Allergic Reaction to Codeine

Learn from my mistake. Don’t take prescription drugs that aren’t prescribed to you.

I threw my back out last week and it has been hurting for about 6 days straight, getting a little worse it seems each day. At any rate, on Sunday I was in some serious pain and wanted to have some friends over to watch the Oscars, so I decided I would look in the medicine drawer and see what would help me relieve some of the pain I was experiencing quickly.

The first thing I saw was some codeine that was prescribed to my son last April whe he broke his leg.  I figured it helped him with his pain, he’s a kid, so the dosage must not be too high. I really needed something stronge.  It seemed like a win win.  Well, as far as the pain went, it worked.

Fast forward two hours.  I was a little itchy, then went to the bathroom and noticed my eyes looked swollen.  Figured what had happened was an allergic reaction, so I took a Claritin, then went to bed.  When I woke up on Monday my eyes were “really” swollen. If I wasn’t so vain I would post a picture.  Ialso had a rash all over my upper body that itched a little, and was bumpy.  I went to the doctor yesterday and he gave me a steroid shot and some antihistamines that have yet to do the job.  I am a little less puffy today, still have the rash and feeling a little itchy.

I imagine that I will have to go back to the doctor by tomorrow if I’m not better, but I wanted to share this incase it might help someone avoid something similar or if you’ve experienced this in the past, you know you aren’t alone.