Not A Good Result With First (And Maybe Only) Dose Of Gastrocrom

[blueskies]

Hi

I tried a capsule of gastrocrom at 10am yesterday. I was itchy by evening but put that down to anxiety because could not see any redness or rash. I did have a lot of lower gut pain at that time too. I woke during the night a number of times with hot sore skin (that's what happens to me with sensitivities etc.) and this morning I was very red in the face and neck and had some slight odema of the face -- odema also common when I've ingested something of the many things I'm intolerant to.

It's 26 hours since I took the capsule and my skin is losing the redness although the odema is still present.

So, I'm thinking that the gastrocrom is not going to work for me. Although I probably will try it again further down the track just to be doubly sure it was the gastrocrom I reacted to. I've tried singulair in the past -- but it made my migraines as bad as they ever get. I've tried zyrtec and zantac, The zyrtec does make me feel a bit more comfortable and helps keep most of the hives away but the zantac, which does help too, both of them together are more effective - makes my constipation much worse and is not an option.

Has anyone any imput into this for me?

Also I've read about a drug here called keti-something. Wondering what it is and if it helps people with allergies and intolerances.

I'm seriously thinking of going onto cortisone full time as it does stop most of the worst reactions. But it does have a lot of very bad side effects for me -- mood swings, (lots of anxiety), weight gain -- already a problem for me, and sleeplessness etc.. Any imput would be appreciated.

blue

[issie]

My gastrocrom is a liquid. I use two in the am and two at night. Most people take it 4 times a day. I haven't heard of it being in pill form. I tried to find it on the net in pill form and couldn't. Wonder if you got the right thing? Maybe, I just couldn't find it that way??????

Sorry, you had a reaction - could be to filler in the capsule. But, double check to make sure you got the right thing.

The drug you are talking about is ketotifen. Some are using it instead of Gastrocrom. I've not tried it --so don't know how that is going for others. I think Christy's son is on it right now.

Issie

[blueskies]

Thanks Issie,

I'm in Australia and oral sodium cromolglycate is no longer available at just any pharmacy. My allergist wrote a prescription for it and I had to send it off to a particular pharmacy who make it up, in powder form in a capsule, and before they made it up for me they rang me to question me about my allergies and sensitives so they could decide what type of capsule to put it in and what fillers they could use. I've worked out (think it was you who originally told me about the different forms of this med -- nasacrom, gastrocrom etc, and so I just used the word Gastrocrom in the title because it is the oral form. We have a number of meds that are only available like that. I used to go through the same procedure for a migraine med. I think sometimes it's when a drug is pulled from the market by it's producer as it's be superseded by another one or something and these special pharmacies order it in from overseas.

Thanks, I'll do some research on ketotifen.

There are so many medications that do by different names here in Australia. I just can't understand why names can't be 'global' at least in English speaking countries.

blue

[Christy_D]

Yep, my son is currently taking ketotifen. He just started full dose last week. We have to wait 30 days to see if it helps. He hasn't had any bad reactions to it, but he tried Gastrocrom and didn't have any bad reactions to that either(it just didn't help). He had a great day today, those are far and few between. It would be great if it was the medication and not just a random good day.

I'll let you know if the ketotifen pans out. We head back to Dr Afrin in SC at the end of April.

[blueskies]

Thanks Christy,

And I hope like crazy this med helps your son.

blue

[tinkerbella]

I can't tolerate gastrocrom oral and have to put it in cream to put on my skin. .

[blueskies]

Hi Bella,

Can I ask what your skin symptoms are?

And how do you go about putting the gastrocrom in cream and do you do it daily, a few times a day, or just when you have skin symptoms?

any input is appreciate

Blue

[tinkerbella]

Hi Blue,

I itch, flush, get hives and my trypase level is getting high. I just bought new cream to make a new batch. I use face cream from trader joe's. I love it. It is so gentle and mixes well. I also use there other cream that they sell. It is a little thicker body lotion and I use that one for the rest of myself. I got the names of these creams from a mast cell forum where someone made their own gastrocream. I can use it twice a day.

Here's a link: http://www.mastokids.org/mml.php

enjoy the cream .

[blueskies]

Thanks for that Bella Mia -- much appreciated

Issie, the link Bella Mia provided powdered sodium cromoglycate but also mentions it's available OUTSIDE U.S. -- I'm in Australia, so that explains it.

Smiles to all today (it's one of those cry or smile days for me today so I'm gonna try to smile)_Red rash reaction came back as the day wore on yesterday and I woke this morning flushed with itchy rash on face and facial edema. I've had about 3 days free of this since I can't remember how far back so I know it can be controlled but can find no difference sometimes between days when skin is good and when it's bad ? Maybe stress caused by adrenalin surges. But that answer is attributable to just about anything and not much I can do about it.

blue

[tinkerbella]

Glad I could help Blue : ) We all need to smile for a while.