Author: VOsRose

Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:52 am

I have been taking Suboxone for quite some time – close to 5 years. I have been on a steady dose of 8 mg./day for a few years. I woke up yesterday morning covered in hives from head to toe. I didn’t realize it at the time, but by yesterday evening I was also running a temp of 101.2. I am wondering if this can be an allergic reaction to the Suboxone after being on it for this long?
In addition, I have SLE (Systemic Lupus) and have read that hives are common in about 10% of Lupus sufferers. That being said, I haven’t seen anything about fever being part of this. I have read that fever and hives can be the sign of a viral infection, though. I’m afraid to stop taking my Suboxone cold turkey so I am hoping someone can give me some help/advice with this. I did speak to my Dr.’s nurse yesterday and she spoke with my Dr. who said to take Benadryl (which I had already done out of desperation after doing some internet research and speaking to a pharmacist.) This morning they are worse – my entire torso is covered and my scalp seems to be, also. The hives that were originally on my legs/arms seem to be "better" in that they’re still red spots but they are not itchy anymore. I am developing some new spots on my arms/legs but not nearly the amount I had the day before. I do not have health insurance so if I can avoid a costly Dr.’s visit with testing, etc. or an ER visit, that would preferable. Thanks in advance for ANY information, experience or suggestions.

P.S. I HAVE, in the past, developed allergies to certain medications, but they were not medications I had been regularly taking. For instance, I suffered from chronic kidney stones for about 5 years and during that time had many hospitalizations/surgeries for them. On one ER visit the ER Dr. gave me demerol after asking if I was allergic (I had had it before with no issues so I said that I wasn’t) and promptly broke out in hives – they were forming following the vein my I.V. was in. The exact same thing happened with Morphine. The difference, obviously, is that I was not taking either of those drugs regularly – only when in the hospital and administered by Drs. My DOC prior to Suboxone was Lortab and I never had an allergic reaction to it.