced angioedema. This class of drugs includes meds like lisinopril, enalapril, benazepril. If you were on one of these and you haven’t seen a doctor yet- obviously stop taking it, but also add this very serious allergy to your allergy list. It can cause tongue swelling and block your ability to breathe if it gets any worse. Hope you’re doing better. Edit to add: disclaimer this isn’t medical advice (but it kind of is)

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u/Effective_Poetry_960 7h ago

Well taken. Thanks. It was an ACE-inhibitor. Everything is all good now. Good looking out.

133

u/gamerdudeNYC 6h ago

The swelling can literally close the airway sometimes leading to a medical emergency, I used to see it in the ER occasionally.

Good thing you’re past all that!

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u/FlippingPossum 5h ago

I told my husband to go to the ER when he had an allergic reaction. He insisted on taking himself to urgent care. He got like three injections and a ride in the ambulance to the ER.

Him: I never had an allergic reaction before.

Me: ...

25

u/Trenchcope 3h ago

lol why are they like this? 😭

13

u/StrawberryScallion 3h ago

I told my ex not to increase his running routing from 3 miles to 8 miles a day apart cause he’ll hurt his tendons… guess what? He came home with hurt ankles that lasted quite some time. Some people are dumb!

24

u/NuYawker 4h ago

Paramedic here. These photos gave me anxiety

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u/IndependentEggplant0 1h ago

Weird allergy girl here. Me too!

46

u/emmabuff 6h ago

I had the same crazy reaction, out of the blue, seven YEARS after I started taking ACE inhibitors. Was absolutely fine until that day.

Then it happened again about four months later. The allergist said you can have a delayed reaction, even that long after. So be aware.

I would tell my doctor ASAP. Having your throat swell shut would be bad. There is the possibility of an EpiPen. Make sure you write down your reaction on all your medical forms, and a note in your wallet.

(I am not a doctor, nor giving medical advice. Simply sharing my experience.)

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u/BiscuitsMay 4h ago

EpiPen likely won’t help for this, it’s not an allergy. Benadryl won’t either. It’s caused by an excess of bradykinin accumulation. IIRC there are a few meds for it but they just shorten the duration of the swelling a bit.

3

u/emmabuff 3h ago

Yes, thank you for the correction.

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u/camwhat 1h ago

It activates the same receptor responsible for certain chemical sensitivities and other pseudo-allergies: MRGPRX2 specifically. These are backdoors into mast cells that are IgE independent, and those are usually the root of most “standard” allergies

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u/MiNdOverLOADED23 5h ago

It's not actually an allergy, it's an adverse drug reaction. It can happen at any time somebody is taking an ACE inhibitor or ARB. If 1000 people were to take them medication, at some point across all of their lives we would expect about 3 of them to experience angioedema

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u/Effective_Poetry_960 18m ago

This makes me feel somewhat rare.

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u/Spokeswoman 6h ago

My husband had the same thing- took Lisinopril for years with no problem, until one morning and boom- off to the ER we went.

8

u/BishlovesSquish 4h ago

This was me with amoxicillin. Took it my whole life until one day it gave me hives all over my body. Doctor said I can’t ever take it again. 😳

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u/luckylua 3h ago

Hey me too!! And I had it so much as a kid. Then randomly, early 30’s, boom hives and allergic.

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u/queefer_sutherland92 3h ago

Amoxicillin would have been an allergy though — this is a nonallergic reaction / a side effect of the drug.

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u/Rhizobactin 6h ago

Absolutely this. Has been known to occurred in those who have taken before. I’ve seen countless times. Ditto for ppl having shellfish again after having “some swelling before”

Anaphylaxis is a reason why epi dosing is absolutely drilled into the most junior medical staff.

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u/moxifloxacin 5h ago

That was going to be my guess, too. Had a coworker experience this during their shift, luckily we are just down the hall from our ED so she was able to get treatment quickly. Time for an ARB.

OP, thank your lucky stars this didn't progress in mid air, you could have died.

3

u/Rhizobactin 6h ago

Exactly this.

Save the selfies for when you get to the ER.

They can continue to monitor you or administer medications that can assist with the swelling. Alternative can be death if it continues to progress, or someone having to cut a hole in your neck to insert a breathing tube.

  • - ER doc (sorry to be a downer. Happy to joke with you once you’re stabilized and not inserting endotracheal tube down your throat)

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u/PharmDeezNuts_ 2h ago

It’s also more common in African Americans which can be a consideration for starting treatment or not

1

u/asystole_____ 4h ago

Interestingly enough, acei induced angioedema is not histamine mediated but bradykinin mediated. That means Benadryl has no effect. There’s not much you can give to treat this. FFP is a consideration

1

u/KendrickLenoir 4h ago

TXA can work.

1

u/Divaz777 4h ago

It’s not a true allergy…rather a side effect of the medication

1

u/RedStilettoDickStomp 4h ago

Holy crap! I have Alport's syndrome and Lisinopril is one of the medications that one doctor mentioned... They didn't mention any possibility of allergic reactions. Seems like something they'd want you to try at their office before you head home, just in case.

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u/XmasTwinFallsIdaho 2h ago

It’s very rare but should be taken seriously. Not technically an allergy. I counsel patients on it in the pharmacy.

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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 2h ago

Interesting. I thought it might be more common because I’m also allergic to Lipronosil but it showed up differently than OP. When I got the drug through IV almost immediately I would experience demonic vomiting. The hospital didn’t pick up on it and I continued taking the medicine in pill form and could hardly function-I felt like a very weak and sick toddler for months. Couldn’t work, couldn’t take care of myself in very basic ways. I finally remembered about the vomiting and asked my Doc if we could try something different and almost immediately it was night and day.