Contrast dye allergy...now what?

KJ...how long were you hospitalized? Did you have general anesthesia or the common type performed by the neurodoc/tech? How long did your rash last?

You may want to pull up contrast allergies...for what the various sites note to ask your doc...

KJ said:

I had a coil in December and 4 days after the procedure I broke out in a rash over 90% of my body and the doctors told me it could not be from the dye because it was so many days later. Personally,

I am not convinced that the procedure didn't have something to do with it because I wasn't doing or taking anything different than usual so when I go back in for another dye contrast in 3 months I am going to remind them of that because in general I tend to have allergies.

Sarge, you are too funny! Chutzpah! Haven’t heard that in years! The prednisone, Benedryl and inhaler are no big deal, really. It’s a little inconvenient to get up in the middle of the night to take the prednisone, but I’d probably not be sleeping so well anyways. And like you, I’d rather know than not. What I find amazing is that I may not have gone anaphalatic when I ruptured. The local hospital did give me a little too much medication and they had to wait for some of it to flush out before they could go in and coil. I developed the allergic reaction back in the 80’s due to a CT scan. Be careful of shrimp, and Betadyne if you have developed an iodine allergy.

I thought cat scans only used dye not MRI’s…I’ve never heard of an MRI with dye.

Here Amy - http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/mri/basics/what-you-can-expect/prc-20012903. This talks about the MRI with contrast.

I think I may have had an allergic reaction to my first angio. I woke up on the way to recovery with my throat blocked with mucous and was trying to sit up so I could breathe! They were shouting at me to lie still! The thing is it could also have been the strong smell of the mask (I have many allergies) I need to speak to my surgeon about it, but I am afraid of having large doses of steroid as I have glaucoma. Can't win!

Because of my multiple severe allergic reactions, I had a consult with an allergist pre-surgery. It was recommended that I not have the dyes used for the scanning process and/or possible coiling procedure. I was told by an allergist that those dyes have a tendency to cause allergic reactions even in a normal person and since I already had so many allergies I would not be a good candidate to risk those dyes. Because of this, my surgical team recommended a clip procedure instead and relied on a MRI and a MRI for pictures of my aneurysm. When they did the MRI and MRA, they also did those without contrast dyes to avoid an allergic reaction. They had enough information to go forward with the clipping surgery which was 100% successful last 3/5/14.

My individual clip is titanium and non-ferromagnetic. My understanding is (with my clip) that I can have a MRI if it isn't above a certain strength (4.0 Telsa). Everyone has a different situation.

It's scary stuff on top of everything else you are dealing with. Good luck. We all empathize.

Beth

Shaz49 - I thought steroid use was only a concern for glaucoma if you had to be on it for long periods of time. I’m glad your going to ask your doctor about the mucous. Anaphalatic reaction is throat swelling sometimes it can swell shut.

Beth AB. Yeah for your 100% success. You rock!