Well I don’t have good news about using Bactrim, which contains sulfa (a class of antibacterial drugs). Many people are allergic to sulfa but are not aware until they take this antibiotic, according to the reviews I’ve read on this drug.

My allergic reaction started to occur 6 days after starting this antibiotic for my perioral dermatitis/eczema conditions. I woke up with a headache and a bit of neck pain so I just simply thought I slept in a funny position, which would explain the neck pain and headache. But throughout my work day I started to feel weak and dizzy, which then made me nauseous if I was not sitting down. So I went home early from work and had a late lunch and had a nap. When I woke up from my nap I realized I had a fever and my body was extremely hot. But then about half an hour later, I started getting the chills. So then I thought, okay, maybe I am getting the flu or something so I took a Tylenol Cold/Flu pill and rested in bed all evening/night. I also decided to skip my dosage for Bactrim that evening, just in case.

The next day, I woke up with the same symptoms but I was feeling more nauseous and my chin and neck felt extremely itchy and hot. I didn’t think much of this at the time… So I carried on with taking my cold/flu meds and hoped to feel better. By evening time I felt that my nausea has gone away along with my headache and fever – so I thought that I was getting better! The next morning I woke up, went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, but then I looked in the mirror and my jaw dropped. I was covered in a rash from head to toe! My face was red and blotchy, my neck, chest, stomach, you get the point. So I immediately thought I had the measles or something whack like that. I picked up my phone to call the medical help line to speak to a Registered Nurse about my symptoms and she asked me if I am on any medications, that’s when I mentioned to her about Bactrim. She then responded with, “I think you may have an allergic reaction to sulfa, you should contact your pharmacist to discuss the drug a bit more to be sure, and if you don’t feel well in 4 hours go see your doctor.” So I called my pharmacist and sure enough, he was of the opinion that it sounded like an allergic reaction to sulfa. My reaction to the drug took a bit more time to go through my body so that’s why I didn’t experience any symptoms until almost a week after taking the drug. My pharmacist recommended taking allergy pills to relieve the itching and redness and if the symptoms don’t go away, go see a doctor.

After 5 hours of taking the allergy pills, Benadryl, I noticed my rash had gotten worse and the red spots looked like it was linking together as one huge rash. So I decided to goto a walk-in clinic because my family doctor was out-of-town, and was prescribed with a Hydroxyzine antihistamine. But after taking these pills for a day, it didn’t seem any better but again, seemed to be getting worse. So I decided to goto another doctor for a second opinion and he examined me and did a swab of my mouth to send to the lab. He asked me more questions about my symptoms and what drugs I have taken for this reaction. This doctor recommended only Reactine Extra Strength allergy pills and to stop taking anything else. He also directed me to take my mouth swab and a lab request sheet to the nearest medical lab to get testing done. So I left the medical clinic and went straight to the lab where I got 5 tubes of blood drawn and gave a urine sample. I won’t have the results back for a week but was directed to go to the Emergency Room at the hospital if my symptoms get worse.

It is now Day 3 since my rashes appeared and so far it’s tame. My skin is not as hot to the touch as it was before, I am not as itchy because of the allergy pills, and my face isn’t as red. But the red rash spots in my body are still very visible. I am hoping this starts to go away soon because it is about 27-30 degrees Celsius out (summer is here!!!) and I am stuck inside hiding my ugly rash.

I will keep taking these allergy pills once daily (because they are 24-hour pills) and provide an update if my symptoms change.

Sorry for the long rant but I wanted to provide as much detail as I can. If you can, avoid Bactrim (Apo-Sulfatrim)!!!