Iodine

(This is cross-posted from my other blog because it seems like information worth sharing)

This isn't my usual sort of post but I feel it is important enough to mention in the event it might save someone else an unnecessary allergic reaction.

I'm allergic to (among other things) iodine. Having not been a seafood eater I only discovered this problem when having a CT scan a few years ago. I ended-up hospitalised and pumped full of Benadryl by IV. It was miserable, but something I thought I'd be able to prevent ever happening again. Tuesday, I was sent for a CT scan. I reminded the doctor ordering the test what happened last time, and she wrote in great big letters on the order, NO IODINE CONTRAST.

After drinking the first cup of bitter-citrus liquid, my throat started itching and I felt nauseated. Similar to the way I get if I accidentally eat a cashew. I immediately mentioned this to the radiology desk person who dismissed me as crazy, and in a lecturing tone informed me that they'd be unable to do the test the doctor ordered if I didn't finish drinking the contrast. I don't know about you, but I really resent taking attitude from someone young enough to be my daughter.

I downed the second cup of contrast and by that point knew something was wrong. Still, I went back and took the test as the radiologist stood there with a clipboard confirming I have an iodine allergy. I mentioned that I wasn't feeling well and he dismissed it as being a bitter drink and that I might feel some stomach upset. By this point I was breaking out in hives but they were on my arms and stomach and I hadn't seen them yet.

I got home and well, you don't need to know…well actually you do need to know. I had explosive, bloody shits. And hives. Big, ugly hives. I ran to the computer and after a bit of Googling determined that the contrast did in fact contain iodine, albeit in a smaller amount than what I'd had in the IV years ago.

I got my doctor on the line who got the radiologist on the line, who finally checked and to his surprise discovered there was indeed iodine in the contrast (I should have just given them the FDA web address to save time, but they weren't exactly listening to me before this happened, no reason to expect they'd take me seriously after). Except for my doctor-she's really pissed. She filed an incident report and billed the hospital for my drugs (not that benadryl and prednisone are going to break the bank, but still). I already had an eppi-pen at home, which thankfully I didn't need to resort to, but damn, was I ever sick. I still am, though nothing like yesterday. Considering I was there for a CT scan because I was already seriously ill, this really knocked me on my arse.

My real frustration is that all of this could have been avoided-or at least stemmed after the first cup of contrast if someone had listened to the patient saying she felt ill. I'm an anthropologist. I never wanted to be a doctor, and frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being the one doing all the research here (look, I probably studied more anatomy than med students today do, and I know where my goddamned pancreas is-but it shouldn't be my responsibility to point that out. Do they teach anything in med school these days except how to write the prescriptions the Pharma reps tell them to? I sat there in the small, county clinic watching a parade of stiffly-suited reps march in and out of the office as patients at waiting to be seen). That's what I pay a doctor for. I don't want to be an MD. I'm an anthropologist. If you need to know something about prehistoric tuberculosis I can help you out. If you find a femur in your backyard and want to know if it was male or female, how old it was and possibly what killed it, I can take a look at it. I don't do living, breathing people. I do fossils. Fossils. OK? When I go for a medical procedure I'm expecting that the person administering it has had suitable training in their field to carry it out. I wouldn't expect you to know how to prepare a float sample for carbon dating-so don't expect me to know which contrast contains iodine. Reasonable? I think so-or I did until yesterday. Son-of-a-bitch, I'm furious!

I'm so mad; this post just barely scrapes the surface. It could have been much worse, I realise. I had the brains after the first cup of contrast to ring up my husband and have him come to the hospital to collect Danny-but what if he hadn't been available? It was hard enough trying to not act scared in front of him. Again, none of this would have happened if someone had been willing to acknowledge that the patient might have something worthwhile to add. There's also the frightening fact that the people administering this contrast to patients had no idea what it contained. As my doctor sarcastically noted, it was a "learning experience" for them. Seems like this might not be the best area to get on the job training.

So heads-up if you're allergic to iodine.