Allergic reactions? Please help...

[chl_hobbs]

Hi all,

As some of you might know ive been taking Pregabalin for 21 days now. Its orginally for epilepsy and fibro pain but recently has been shown to help with anxiety. I was fine on it for about 10days just the usual dizziness of taking a new drug which wore off.
Now though, im almost LOOKING for side effects and there's one that's really really upsetting me. It's called angioedema (anyone know of it...?). Well, for the past 3days ive noticed the tip of my tongue is very sensitive and the top of my throat is sore, but not sore in anyway ive ever felt before - like someone's scratched it. The tip of my tongue hurts especially when i gently press it and im aware of it especially at night and in the morning. Pregabalin is a relatively new drug and there have been a lot of side effects reported (some are SO SO scary). Im scared that this is something as a result of it. Stupid me and stupid google Ive been reading all the horror stories to do with it :unsure:

Is this an allergic reaction or would that have happened well before now? I cant see any redness inside my mouth but does that mean it's not blistering? Is this angioedema??? I hate this...

Please help if you can
Charlotte xxx

[Danii]

I wish I could hug you. This is my main fear with my HA, allergic reactions of that type.

I don't know much about the drug, but I can share with you a few things my doctors have told me over years of repeated visits and questioning about this. Generally if you're going to have an allergic reaction that severe to a medication its within 20 minutes to 2 hours of your first dose. The only medication I've personally heard of causing this type of reaction long after taking it is Xolair, which is a medication for asthma. Seeing as you are 21 days in I'd say it probably wouldn't happen at this point.

Also those types of reactions happen relatively quickly, and with other symptoms, like upset stomach, nausea, itchyness and confusion. What helps me sometimes is buying a medication like benedryl, or some other antihistamine. These medications stop allergic reactions, if you ever had one. You could try some and see if it makes your throat feel better, but when my throat feels like yours it soothes it anyways, even though its not an allergic reaction.

Maybe it was something you ate making your throat feel that way? I never have dry cereal for breakfast, and one day after I did my throat felt scratched, and so did the roof of my mouth. I worried all day until I realized what I had eaten.

Good luck!

[swgrl09]

A good way to test an allergic reaction is to take an anti-histamine. If it gets better, it was an allergy. If not, you may just be fighting a bug or something.

My throat is always a little scratchy but I have indoor allergies to dust, mold, cats, dogs, you name it. An antihistamine would help with those too. Do you have anything like that or a cold that may be causing the sore throat instead?