When I was teenager in the early 80’s I got a bladder infection, and was treated with either sulfur or sulfa and had a fairly severe allergic reaction to it.
I understand sulfa drugs are used to treat bacterial infections, so I suppose it was that. But is it possible it was sulfur? Is elemental sulfur ever used to treat anything?
Sulfa drugs are very commonly used antibiotics, especially for urinary tract infections. Many people do develop sulfa allergy.
Elemental sulfur is used only as a topical agent, for various kinds of skin problems. According to Medline, it’s found in various soaps, lotions, and creams. It can be used in the treatment of acne, dermatitis, and scabies.
So what you were treated with was certainly a sulfa drug, not the element sulfur.
Thanks!
It was a weird reaction. My face puffed out and I looked like a white Apollo Creed, and the inside of my teeth started to itch.
Many people who had uncomplicated bladder infections in the 80’s were given the combination antibiotic drug Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Allergic reactions such as you describe are a quite common reaction to the sulfa component. I still see 10 to 12 sulfa reactions a year. Fortunately they’re rarely health-threatening and respond quickly to the discontinuation of the drug along with anti-allergy meds like diphenhydramine.
Yeah, IIRC I was given Benadryl-brand diphenhydramine and I was back to my old self pretty quickly.
Itching inside the teeth is common?
I’ve heard that one, but didn’t believe it before. I do believe that the roof of the mouth can itch like hell.
I’ll believe your teeth itch as long as you don’t tell me that your urine glows in the dark. 
And if it does…what does that mean? :eek:
I don’t know, I never peed in the dark!
I think I gave my dog sulfamethoxazole for mange. 
I’m allergic to sulfa myself. The last time I had any, in the late 1980s, I developed severe nausea and an all-over rash that appeared about four hours after the nausea started. It all went away when I stopped taking the drug. I had been given a lot of sulfa as a very young child for kidney infections, and that was probably the exposure that sensitized me to it so that I developed an allergy to it as an adult.
There are some other commonly prescribed drugs that contain sulfa compounds in small amounts - some of the older oral diabetes medicines, and some of the newer arthritis drugs (such as Celebrex). People with sulfa allergy should be cautious taking these medications - some react and some don’t. I am apparently sensitive enough that I react to Celebrex, so I’m stuck with good old ibuprofen.
That generally means the patient you’re questioning will answer yes to any symptom you can think of.