My daughter had an operation on her big toe today for recurring ingrown toenails. The doctor removed a wedge of skin from beside the nail to try and retard the further occurance of the ingrown toenails.

They gave her Tylenol w/codeine for pain as well as Keflex for antibiotic.

I gave her the tylenol w/codeine after she ate lunch. About an hour later, she became violently ill with vomiting, severe stabbing stomach pain, sweats, and a little delirium. She was writhing on the bathroom floor and I called the paramedics as I could not drive her and attend her at the same time. Besides I was scared to death. I have not seen her so ill before.

By the time the paramedics arrived, she was feeling better. They checked her over quite well and said that this medication was the culprit and now that she had gotten sick, she should feel better. Well thank God she does. Her doctor told us to only use regular extra strength tylenol for the pain. We started with that at 4:30 this afternoon, but it does not seem to be helping. Let me also say that there is no swelling visible nor redness indicating infection.

I want to help her control her pain but do not know what to do. I was told that she has to keep it dry for one week because of the stitches and that the doctor would change the bandage in one week. I was also told that there would be minimal bleeding.

If anyone has any suggestion on something that I can do for her or give her that will help her with the pain, please pass this along. I am also terrified of giving her the Keflex because of the reaction she had to the other. I was told that the Keflex was very strong and can upset the stomach easily with or without food.

What the heck do I do for her. Please anyone who can help, please. I am sorry I was long winded but as you can tell I am worried for her and scared to boot, which is raising my anxiety through the roof.


Thanks a ton,
Jeaninne

OMG!! I am so sorry!!

GET HER OFF THE KEFLEX!!!!!

Over 50% of people who take that PUKE!! It is an evil evil antibiotic!!

I took it once, didn't puke but thought for sure I was gonna!! Went to another doctor, who said NEVER take that crap.

Ok, now that I got that off my chest!!! I will try again.

Seriously, get her on another antibiotic. There are many many other choices that will not make her sick.

I have had stitches this year, and had some moles removed....the advice I was given by all the doctors is to NOT let the wound dry out. Apparently you will heal much faster if it is kept moist, using some kind of anti biotic ointment (I was given Rx ointments) like polysorin.

Keep the foot elevated. The blood pooling in the foot, when there is a wound, will make it pound.

If she can take it, try icing the toe. I had to ice my eye every hour for 30 minutes at a time...so 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off. A small bag of frozen peas would work well, and don't place it directly on skin, wrap a towel or better yet a dish towel around the frozen peas.

After your daughters poor tummy has settled down and she can eat properly, try Advil (or some other form of Ibuprofen) as it has an anti inflammatory in it, and will help more with the pain than plain Tylenol. If it is really bad you can alternate every two or three hours. Make sure she eats before the Advil though, it is a little hard on the tummy (but NOT like the EVIL Keflex).

I know how hard it is to watch your children suffer. It is the worse! Don't give her anymore Keflex!! Let us know how things go with her.

Big Hugs to you and your daughter!

Oh dear, that is AWFUL! Codeine is such a powerful drug and some people have a very bad reaction to it. It causes nausea in everyone who takes it, and for a small percentage, it can be violent. For pain relief, you have to stay 'ahead' of the pain...in other words, don't wait for it to happen. Keep her on 650-1000/mg Tylenol every 6 hours. Don't go over 4000 mg in any 24 hour period. I'm sure you've got other post surgical instructions, like keeping the foot rested and elevated.

Now...regarding the Keflex...yes, it is an antibiotic with potentially difficult side effects--BUT, her doctor is trying to protect her from developing a post surgical infection, which could become very serious and spread throughout her body. I'm not crazy about Keflex, but I've taken it when I had surgery on my finger because the risk of infection was worse than the side effects. You could try calling the doctor and see if he/she would prescribe a different antibiotic, but I doubt they will.

You always have the option of driving her to the doctors office and having her take the first dose of Keflex right there. I did this once when my DD was small and had had a bad reaction to a drug. It's not unreasonable at all.

Have her drink a LOT of water with the Keflex and avoid the sun. Her body is doing hard work to recover from being cut open and so she needs good nutrition and tons of rest. I'll be thinking of you both...

Floater thank you so much for responding. I agree with you after speaking with the pharmacist about the codeine. She told me that the Keflex would do the same or worse to my daughter. I just cant give it to her and will call doctor in the morning to try something. Sorry robin, I just cant do it.

I appreciate the advice on the pain relief. I had not thought of the advil at all but will try that instead of the tylenol and I will defintely feed her prior to giving it to her.

Ya'll have made me feel so much better and my daughter has been reading along with me and she said to tell all of you THANK YOU!!!

Hugs to you both,
Jeaninne

I've had quite a few surgeries and if you can't stomach the pain meds, this is what I've been told by surgeons. Take 4, 200 mg ibuprophen. That equals one prescription strength motrin. And then take it every 6-8 hours until pain relief is achieved. It is an antiinflammatory, and if you take it, but don't take it regularly, the inflammation comes back and you start from square one with the next dose. Many people have stomach upset w/ibuprophen, so take it with some food.

As far as immediate pain, post surgery....ice! Ice it for 20 minutes at a time, then take breaks between the icing.

I have been prescribed hydrocodone many times in this year alone and I have the same reaction, but without the strong pain relievers I would not have tolerated the pain either, so I always tell my dr. and he prescribes an anti-nausea med and have had no problems since.

Why is Keflex so bad? I want to know in case anyone prescribes it for me.
Louisa

All of Floater's recommendations were so excellent... just want to second what she said, and add some (((HUGS))).

Hope your daughter feels better very soon - poor thing!

Luv,
JJ

Provobabe: Keflex belongs to a drug class called "cephalosporins." It's a first generation antibiotic...and it is widely used to treat a variety of infections, including pneumonia, staph infections of the skin, and urinary tract infections. It is what as known as a "broad spectrum" antibiotic, which means it treats the two types of bacterial classes: gram-negative and gram-positive (which just means that some types of bacteria will react with a type of die--a 'stain' in a petri dish, and some won't.) When a person has a chest infection, for example, a doctor will often prescribe a broad spec. drug to make sure that all bacterial are killed (often secondary infections can set up after the primary one.) Most people take Keflex without any problems, but some people have very bad reactions to it...mostly digestive stuff, like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea...and lots of people complain about a bad taste in their mouth while taking it.

Some doctors just don't take into consideration what they are prescribing (big surprise there, huh?)..when I worked in a pharmacy I would often see pain-killers + cephalexin in the very young and in the elderly, and those two groups often have drug sensitivities and would end up calling and complaining that they couldn't keep their meds down. Elderly people especially are susceptible to urinary tract infections and doctors prescribe Keflex for them without warning them of the possible side effects (pharmacies are supposed to put labels on the bottles and a really good pharm tech will tell you how to avoid the worst side effects)...the gastro-intestinal stuff can be helped by eating yogurt with live cultures and/or taking probiotic tablets on an empty stomach.

I myself always carry a cephalosporin of some kind if I'm going to be traveling out of the country..usually Cipro. It's in case I get a bad urinary tract infection, but in a pinch it can be used for strep too. I think where and how it's manufactured figures greatly...I've never had a lot of big trouble with Cipro that I get here in the U.S. A couple of years ago, however, I got sick in the Caribbean and a doctor there prescribed me generic cipro. It was god-awful. I took one pill and became very, very sick. I was literally throwing up every 10 minutes. After that I carry my own.

Let me say first off, that I am ALLERGIC to several antibiotics. If I take any of them, I break out in severe hives with bad itching and some breathing difficulties. That being said, YES, Keflex can potentially upset stomaches. I have severe IBS, and am sensitive to many meds. I have diarrhea very easily. Actually some stomach upset is normal with many of these antibiotics, since they are killing off good and bad bacteria everywhere, including your intestines. This does not make a drug "EVIL" , as some have said.

If it were not for Keflex - one of the few antibiotics I can actually take, I would probably be dead by now. I have had strep many times ( a fun side effect of working with young kids!). I cannot take the first three drugs of choice to kill the strep bacteria. I most take Keflex or another similar acting drug. Would I rather have some stomach upset and diarrhea, or deadly strep. HMM - let me think...
My point, going about it in a long way, is, some drugs will have unwanted side effects, but that is better than the alternative many times. There are many antibiotics that are MUCH rougher on the GI tract than Keflex. I just don't think you should be getting your medical advice from non-medical personnel online. Talk to the doctor before deciding to just not take a drug. Better to be safe, than ulitmately sorry.

I realize my opinion will not be a popular one on the boards - but I have lived and experienced many drug reactions and interactions -so I am speaking from much experience.

the codeine DID probably do a number on your daughter, and you are wise to keep her off of it. BUT, do consult with the doctor for a safe and viable alternative pain killer.

I hope she is feeling much better very soon.
Hugs,
Di

I agree with you, di..my mother is allergic to all penicillins except the cephalosporins. When she gets a chest infection, it is all she can take. She prepares herself for the usual onslaught of stomach upset and diarrhea, but at least the infection is gone...

Same with me. Keflex is one of the few antibiotics I can tolerate. I have MS, so Cipro is contraindicated with MS. I've had a severe allergic reaction to Levaquin, Macrobid, and Bactrim.

Having MS, I often have to deal with UTIs, so it's Keflex I take and it knocks it out.

I have no stomach upset with Keflex, no side effects whatsoever. I get no diarrhea or yeast infection from it.

Here's my take on drugs. I want to take the least amount of drugs possible, but sometimes that's just not possible. And you can't judge by another person's reaction to a drug what your reaction is going to be.

Case in point: As I said, I have MS. Standard treatment when I was diagnosed was interferon injections. I read about awful side effects, flu like symptoms, fevers, chills, etc. plus the fact you had to give yourself a shot every other day. I had a lot of family responsibilities at the time, so I told my neuro, "Thanks but no thanks."

A year goes by, and my MRI's starting to resemble swiss cheese, so I agree to the interferon. The nurse comes out, instructs me on the injections and I started them. Now years later, I can honestly say that I have NEVER had side effects from the drug. (a fact which my neuro teases me about quite often.)

But my point is, if we never try a drug, we won't know if we'll get the side effects or not. Drugs have their place....everybody's different, and you just have to use caution and be alert for side effects, but don't anticipate side effects because they may not happen. And make sure you're positive which drug is causing the side effects before you give up on all of them.

Wow you guys are lucky. But honestly, I had a doctor tell me he never prescribes Keflex as the number of people who react negatively is just too high. My youngest daughter took one pill, and was so ill it was awful. I was so wildly nauseated by it I never took a 2nd pill. My sister was given it during a life threatening tonsilitis infection and threw up from it! Imagine how painful THAT was??!! She ended up being admitted into hospital and put on IV antibiotics. Perhaps my family has a particular weakness to Keflex, but I know we have used other cipro type ABs with no issues whatsoever.

I stand by my position on the Keflex, it is horrible stuff - and unless you are prepared to puke your guts out (and how much good can taking the med DO if you are throwing it all back up??) I would proceed with EXTREME caution.


stitch, how is your daughter feeling today??? I hope much better.

Thanks to all of you that replied.

My daughter is feeling much better today thank God. I did not give her the Keflex because I have had no good information on that drug as well. Even the pharmacist was very cautious about it and stressed that it would (not could) upset her stomach. So we have asked the doctor for something different.

One good thing about all this is that her foot is doing much better with no signs of infection. She is able to take advil which helps with the pain she does feel. We have been keeping it propped up while she is sitting and continue to ice it.

Floater - I know that our opinion is not popular but I have to say that I agree with you.

Thanks again and hugs to everyone.

I am so glad your daughter is feeling better, that is wonderful! I am also happy you are not going to let her take the Keflex, there are better choices. Tell her I am glad she is feeling better!!

Hugs to you both!!