Me: “Any allergies?”
Patient: “Milk products, apples, peas, cats.”
Kinda looking for allergies to medicines, but duly noted I’ll be sure not to rub a cat up against you or anything.
August 27, 2008
August 27, 2008
Me: “Any allergies?”
Patient: “Milk products, apples, peas, cats.”
Kinda looking for allergies to medicines, but duly noted I’ll be sure not to rub a cat up against you or anything.
August 27, 2008 at 8:25 am
Maybe the patient was a Scrubs fan? In one of the daydream sequences a man codes and J.D. sprinkles him with kittens to bring him back to life.
August 27, 2008 at 8:38 am
I was going to say the question was too open-ended, but I like Tor Arne’s comment better. LOL
August 27, 2008 at 8:39 am
My mom usually lists her allergy to apples when she goes to the hospital. If she gets admitted it becomes important because one bite of apple and her throat starts closing. That allergy is severe enough that once the skin is broken on an apple, and it’s in the same room as her, she starts reacting and has to take an allergy pill. It’s the only non-medical allergy that she bothers telling about at the hospital though.
(Totally reasonable)
August 27, 2008 at 9:31 am
I always used to say “cats” too whenever doctors asked. I didn’t know until a couple of years ago why they were asking, whether they wanted to know for some mysterious medical reason if my body had a certain pattern of allergy.
(Nah, just don’t want you breaking out in hives because of us.)
August 27, 2008 at 11:31 am
I always list my allergy to eggs. Mainly because a lot of meds and vaccines have egg components.
August 27, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Eggs And Shellfish baby!
(Found out they use Egg White as an agent in many injectable products)
August 27, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hey, you’re back.
August 27, 2008 at 5:08 pm
i had to find another resident to take care of a patient i had in the ER one day because she was so allergic to cats, she saw a few cat hairs on my scrubs and freaked out.
August 27, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Well, this is embarrassing, but I think if you would have asked me that, I, too, would have listed everything I was allergic to. But I’m kinda goofy that way.
Welcome back!
August 27, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I have one for ya:
“Honey and Mexicans”
I couldn’t remember what it was besides Mexicans, had to call my old partna and ask.
August 27, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I love when patients say they are allergic to chemotherapy…it makes me feel like crap and my hair fall out.
August 28, 2008 at 8:04 am
I’m allergic to cats! Did that make you laugh a little? Because if so I will have to remember to say that next time someone asks me. Your post actually made me laugh out loud, which is rare.
I think I am the opposite of a drug seeker because I am allergic to codeine and morphine and usually ask if I can just have a tylenol if anything.
August 28, 2008 at 12:45 pm
that was so great! ha! I just blew soda though my nose!
August 28, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Tee Hee hee.
August 28, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I’m allergic to bloggers who only post one a week or less. My listed allergy to this is “frustration” (which makes about as much sense as nausea as an allergy).
August 28, 2008 at 10:50 pm
peas?
when I’m asked about allergies in a medical context, I always say no, which is true, but I’m always thinking that there’s a first time for everything…
August 29, 2008 at 12:33 am
Oh darn, the only treatment for your condition is to ingest a pound of raw peas….
August 30, 2008 at 1:05 pm
X2 on K’s comment.
August 30, 2008 at 10:53 pm
A lot of patients do not know why we ask about allergies. There are some allergies, such as shell fish and eggs, that do not seem medication related, but are.
A patient with a history of anaphylaxis is going to consider any allergies to be important.
September 1, 2008 at 2:20 pm
All of my allergies are psychological.
September 1, 2008 at 2:21 pm
(Not psychosomatic.)
September 3, 2008 at 9:42 pm
(at the dentists’ office i work at) it’s interesting how many people list allergies to certain antibiotics, such as augmentin, and then when asked what the reaction was, they say “upset stomach.” i probably see it at least once a day, out of 12-14 patients i see.
September 20, 2008 at 8:29 pm
If I think I can get away with it with a given patient, when I ask patients for an allergy list and there are non-medical things on it I will generally say in a solemn doctorly voice something like, “I promise you that we will not be giving you any cats here in the ER today.” Sometimes I get a smile or a laugh, but I generally amuse myself. (It doesn’t take much.)