Sinus Infection - Now Rash

[JCarl]

I had a very serious cold and sinus headache in Feb of this year.  after going to the doc, he diagnosed me with a sinus infection.  and put me on a 10day cycle of amoxiciilion.  on the 7 th day of the cycle the headache and other flu symptoms were gone but i start to develop a rash.  I immediately stopped taking the antibiotic.  the rash was not very intense but the itching was uncontrollable.  I was told to try an allergy med like benadryl or zyrtec and that worked.. but its now been 6 months and i still have the itchiness.  if i don't take a pill in the morning it becomes unbearable.  Also i have noticed that i seem to be more gases than i have ever been in the past.  Does anyone have any idea what is causing this? and what might make it better?

[JCarl]

Thanks for the information.  It's been very helpful.

[ENTMD]

Yeah, I totally understand how tempting it is to associated a cause and effect relationship with the Amoxicillin and the rash/itch.  Certainly this, like all medications (and most foods), seem to cause some allergic or allergic-type reactions in a small percentage of people.  But once the drug has been eliminated by the body, the source of the reaction is gone and so goes the reaction.  Could you have something going on that is so rare that we don't entirely understand it?  I suppose, but common things are common, so that brought me to the ideas I offered.  Other things can cause itching without a rash -- liver failure comes to mind.  How about laundry detergents?  Dry skin?  Bed bugs? The list goes on.  Whatever you have needs to be diagnosed before any specific treatment can be suggested.  Sorry to hear you don't have insurance.  I hate that.  In my opinion, our society has failed you -- but that's another issue!

[JCarl]

Thanks for the response.  The rash is really all over my body and like i mentioned its more of an internal itch than a rash that you can see on my body.  Although when its really bad you can slightly see red blochy spots, that can have a bit of swelling.

It just seem to much of a coincidence that it all started at the end of my amoxicillion cycle.

Also i don't have health insurance would there be anything over the counter that you would recommend?

[ENTMD]

Where is the rash?  I would be more suspicious of a fungal infection (tinea), contact dermatitis...It's hard to imagine a drug side-effect lingering for so long.  Either way, it would be next to impossible to diagnose and suggest treatment on a forum.  Your doctor might want to consider suggesting a Dermatologist for you to see.