Another one to add to the list*

I just noticed that I'm wheezy. (Yeah, I'm quick off the mark this morning. Doh. it's afternoon already). So I'm adding co-codamol (which is paracetamol with codeine) to my list of medications I'm allergic to.

When we rang NHS direct last week (when my doctors were closed) the nurse I spoke to suggested I could take co-codamol as a step up from paracetamol for the ear and throat pain I was experiencing. One of the sideeffects listed is that people who are allergic to asprin or ibuprofen (including asthmatics) may also be allergic to this. I've taken eight(?) doses of it altogether, but apart from that first day I've taken most of them in the evening (ie the dose just before I go to bed), and although I've woken up the next morning slightly wheezy, I was never sure if it was do with the drugs, or just that I was ill and it was just another way for my body to show it! This morning my throat was feeling sore, and I had some muscle ache going on, so I decided to take co-codamol.
a) To be tidy and finish off the blister pack sheet.
b) It would give me a daytime test to see if I got wheezy.

So I took it, and about five hours later I've noticed I am wheezy. I'm not sure how long I've been wheezy, cos now I think of it I've been quite coughy this morning, just it's also been kinda hectic so I didn't notice properly. I've taken some medicine so I'll be ok soon, but I won't be taking it again. After all, these reactions quite often seem to get worse each time, and I've found i'm quite fond of breathing.


* Was it a list if there was only one thing on it before?

And in a sort of connected way, I finally got around to looking up paracetamol and tylenol (which is what they had in the States) and discvered that paracetamol is the main ingredient of tylenol (see here). Which is comforting, since I was taking it in blind faith while I was there that it wouldn't kill me and all that. (But if you think about it, blest and Danny would have been without their most convenient babysitter had they killed me, so they'd be unlikely to do that. Besides, as Andrew said, I'm family!)