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Hives & Swollen Lips After Knee Replacement Surg

I am writing on behalf of my mother.  She is a 68 y/o African American female.  January 21st, she had total knee replacement surgery to her right knee.  She stayed in the phys rehab center for 8 days post-op, and was fine.  The surgeon sent her home with oxycodone for pain management.  She only took it 3 days because she developed hives and swollen lips.  We attributed this to an oxycodone reaction.  However, it is now 3 months later, and the hives have not subsided.  They are manageable with prednisone and other antihistamines.  

She was sent to an allergist and it has been determined that she is allergic to numerous things including, but not limited to:  dairy products, shell fish, nuts, cinnamon, fragrances & perfumes, the cat, penicillin, and the list goes on.  She was not allergic to anything prior to the knee surgery.  NO allergies at all.  She is a great lover of body lotions and fragrances, so we know she was never allergic to it before.  

The allergist has given her  prescription antihistamine that I don't recall the name of right now.  She has told me she ate some cookies with cinnamon, and within a few hours she did have an outbreak of the hives.  Her lips will also swell in certain spots, or one side of the lip/mouth area.  

She does take blood pressure medicine, a diuretic, and thyroid medicine.

Has anyone had any experience with these types of allergies and symptoms appearing after a surgical procedure?
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Avatar universal
I had both knees replaced and I too suffer from hives – for over a year. I have been on 5 -6 courses of steroids and I continue to be on a double dose of Zyrtec, a double dose Xyzal, 1 doses of Doxepin and  a dose of Singulair. These have worked for a while and then the hives come back even stronger. The Allergist now wants to add a dose of cyclosporine and if that does not work he wants to add a dose of Methotrexate – all of which have side effects that have to be monitored on a regular basis. I had my allergist test me for metal allergies and the test came back positive for Cobalt. My regular Doctor did a blood test and it came back showing Cobalt – not enough to be toxic but with levels that could cause hives. The Allergists all seem to want to treat the symptoms and not the cause. They will tell you, “maybe it is the cause and maybe it isn’t – we don’t know!”, so they only want to treat the symptoms. All of my research shows that the people that do suffer from a reaction to Nickel or Cobalt from the knee replacement  get better once the knees are replaced with titanium knee replacements – trying to get the Doctors to come to this conclusion is the hard part. (I am not a health care professional but with what I have seen on the net points to the knee replacement as the cause. Because only 10% on 1% of people that have knee replacements have a reaction to the metal most health care professionals will follow the “book” and not even look at this as the cause. I have yet to get a Doctor to do the updated research – when I do get a Doctor to take the time to research this then maybe the will open their minds and treat the cause instead of the symptom’s. MAYBE IF ENOUGH OF US DEMAND THEY LOOK MAYBE THEY WILL LISTEN.) I lay awake at night scratching my haves and sit on my hands during the day trying not to scratch – maybe if the Doctors went through what we do they would be motivated to treat the cause.) ALF – Spokane.
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Avatar universal
My husband total knee replacement in November and began to break out with hives on the knee that had the replacement.  To date this breaking out has not subsided.  He  has tried benadral and other antihistimines to no avail.  Is this usual?  What is the next step as he is not able to rest more than 2 hours at a time.
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Avatar universal
Hi,

Glad the post was of some help to you.

Do let us know how she is doing and it would be nice if you could keep us posted about the medications she is on.

Let us know if you have any other doubts.

Regards.
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your kind response and time.  She seems to be doing well with the antihistamines--she just has to watch everything to stay of way from hive-trigger foods and other offenses.   It's very aggravating for her.

I will keep you posted of any changes.  Again-many thanks.

Lisa
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Avatar universal
Hi,

Allergies can manifest at any time and can be of variable severity.

Your mother could have had te allergic reaction to any antibiotic/ any other medication that was given at the time of the hospitalisation or any other unknown substance she might have been exposed to then.

You should review with your allergy specialist and continue the prescried medications and see if her symptoms resolve with time.

Let us know what the doctor tells you and you should try t avoid substances that she has a documented allergy to.

Let us know if you have any other doubts and post us about how she is doing.

Regards.

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