Severe sunburn risk

[john]

Hi all,
Just a timely reminder to keep out of the sun if you're taking Augmentin, as I know many of us do.
I have been taking Amoxycillin and Augmentin for 4 weeks following a dose of hospital induced para-influenza type 3, and last Tuesday week, on St Georges day we sat in a beautiful Oxford garden and had lunch.
The sun was brilliant, and i only sat there for half an hour, but that evening and the next day my face was really burning up.
Sue googled Augmentin and it was there in black and white, the antibiotic aggravates sun exposure so stay out of the sun.
Next day I started to peel, and it's only now that my skin has lost the soreness!
Hope this will help!!

[glowing]

Thank you for the advice John. I'm glad you are not still suffering.

[terryhalper]

Hi John,

Sorry about your sunburn... ouch.

I have never (knowingly) had an issue with sun exposure and Augmentin (which I have taken for long periods of time over the past 25 years) and I do spend significant time in the sun.

I HAVE had issues with sun exposure and Biaxin though. That caused me to get a red dotted rash with sun exposure.

I guess everyone reacts differently.

I hope your sun burn has healed up.

Cheers!!!

Terry

[john]

Hi Terry, welcome to the forum and thank you for your concern.
The burning did heal up with a bit of peeling, but as I have already had a run-in with a skin cancer on my neck, I felt pretty stupid to have let it happen.
I now tell all the other patients at my clinic to be careful, because with our problems we are almost never off antibiotics!!
I hope you are keeping well yourself and please keep in touch via the forum... it's great to make new PID friends!!

[terryhalper]

Jun 3, 2013 21:45:17 GMT john said:

Hi Terry, welcome to the forum and thank you for your concern.
The burning did heal up with a bit of peeling, but as I have already had a run-in with a skin cancer on my neck, I felt pretty stupid to have let it happen.
I now tell all the other patients at my clinic to be careful, because with our problems we are almost never off antibiotics!!
I hope you are keeping well yourself and please keep in touch via the forum... it's great to make new PID friends!!

Thanks John,

To quickly introduce myself: I am a 56 year old CVID patient. I was diagnosed at age 33, after 33 years of undiagnosed illness. I have been relatively well for the past 23 years since getting on IGIV infusions. After 33 years of sickly and sedentary existence, I got well enough to join a gym for the first time at age 34. By age 37 I was a certified group exercise, fitness instructor. Over the next 15 years, I went on to teach high end cardio class at Princeton University, Bally's Fitness Centers, LA Fitness Centers, several small local gyms, and eventually my own fitness center that I owned and operated for 2 years in 2002-2004. I continue to work full time (computer security geek), am pursuing my Masters in Public Health (MPH), and have volunteered in any way I can for the Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) www.primaryimmune.org for the past 22 years. As I like to say to my physicians when they ask how I am doing, "I'm doing pretty well for an Immune Deficient cancer survivor, with bronchiectasis and chronic sinusitis".... let me superstitiously add, "knocking on wood".

Be well.

Nothing else really matters.

Cheers,

Terry

[john]

All I can say Terry is that you are the kind of inspiration we need!
I always tell folk that we take our treatments to be well enough to lead a full and active life. This is often easier said than done, specially if one has lung or other organ damage to begin with, but it needs to be said.
I'm a little older than you and I try my best to keep up with the rest. We mainly hike for exercise, and garden, and I do a day's voluntary work at my clinic.
I will certainly cite you as an example, as I do with a fellow patient of 92 who recently travelled 12000 miles to Australia for a two week holiday, and didn't complain once!
Welcome again and speak soon

[s162216]

A bit of thread resurrection...

I'm currently taking a preventative course of ciprofloxacin after having a test done, and I noticed in the patient information leaflet that taking it has the possibility increased the risk of burning when exposed to sunlight. I didn't really think about it, but noticed yesterday that I was feeling the effect of the sun unusually quickly (within about 10 minutes of being outside - I have the sort of skin that usually tans and rarely burns), so I made sure to take shelter in shadowed areas as much as I could until I got home. Today though I went for a walk in the sun to the post office, but made sure to thickly apply sun screen beforehand and it seemed to be alright.

I don't want to burn particularly as I've only ever had sunburn on one occasion (on the back of my neck when I was in France about 8 years ago), and I have no intention of getting it again as I found it really uncomfortable (I'm not much of a "sun worshipper" anyway - I've always been more comfortable in the shade!).

Sam.

[glowing]

Thank you. It's good to be reminded.

Glo

[john]

Hi, even if you're not taking meds that sensitise your skin, it's as well to avoid exposure to the sun these days!
Both Sue and I have had skin cancers from excess sun exposure in our youth, and let me tell you, it's no joke to have two great big scars like Sue now has, or the damaged facial nerve that I have after surgery!
You can always use a fake tan lotion if you want to look "healthy"!!