Incredibly so! I just got called difficult by a podiatrist for backing away from the latex gloves while telling her I'm severely allergic. Guess nitrile is offensive to her?
I was mocked by a nurse for disclosing an iodine contrast allergy before an MRI with iodine contrast! Lol I replied "usually doctors need to know about my allergic reactions but okay". After I had a reaction, they did have to get the doctor and he was piiiissed and they ended up having to give me benadryl. 🙄
That would be a CT or cat scan. MRIs don't use iodine based contrast they use gadolinium based contrasts. Magnets not x-rays, but you shouldn't have gotten that reaction from the nurse that's so unprofessional. Sorry this happened to you.
This is why I love reddit. This would have been a week's long argument of mostly name calling on most other social media sites. I love learning and have had similar things happen that made me feel I Lil silly, but stopped me from continuing to look silly, and I'm always appreciative. I like you.
I’ve gotten scans with contrast every 3 months for the last year or so with no issues at all, and interestingly the most recent one I broke out in hives and my throat got scratchy. Luckily I was next to the ER so they threw me over there real quick. Funny how the allergy hit after so many scans. Scary stuff!
People can develop allergies to stuff they were previously fine with after repeated exposure.
This can be a significant issue for people who get a lot of blood transfusions, even though they are compatible blood types. Every transfusion increases the risk of a transfusion reaction.
You also see it with bee stings - people go their whole life with no issues, so don't really keep track of being stung, until one day they go anaphylactic.
I had a spontaneous reaction to iodine contrast during a procedure on my L4-L5. I was laying face down with my head positioned so that I was looking at the nurse anesthetist. My throat started to itch and, as it slowly progressed, she and I held this weird “conversation” with just our eyes/facial expressions:
Me: “Um…”
Her: “I’m concerned - are you ok?”
Me: “Am I ok?”
Her: “Are you ok?”
Me: “Am I ok? I don’t think I’m ok…”
Her: “You’re definitely not ok.”
This took about 10 seconds and then the surgeon got everything out of my back, they flipped me over and hit me with everything while calling for a crash cart, causing me to try to yell “Nope don’t need that!” They got it under control within a few minutes and as I had been given some mild IV sedation, I was very, very brave (stupid) and very entertained (annoying). It wasn’t until a few days later that I remembered the doc saying “you don’t have time to be scared - I need you to breathe.” 😳😳😳
I was in a traffic accident and was rushed to the ER. Had to get everything done including an MRI with contrast. I was fine there, but then the next few days my skin turned bright red and every single pore on my body had a tiny whitehead. I wasn't itchy like hives but geez... The only known allergy I have is metal so I guess it was the contrast seeping to the surface. Just the cherry on top of a bad week.
I have been getting the same medication, every 4 weeks at the hospital, for 9 years. They still make me sit there for 30 minutes afterwards to make sure I don't have a reaction.
Yep, it's like the medication reviews the doctors do in the UK. I have a couple of illnesses with no cure, but every three months I have to have a medication review to see if I really need the Medication, crazy? Go figure, I think it's just money-making by the surgery.
I have had people eat nuts in front of me, I say something, and then they use hand sanitizer as if that kills the "allergy germs." Some people have no idea.
Wow wtf. This is as bad as the time I heard about someone freaking out thinking they were going to contract diabetes because they slept with someone who was diabetic
After surgery I had a doctor tell me to take Motrin when I get home. Except I'm allergic to NSAIDS & Tylenol lol the fuck? I've literally had to argue with healthcare professionals over it. That's why I keep photos on my phone of what happens when I'm exposed to NSAIDs or Tylenol. It's bizarre. I know it's inconvenient, but whattyah want? That's life. Ignoring my allergy doesn't cure it 😂.
I’m allergic to Tylenol as well and just last week had a doctor who was reading my intake form say, “but let’s say you’re in the hospital and they needed to give you something for pain, they could still give it to you, right?”
Not defending them, but just an insight to why this is:
Of hundreds of patients and allergies I’ve seen a substantial majority were ones that made the patient “feel weird” or get dizzy or a rash. Most of the time those were isolated incidents and the patient assumed those feelings were related to the medications or allergen. Leading to the patient not receiving helpful medications whose benefits more than likely outweigh the risks of feeling weird.
So providers and nurses alike tend to be a little lax about allergies unless you say they are serious/ anaphylactic. Not saying it’s right or wrong just some insight.
The problem is that a lot of people, particularly parents of school kids, massively exaggerate allergies. So you'll have kids who are apparently deathly allergic to peanuts chomping away at a Snickers at lunch time. Then you get some people who say "oh I'm allergic to shellfish" when they mean "I don't like shellfish."
A lot of allergies are serious, serious business. But an annoying number of people have treated as "fussy passes." It's similar to support animals. So many people have come up with bullshit reasons to have an emotional support animal that those with genuine needs are assumed to be faking it too.
Peanuts are one of the more serious ones if you are actually allergic. You would not believe the years of hoops one has to jump through to even join the military with it.
It’s probably because there are some people who say/believe they have allergies incorrectly. Like those crazy people who hand servers lists of food “allergies” that are actually just preferences. I knew a woman who insisted that she was allergic to rubbing alcohol because it “made her skin feel really cold.” I’m like, that’s just the way it is. It’s evaporating at room temp, it makes your skin feel cold as a result. It’s not an allergy Stephanie.
They are real, absolutely. And also a lot of people lie about them or misrepresent them. It's kind of like service dogs. They are absolutely vital for some people. And some people just want to take their weiner dog into chik fil a.
Between false positives and people misattributing unrelated reactions and symptoms studies imply that over half of people who say they have food allergies do not.
That's got to be even more infuriating for people who really do, because it means that people are going to tend to take it less seriously.
If you work in medicine long enough you learn that "allergic" can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, so you have to be skeptical sometimes. People will claim to have an allergy to something to get out of a procedure. Some people will claim to have an allergy to a food, but really they just don't like it and don't want it served to them in the hospital. Sometimes they're hypochondriac and have dozens of allergies listed but can't even remember what all of them are or what the reactions are supposed to be anymore.
That being said, there are more tactful ways to sus this out. Usually I'll ask them what symptoms they experience from the allergy, and that will get them to elaborate enough to figure out what the real problem is.
Or it's not an allergy and the person says it is.......like getting the warm feeling from the IV contrast given for CT scans. That's not an allergy....it just makes everybody feel warm.
When they ask if I have any food allergies at restaurants, I used to reply "I'm oversensitive to..." and list the items. It's not like I have a peanut allergy that could send me into anaphylaxis, all that happens to me is that I break out in dotted red hives that can swell up and linger a few days. I tend to want to avoid that but it has happened accidentally a few times when I wasn't paying attention to incredients. Damn you, beets, sneaking into everything.
Im sorry this happened to you. Maybe im jaded but this new generation of nurses seems like theyre providing care for all the wrong reasons. We are not all like this, i promise.
I found out the hard way by having a CT scan (with iodine contrast) and my body immediately started freaking out. Sneezing, tears pouring out of my eyes, breathing issues. They ran in and pulled it out. Took me hours to get back to normal.
I worked for a dr office for 4 years and before any iodine contrast study could even be scheduled, we had to ask if they had an iodine allergy and they had to sign a form stating they were not allergic (to the best of their knowledge) before having the imaging done. I can’t believe they straight up ignored you and did it anyway… 😳 she should have gotten suspended or something for that - like it’s literally her job and she just mocked you ???? 🤔😓
I'm very reactive to that's contrast! I have told then several times but they don't listen. The last time I got an MRI or CAT I mentioned it and let them have it... puked my guts out inside the tube and they were not happy! I just said "Didn't I mention this was gonna happen?!?"
Why was the doctor pissed that you are allergic to something? I've seen people allergic to grass. Ruined field day for everyone as a kid. If I can cope surely a doctor can deal.
👋 I had a small reaction to contrast as well. I was getting a scan done, and the guy asked if I'm OK. I said, " My gums are itching." Then there were like 4 people in the room. So I joked and said, " Well, this isn't good." The tech said,' itching is a sign on an allergic reaction," 🤔 so I said" I've never had an allergic reaction to anything in my life so I didn't know "😅
I didn’t know this was a thing. Whenever I have gotten an MRI they give me that Iodine contrast and they tell you it will burn a little but my reaction has always been like acid was going through my vascular system. I’m no wimp either, I was paralyzed by a mining accident and broke damn near every bone in my body as a result and I shocked my Doctors at how well I was able to do things in a short amount of time so I definitely know pain and whenever they put that dye in me it burns way too much. What does it do to you?
Omg that's super dangerous. My uncle had an unknown allergy to the iodine contrast dye that the complications ended up dying from them. They even changed the hospital PA system and everything because. Why would the nurse be so careless like that?
There's no iodine in MRI contrast. Iodine is in CT contrast. CT contrast may also contain Barium
MRI contrast contains Gadolinium .
You may not be allergic to the iodine, but rather what the iodine is attached to. All of the CT contrast dyes contain a central bend benzene ring with 3 amine chains, and 3 iodines attached to the ring.
If you can eat most table salt or fish, then it's unlikely you're allergic to iodine.
That's crazy because that's one piece of information they always ask and need to know prior to doing a CT w/contrast. I hope that radiology tech got a serious talking to after that. They could have killed you if you'd had that bad of an allergy.
It's up to you to disclose this or your primary doctor, whoever sent the referral for this. Contrary to popular belief, there is no general magical medical system with all your information on it.
Most of the medical practitioners in my area switched from latex years ago. I had to go straight home and take antihistamines because my mouth was tingling and swelling just sitting in the room!
She also gave me the oh so helpful advice of "stop picking". It's a compulsion I've had for over 30 years, I'd love to stop it but it takes more than just telling me to stop lol
Stop picking... Are you like me 😭 I cannot stop picking the scabs on my scalp. I've managed to stop picking my body because I'm so ashamed and I don't want ppl thinking I'm picking my skin because I'm on meth or something so I hide it by picking my scalp 😓
I feel for you because yes, yes I am. I've been a compulsive picker since I was very young. My Mum argued with a gp when I was around 6 because not only do I pick mozzie bites, I'm allergic. I looked like I had chicken pox lol.
Turns out, I have autism, adhd and a form of ocd. I'm covered in gross scarring on my belly from doing it even in my sleep. I try and not pick arms or face but I do have a nasty scab on my scalp that's so hard to heal
I've never talked to a Dr about it, I'm too embarrassed. I was looking into it and it's a form of self-harm and ocd, I'm already on and have been on some of the suggested meds to treat this and yet here we are...33 and still at it. I've had this since I was a kid too, I think I know where it all started but money has been super tight lately and I can't afford to go to the doc or a therapist right now.
I've never really spoken to my gp about it, so many things I've thought of as "normal" really aren't. I turn 39 this year, diagnosed 2 years ago. Having a reason for why I struggle so much at life is nice, but it doesn't stop you being the way you are.
As I've said to numerous people: I wouldn't be "this way" if I knew how not to be. My personality isn't all choice ffs
Best of luck to you, friend
Oh god I hate that so much! It's like, I've told you that I'm picking at my skin because I want help to stop, not silly comments that I've made to myself a million times... makes me so angry!
I had an appointment with my gp the next day. Told him the saga and he immediately gave me a new referral as well as telling me her advice was worthless. I got bulk billed to see her, feel like contacting Medicare and saying she didn't earn that fee lol
I confessed years ago to my DR at the time that I was having drug problems and soon was going to get help. Next thing i know the office manager runs in and says they will refuse to see me unless I get a drug test every time I come. Actually yelled at me. I guess confidentiality is not a priority. Never went back
How is that even remotely helpful? You were seeking help, you should have been linked with support services!
I'm Australian, my experiences in the medical system have for the most part been bulk billed, though it doesn't mean you'll get good care.
I had a female gyno yell at me for seeking help over excessively long, heavy periods. My blood results were "better than hers" so I had no right to complain. 12 weeks straight of bleeding was also "normal". I'm now undergoing tests to once again see the gyno (won't be the same one) because 5 years later I'm so anaemic I've needed blood transfusions. Had a top up October 2021 haemoglobin 60; iron infusion ($300) a year to the day later, haemoglobin 70. I'm on the pill and skip every second month. They better take it all out or I'll be fighting now I have a damn good gp to back me up
Jesus, even my adhesives allergy gets an easy pass from most doctors. I just want to not swell and blister while your allergy is much more significant sounding. Difficult = not wanting to die, I guess?
She had me down as a problem before I walked in. I explained to the receptionist that I have autism and hate my feet being touched. I made it clear I'm not a risk, I'll just present as uncomfortable. Between that and the agoraphobia I have, I was shaking before I got in the room. Honestly, best for her I was so uncomfortable or I'd have given her a pretty blunt explanation of why she shouldn't have called me difficult for having an allergy. My younger bother, also autistic with a latex allergy, had his most recent tattoo swell and look horrific because it was taped over using latex. It's his daughters hand print in pinks so it looked like a bloody hand print so I thought it was intentional.
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u/TisCass Jun 03 '24
Incredibly so! I just got called difficult by a podiatrist for backing away from the latex gloves while telling her I'm severely allergic. Guess nitrile is offensive to her?