Drug Allergy Tips to remember
If you suffer a side effect after taking your medication, not all of them are allergic in nature: only a small porcentage are true allergy.
[quote align=»center» color=»#999999″]The most serious allergic reaction is called anaphlylaxis.
Each person reacts in a different way to drug treatments, but only 5 to 10% of all side effects can be considered as allergic reactions.
Before taking your medication
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- Patients must be discouraged to self-medicate: you should know what are you taking and why to avoid unwanted reactions
- Tell your doctor if you have had any prior adverse reactions to medications, wether they are allergic or not.
- Every drug belongs to a family of medication (antibiotics, pain killers and so): it may be useful to know the group of the medication you suffered the reaction, in order to avoid the other drugs in the same group.
- Check if the are other risk factors: it is the case of some asthmatics intolerant to pain killers.
- Try to avoid drug combinations who are not really useful.
- Every treatment should be tailored to the patient in order to lower the risk of side effects.
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If you suffer any reaction after taking your medication:
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- Keep the information pamphlet, the label or the box of the medicine to know the exact composition of your treatment. You may write down the name the medicine in order to recall it later.
- Useful information for your doctor includes: when the symptoms began after taking the medication, a description of the symptoms, how long they lasted, and any other drugs taken at the same time, including pain killes, regular treatment and over the counter drugs.
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