Sulfamethoxazole and dermatologist

I hope someone can help me. I developed a couple of boils in my inner thigh area and my doc did not want to drain them until he tried one last remedy, Sulfamethoxazole. I began taking 2 giant pills a day exactly 12 days ago. The medicine helped the with the boils a lot. They seem to be down to pea size. I suffer from Generalized anxiety disorder and Panic Disorder and I can honestly say that this medication induces anxiety in people. I woke up in the middle of the night about 2 days ago shivering uncontrollably and could not move from the spot I was shivering in. I think I broke a tooth from the chattering of them. I did not think anything of it because I figured it was a nightmare. This morning when I woke up, my body was really sore. My back was killing me and I had a rash on the back of both hands and around/on my feet. I could not get a hold of my dermatologist so I called a couple pharmacies and they told me to stop taking the medicine and take a benadryl. I took the advice and am now wondering if I am allergic to sulfa or maybe this is all a side effect from the pills. I am now terrified about all this because I just read about a disease called Stevens-Johnson syndrome. If anyone has input, please post. Thanks

-John

P.S. I currently take Klonopin and Paxil CR incase needed to know.

I have been on Sulfameth for years. I took it for acne for about 3 years with out a single side effect other than being slightly more sensitive to light. My dermatologist switched me to a different acne medicine (accutane) after the three years but I went on Sulfameth again a few years later for a bladder infection and it cleared it right up with out any problems. I am back on Sulfameth again for acne and it has worked wonderfully for me with out any problems! I think it's a very helpful drug.

I have had a horrible reaction to Sulfameth. At first, it was effective in treating my acne, but on the 5th day, I began to get severe headaches, stomach pain (which I now realize was the pain caused by water retention), and a rash began to develop. I lowered to dose to 800 mg/day at the suggestion of my dermatologist, and now the rash covers my body and my face is bright red and itches like crazy (I want to reach for some sandpaper). I don't know why this drug is on the market, because I have heard from friends people often react to Sulfameth and similar drugs.

My dermatologist prescribed Sulfameth for a bacterial infection with manifested as a bad rash on my leg. After three days, the rash cleared. Since my doctor wanted me on a 21 Sulfameth cycle I still had to take it. After one week, I started to feel a little blue, like I was in a fog. I didn't immediately think it was the medicine. Then two days after I started feeling a down, I got really bad hives on my chest and arms. These hives wer of the pins and needles kind, not too itchy, but very distressing. I started having severe chills and my irratibility went through the roof. My neck and back were in pain. The day after that I called my dermatologist and he told me to stop taking the Sulfameth immediately. By then, the hives spread all over my body, and my eyes are completely bloodshot. I look like I have swelling and severe sunburn. At least I'm not as irritable and the chills are gone. When I had the chills it felt the same as going through nicotine withdrawal. Just ... AWFUL. Hopefully the rash will clear soon, so far it's only gotten worse.

I took this for about three weeks for acne. On the day the side effects started, it started with a back ache. Then the next day my hands and feet started itching like CRAZY. I didn't connect this with the sulfameth though. I started taking Benedryl to get relief from the itching. Two days after going mad from itching my hands and feet, I started getting chills and nausea, and I started itching all over my body. This got worse throughout the day, until at night I went to an urgent care clinic. The doctor there immediately said it was from the sulfameth. He gave me a shot to help with the symptoms. That did help with the nausea and chills, but the itching stayed with me for THREE WEEKS. My dermatologist gave me a prescription-strength antihistimine, but even though the sulfameth was no longer in my system, she said I could continue to react for weeks! I'm better now but am completely horrified by this drug.

I took this for about three weeks for acne. I didn't have any problems for THREE weeks, then one day my back started aching. Then the next my hands and feet started itching. I didn't connect this with the sulfameth, until day four when, along with the muscle aches and itching, I had nausea and chills so bad I went to an urgent care clinic scared out of my mind. The doctor there said it was the sulfameth, and gave me a shot of something to stop the nausea and chills. That was a week and a half ago, and I still have the itching reaction. There's no visible rash--just insane itching. The urgent care doctor told me to take Benedryl, which I did to no avail. After a week, when it was clear the itching wasn't going to go away, I finally called my dermatologist who prescribed a prescription-strength anti-histimine. That helps to some degree, but the itching is still there, and my derm. said I could expect it to last for "a few weeks" despite the sulfameth not being in my system anymore!! I felt better after finding this site, knowing that I wasn't crazy, but I'm still angry about being prescribed this. Also-I had no appetite, but that is starting to come back slowly.

I have been prescribed 20 sulfaameth/trimneth for an injury to my hand. On the second day of usage I developed what seemed like jock itch! I got progressively worse and I visited my dermatologist who was baffeled untill I mentioned the sulfameth. He was familliar with the rashes caused by the drug and instructed me to stop taking it, which I already had. Its been two days and it still has yet to subside completely. I also, had a ravenous appitite which has decreased as well, thankfully.

I was prescribed sulfameth by a dermatologist to help dry out my oily skin as a teenager(15years ago). After a week of taking this medication orally, I noticed I had bruises that i could not remember any injury causing. At the time I had braces on my teeth, and one morning after noticing the bruises on my skin, i woke up and noticed blood blisters on the inside of my mouth and tongue! Sulfameth was the only medication i was taking at the time. I went to my dermatologist to get his opinion, after which he sent me immediately to the hospital. Turns out, I was on the verge of internally bleeding to death. I had to stay in the hospital for a week, where i was treated with a steroid to boost my red blood cell count because it was deathly low. Had i not noticed the bruises, and blood blisters in my mouth from the braces, I might not have known.

I was prescribed Sulfameth/Trimethoprim 800/160 Tabs a little over a year ago for acne. Not long afterwards started getting bad headaches and dizziness spells, occasionally strong enough to cause vomiting and be temporarily debilitating, resembling vertigo-like symptoms. Began having very vivid dreams/nightmares and waking up exhausted from not getting any rest because of it. Then I started having major post-nasal drip and getting bad sinus/throat infections, a few of which were positively diagnosed as strep. One of the throat infections was bad enough to cause an abscess on my left tonsil which ruptured, causing me to have to go to the ER and get 5 stiches in my throat. At 3 am. Throughout this entire time I kept asking my doctors (dermatologist AND primary physician) if this drug could be causing any of this, they told me basically that it was impossible and even the suggestion of such a thing was ridiculous. I finally took it upon myself and discontinued the use of the drug when I started getting yet another sinus infection, and it cleared up on its own within a day or two, at which time I went back on the meds just for argument's sake if nothing else. Of course, the same symptoms eventually returned and I again stopped taking the meds, and again everything cleared right up. I repeated this process probably 4 or 5 times just to verify and every time was pretty much the exact same sequence of events. I began taking 1/2 the original dosage by breaking the big horse tabs in half and have been doing so ever since with no probs but great results as far as no acne.

Sorry for the long post but felt this could help a lot of people out there with similar situations. The moral of the story? Never doubt yourself and NEVER completely trust your doctors- they are just tools of the drug industry.