Drug allergy, fixed drug eruption

If I may address this to Dr. Alan Rockoff: With all respect, the point I was trying to make is that if someone has an allergic reaction that is not responding to treatment after several months and he knows that he is allergic to penicillin and several other antibiotics it is very important that he eliminates all possible exposure to those drugs, including foods that may contain those drugs. I found this out the hard way after years of suffering rashes.  

The idea behind a liquid diet at the onset of drug allergy symptoms is to try and flush the offending chemicals from the body as fast as possible. A restricted diet also helps eliminate further exposure to allergens especially when the source of the reaction is not known. From personal experience this has helped me considerably in reducing the severity of my fixed drug reactions.

I've dealt with an acute sensitivity to penicillin for 25 years. While this may be a rare occurrence and may not be mrbreezy's problem, I would like to get word out that those who have allergies for penicillin and other antibiotics avoid unwittingly exposing themselves to those drugs by eating foods that may be contaminated with with those drugs. Like with a peanut allergy it is a challenge to eliminate risky foods, but well worth it.

Thank you for this forum and your time.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Thank you for the elaboration, but I got your point the first time, and I don't agree with it.   The ideas that chronic (lasting 25 yeas) rashes are caused by an "acute sensitivity" to a drug, and that it is necessary to "flush out offending chemicals" are widespread and popular, but are not compatible with current scientific thinking.  As I tell my patients who make similar suggestions: If someone feels that a food is causing his or her problem, it is perfectly reasonable to eliminate that food and see what happens.  (Almost always, it turns out that the presumed correlation breaks down.)  But to suggest a liquid diet is, in my view, not well worth it for almost anybody.  Readers of this site can make their own sensible choices in this matter.

Thanks.

Dr. Rockoff