KRAZY KATS

Welcome to Krazy Kats - a friendly informal online community discussing life issues that we care about. Open 24/7 for chat & chill. Come and join us!

3 posters

    Cyclizine

    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Cyclizine Empty Cyclizine

    Post by Kitkat Wed 11 May 2016, 11:32

    I recently joined in a discussion regarding the anti-emetic drug 'Cyclizine'.
    The discussion was held on a site called 'Patient', and this is the link:
    http://patient.info/forums/discuss/cyclizine-allergy-494979?page=0#2100870

    A reply has been posted today, and I am copying out the details in order to warn others should they or someone that they know ever have occasion to come up against this situation:

    My post:
    After reading all these posts about Cyclizine, I feel I should add my own traumatic experience from 7 years ago:

    (I now know that I am severely allergic to Cyclizine).

    Back in the ward after breast cancer surgery with two visitors at my bedside, I suddenly began to feel nauseous.  Unable to move my head at the time, I asked a number of times if I could have a 'sick bowl' handy as I felt I was going to be sick.  No-one seemed to hear my plea, even though there were lots of medical staff and visitors around in this busy ward.  I felt I was speaking loudly but my request still went unanswered.  I summoned up the strength to really shout out Please, I need a sick bowl - I think I'm going to be sick.  Next thing I saw the nurse half way down the bed putting a needle into the back of my right hand.  I asked her what it was for and she replied "Just something to stop you feeling sick".  Within seconds of that a strong wave of something went through my head and through every part of me.  I started to feel as though my whole body was like jelly and (just as one other poster has described) felt as though I was drowning, couldn't breathe and literally felt as though the life was rapidly draining out of me.

    Although I couldn't move my head (or any part of my body), I could see just in front of me and was aware that the woman in the bed opposite me was sitting up and staring at me, as was her visitor.  I wanted to shout out Stop Staring at Me, What are you looking at .... but the words wouldn't come out.  

    There was a rush of panic all around my bed, with doctors having been called and nurses running around but at this stage I couldn't see what was going on - only hear.   I heard to my left what I recognised to be the Sister's voice (from having spoken with her earlier) - shouting angrily "Who turned this off?"  She was obviously referring to whatever machine I had been attached to there - which had apparently turned itself off!

    Then I remember another nurse's voice which I recognized very clearly as an American nurse that I had been chatting and joking with earlier.  Although I couldn't see her, I knew it was her because I recognized her loud Texan drawl.  She was also the nurse who I had seen (with my tunnel vision) put the needle into my hand.  I do believe now that it was her voice that saved my life.  Her voice was all I could hear at this stage.  She was obviously very close right in front of my face and I remember she kept repeating abruptly and loud:  "Don't close your eyes - KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!"  My eyes felt so very very heavy and they kept closing.  I so badly wanted to keep them closed - but then her loud voice would bark out the order again "OPEN YOUR EYES!"  and with all the strength I could muster I forced them to open each time.  It was very hard to do, like I needed a bulldozer to get them to open ...  but I managed to do so, only because I could tell from the urgency in her voice that I HAD TO keep those eyes open.

    I was also aware that I had been given an oxygen mask and at this stage must have been coming around.  The "jelly" feeling had gone and I remember feeling my nose was itchy under the mask.  I wanted to scratch it but couldn't move my hands.  I'm not sure how long all this was going on, but when the panic was all over I remember the Sister then telling me that I should add 'CYCLIZINE' to my list of allergies.  (I am also allergic to Penicillin (as well as some other antibiotics), and this is something I already knew).

    I'm not sure that CYCLIZINE should be banned altogether, as it is obviously something that is helpful to others (in the same way as Penicillin is to others), but I do think it should come under the same category as Penicillin and perhaps some sort of pre-test should be done before administering the drug.

    Reply:
    It definitely sounds like cyclizine doesn't agree with your system. You may have suffered something called an oculogyric crisis, quite common in younger women after receiving antiemetic a like metoclopramide and cyclizine.

    Intravenous cyclizine is very dangerous in the sense that it is very unpredictable with the potential effects to the central nervous system that can be very severe. There are also many people who are actually addicted to intravenous cyclizine and start expressing behaviour similar to morphine seekers for another hit. So it's a good thing you can avoid it completely. On the flip side it's actually a really good anti sickness drug but the adverse effects make it quite difficult to justify use.
    Curious
    Curious

    Location : Canada

    Cyclizine Empty Re: Cyclizine

    Post by Curious Thu 12 May 2016, 06:21

    I had never heard of this drug, like all drugs there are side effects, some deadly. That was a horrifying experience that women went through. Thanks for the warning about this.
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Cyclizine Empty Re: Cyclizine

    Post by Kitkat Thu 12 May 2016, 12:06

    Curious wrote:I had never heard of this drug, like all drugs there are side effects, some deadly. That was a horrifying experience that women went through. Thanks for the warning about this.

    I had never heard of it before (or since) either - until coming across several alarming discussions about it on the Patient website - here:
     http://patient.info/forums/discuss/browse/cyclizine-2608

    The woman who made the post above ("my post") was me (sorry, I thought I explained at the beginning - that poster KandyKate - was me.  I had to join the website to join in on the discussions).    I was horrified to read all these warnings about a drug that has apparently been banned in other countries - and which had been administered to me without pre-warning of any kind.  

    I was notified by email about the reply to my post which appeared just a day or two ago.
    So it's my post and its reply that you see here - but if you look into the link I have given here in this post, you will see many more such similar alarming occurrences with this drug.

    PS:  I have written about this experience before somewhere on the forums (might have been on Spiritlove) because while all of this was happening - both my visitors' (my brother and my good friend of over 40 years) mobile phones rang (although they insist they had their phones turned off, which was the strict policy in the hospital at that time - my friend's phone was in her bag - which was at the end of my bed and it continued to ring until she eventually reached it).  I heard these phones ringing and heard both my puzzled friend and brother saying adamantly that they had definitely turned off their phones before entering the hospital!  My brother's phone rang at the same time and he went out into the corridor to answer it.  At first there was just crackling ... then a woman's voice said 'Hello', then crackling again and then nothing.  The weird thing about it all - is that neither of their phones recorded ANY calls having been made/received/missed. 
    It's quite a mystery (although I do have my own ideas on this - especially after since experiencing several other similarly strange incidents which happened on various occasions since, involving mobile phones ......)
    Whiskers
    Whiskers

    Cyclizine Empty Re: Cyclizine

    Post by Whiskers Thu 12 May 2016, 14:29

    surprised  That was a horrible experience for you KK. at least now you know you are alergic to it and you shouldnt be given it again.  Why the cover-up I wonder. Why dont the hospitals record what is happening to lots people given this drug.  Makes you wonder doesnt it.  No doubt there is money involved somewhere and someone making a soft feathery lining for their pockets.  What countries have banned it?
    Curious
    Curious

    Location : Canada

    Cyclizine Empty Re: Cyclizine

    Post by Curious Thu 12 May 2016, 20:33

    Sorry I misunderstood K.K. I hope you have fully recovered from this experience.

    That is a mystery about the cell phones.
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Cyclizine Empty Re: Cyclizine

    Post by Kitkat Thu 12 May 2016, 23:31

    Yes, thank you, Curious.  It is now quite some time ago when that happened.  When I later described my account of what had happened to my consultant oncologist, he actually suggested that it would seem I had had some kind of out-of-body experience.  I told him no, I really don't think so, I felt very much in my body throughout it all - the bits that I could remember anyway.  Nevertheless, he wrote down in his notes that I had experienced an O-O-B!

    An even stranger situation happened surrounding my mobile phone shortly after my friend died.  I wrote about it here (post No. 17):  https://krazykats.forumotion.co.uk/t233-my-friend-john.

    (The friend that was with me on that occasion is the same friend that had been visiting in the hospital)
    Curious
    Curious

    Location : Canada

    Cyclizine Empty Re: Cyclizine

    Post by Curious Fri 13 May 2016, 00:16

    I just read through all those posts you made and John is definitely letting you and his wife know that he is still "around" This phenomena with mobile phones is actually quite common to some.

    As for your oncologist saying you had an OBE, when I first read your account this thought occurred to me, in any case I'm glad that you're keeping your Spirits up. as the saying goes.

      Current date/time is Thu 28 Mar 2024, 11:38