Last yr something similar happened 2 my grson, now again?My grandson had a fever Friday evening and I gave him ibuprofen. In the morning he awoke with a swollen lip. He ate and drank fine until Sunday evening were he was miserable. He couldn't eat or drink without pain. Last year we had a scare. He had fever & we gave him ibuprofen. The next day he had fever blisters on his lips. Next day they were inside his mouth. We took him to the ER and they said he would have to wait it out. The rash is now all over his body. We took him to his PCP and was prescribed amoxicillin. Walking out to leave, the nurse says to us, if that were my child I'd take him to the ER, and so we did. They could not figure out what was going on so they admitted him and did test after test and thought it might be Johnson's Syndrome, which is an allergic reaction to amoxicillin and that scared the hell out of me. It turned out it was not but they told us to stay away from amoxicillin. Now here we are again, fever, gave ibuprofen and now a swollen top lip and he cannot eat or drink without pain. Please help us. My poor grandson is in so much discomfort.
Can ibuprofen cause an allergic reaction?
Question posted by Becky6 on 16 July 2012
Last updated on 9 August 2021
6 Answers
it is the ibuprofen that happen to my daughter when i took her to the hospital they gave her Motrin at the hospital and she broke out in hives then her stomach was hurting her then she said she couldn't see then her lip went swollen then they said she is allergic to ibuprofen products so stop giving him the ibuprofen and just give him Tylenol
Yes it can. You can be allergic to anything. My husband and I are both severely allergic to ibuprofen. I found out that I was the night I gave birth to our beautiful daughter. I almost died because of it. Turns out that all of the issues I had dealing with my stomach and migraines were because I had an allergic reaction to the one thing that I thought was helping me. My husband we found out only a few months ago. He came home from work with a headache. His sister gave him an ibuprofen. He started developing hives on his face. He at first blamed it on our cats, impossible I said. He didn't know advil was ibuprofen and took some at work because a coworker had given him some for a headache. I'm so happy when he came home after becoming violently ill that he took advil. You have 3 reactions before a severe reaction when it comes to an allergy. The third being the worst or deadly. When it doubt, just avoid it.
I have the same reaction when I take Advil, I took Motrin one day because of a fever that Tylenol would not phase and had no problem with it. I'm guessing that maybe something in the coating on the Advil is giving me the reaction. My mouth breaks out on the inside of mainly the lower lip/ a little on the upper with bloody sore spots inside. Looked like Homer Simpson :)
It absolutely can cause an allergic reaction. As someone else here pointed out, the swelling can lead to his airway being constricted. That's precisely what happened to me back in October/2006. I took Ibuprofen one night and, about an hour later, I could barely breathe. Thankfully en route to the hospital (this was 3 a.m. so at least there wasn't any traffic), there was a fire station so we stopped there and they helped me out. Which reminds me... if anyone inquires as to an antidote for an Ibuprofen reaction, Benadryl will do the trick (if at all possible, get the liquid form of it into the person's system). The firefighters gave me that through an IV, called the paramedics to transport me to the hospital, once I got to the ER my throat opened up and I could breathe normally again. It was definitely a SCARY evening.
So rule of thumb: don't give him Ibuprofen/Advil.
I know this is an old thread. But had to double check to see if it was me that wrote this comment. I had the exact same thing happen. Also around 3am and stopped at the fire station on the way to er. Where they also gave Benadryl through an IV. Craziest part was I had never had any issues with ibuprofen prior to this. I was accidentally given it once since then at the hospital and had the same reaction.
Crazy to see everyone with reactions to NSAID like me. Google says there are only 2% of us out here. I know for me it is scary bc I am constantly reminding health care professionals of it. Thank god my pharmacist had my back the one time bc even after reminding docs etc. they still gave me NSAIDS. Good luck all
In your post you wrote, "The next day he had fever blisters on his lips." The cause of fever blisters is a common misconception. Fever blisters are caused by herpetic ulcers. Many people think fever blisters are something we're born with inside of us, and just happen when we get sick. The real truth is, they're not.
Fever blisters is just another name, that's socially more acceptable, than herpes. The herpes virus it the cause fever blister (a.k.a. cold sores). But, because of social stigmas, people often refer to them as "fever blisters" and thus pass along the stigma and the virus.
Fever blisters on the mouth are most often caused by Herpes Type I, but can also be caused by Herpes Type II. When children develop fever blisters, or cold sores, it's because someone has exposed them to the virus. Most commonly, it's caused by people not understanding how severely contagious herpes is, and they kiss their child or their nieces or nephews when they themselves have live herpes on their skin (a.k.a. fever blisters).
An allergic reaction to anything might weaken the immune system, causing the latent herpes virus to re-activate. Good news is you can administer Acyclovir, it's a commonly available anti-viral medication that doesn't cure herpes, but stops it from replicate when it becomes active again. It helps significantly. But, please consult your doctor as to the dosage, since it sounds like this would be for a young child.
Best of luck!
Never, ever give him ibuprofen again!! It sounds like he does have an allergic response to ibuprofen and a dangerous one at that. Anytime you get swelling in the face, especially around the mouth, there is a danger of swelling in his airway which can be fatal. Everytime you expose an allergic person to the substance they are allergic to, the response gets worse, so the next time could kill him! Please let all Drs and anyone who ever takes care of him know he is allergic to ibuprofen and to never give it to him. Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome can happen in response to many medications not just amoxicillin. When the child has fever, just give him Tylenol or acetaminophen only. I would advise either another trip to the ER or get him in to see his pediatrician as soon as possible and NO MORE ibuprofen, ever!
I strongly agree with NO IBUPROFEN EVER AGAIN for the patient. It sounds like a severe allergy, maybe even Steven Johnson Syndrome. My daughter had similar reaction to ibuprofen when 1 &1/2 yrs old, all of sudden, she developed small black area of skin on lip, looked like old cigarette burn. No other symptoms of allergy but being a nurse, I recognized it as possible Steven Johnson Syndrome which can be lethal and I stopped giving her the ibuprofen and gave benedryl, the reaction went away but we now list ibuprofen as allergy and always tell what reaction she had. You can develop an allergy to anything, even if you have taken it with no problem for years.
Why would you give ibuprofen over and over if after using it, you know the child gets an allergic reaction? I would say that's the trigger and wouldn't give it to my child again. There are other medications to use, Tylenol for one, so just don't use ibuprofen and that should solve his discomfort...
Last year i had a really bad flu, i took Ibuprofen like i always did and within a day i had an itch on my hands that was awful, i also had a sore throat which felt like broken glass in it everytime i swallowed. I went to my doctor who advised it was dermititis (cant spell) on my hands and a viral infection. The next day i woke up with blisters all over the front and palm of my hands. I went back to my GP who advised that it was fine and gave me a cream and an antibiotic. One day later the blisters were on my fact, I went to the emergency room and they said it was strep throat and took some swabs of my blisters, they gave me two antiibiotics and told me two weeks off work. It turned out to be steven johnson syndrome. I have never heard of it but my doctor said the chances of it coming back were very small.
I never thought anything about the ibuprofen until this week when i came down with a bad dose of flu again. I went out and bought some Ibuprofen and took some yesterday, last night i broke out in a few hives. After reading the pack it does say that you can develop steve johnson syndrome from these, so it all makes sence now. I rang my doctor who told me to stay away from it from now on, she told me i should be fine as i only took the tablets for one day, but i need to watch over the next 24hours.
After this i will never ever ever take Ibuprofen again, and will be so wary of it, i just hope its not to late and i don't get Steven Johnson syndrome again as i really don't think i could cope with it.
Hi I'm over 40 and I did take ibuprofen befor for years , today I did take 400mg and 15 minutes past I did have a reaction difficult of breathing red spats I have difficulty of see and itchy skin all over I have to used my epipen they good that work but my skin is itchy , never again ibuprofen .
Related topics
fever, allergic reactions, ibuprofen, aseptic necrosis, lips
Further information
- Ibuprofen uses and safety info
- Ibuprofen prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Ibuprofen (detailed)
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