Drug Allergies

Can I see if I am still allergic to penicillin?

A drug allergy is an allergic reaction to a medication. The time frame from taking a drug to developing a reaction can range from immediate to as long as a few weeks. Symptoms can range from just itching or a mild rash to more severe symptoms such as hives, swelling of the throat or face, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and anaphylaxis (life threatening reaction including shock and death).

Determining if a patient has a drug allergy depends on the patient’s history, medications taken and the symptoms. Sometimes we can do skin testing for certain drugs. Drug challenges (giving the patient a drug while monitored in the office) are also helpful to determine a drug allergy. Lastly, we can also attempt to desensitize a patient to a drug that they are allergic to if they really need to take that particular drug and have limited or no other options.

We perform allergy skin testing for some drugs including penicillin along with supervised oral challenges in the office to determine if the drug is safe for the patient to take.