Mercy's Dr. Jonathan Rich, D.O. Discusses Drug Allergies In Women

Simply being a woman is one of the risk factors of developing a drug allergy. Symptoms can start right away or even weeks later and may be mild or severe.

According to Dr. Jonathan Rich, D.O.,  primary care doctor with Mercy Personal Physicians Downtown, a drug allergy is different than a drug side effect, and that can be confusing, and he said there's something specific to watch out for.

"Probably the classic thing you might see is a rash, people break out in hives, we tend to see something that's affecting the whole body. If they're taking a pill, for instance, you could have a local reaction to like a cream or something, but for someone who's on a pill medication like an antibiotic, for instance, it's going through the whole body system, so we're almost looking for something that's system-wide," Dr. Rich said.

Dr. Rich added that antibiotics are one of the more common things people are allergic to. Some of the more severe drug allergy reactions are wheezing, breathing difficulty or swelling of the lips.

To view Mercy’s Dr. Jonathan Rich’s interview regarding drug allergies in women, click here.