About 10 years ago I had to drink something for a test that was trying to diagnose GI problems. I drank it and laid down in a machine, they took some pics. When it was done they asked how I felt and I said “my teeth feel funny” then I sneezed and they told me I was having an allergic reaction. I ended up strapped down on a gurney in a hallway covered in blankets and they had to call my emergency contact to pick me up (I didn’t die).
Anyway, on my way out someone told me “whenever you’re asked, make sure you tell people you’re allergic to [rhymes with PCP] dye.”
I forgot the name of the dye they told me, and every time I try to tell a medical professional what I’m allergic to (usually a LPN or whoever greets you at the doctor’s office) they look at me googly eyed and try to guess what dye I am talking about. Usually they settle on “IVP dye” but that’s iodine for kidney tests…
I told a gastro doc a few weeks ago that I was allergic to “a dye test” and he looked at me all googly and did not come up with a 3-letter dye name.
I know I didn’t dream this test or this dye (my parents keep freaking out as I am doing a lot of GI tests lately) and I know there’s a 3-letter-named dye out there that ends in P but I can’t seem to nail it down.
Recently I came up with BCP dye. Is that used in GI imaging?
If you look here, you’ll see that the same product is used to help visualize different organs depending on how it’s given (usually under a different trade name). In other words, the same dye you got my mouth (probably as Gastrografin) is also given intravenously to help see the kidneys (i.e. IVP) but under a different name, probably as Hypaque.
Iodine contrast media, like that used in the IVP procedure, are also sometimes used for GI serieses.
But I don’t think BCP dye is.
Keep telling everyone you meet in the hospital your story, though. Never know when someone will have the “Ah-ha!” moment and you’ll figure out exactly what it was. And when that happens, write it down.
It’s also probably worth a shot asking for your records from the hospital or clinic where the procedure was done. They may mail them to you, or they may ask you to come read them with a trained medical professional in the room to answer any questions you may have. If they just give them to you, take them to your doctor and she’ll be able to look through them and see if any adverse reactions were noted during your procedure.
Does an allergic reaction to swallowing IVP dye have anything to do with being allergic to iodine as in when I give blood? I’ve never had a reaction to the iodine in many many blood draws.
Read the Wikipedia article, weird that they’d give me that dye and not barium unless they thought I had an ulcer but I’d had an endoscopy by then so you’d think they’d have known I had no gaping holes.
WhyNot does “the hospital” have a master record on me or do I need to figure out what department I was in? Not sure if it was radiology or nuclear medicine or someplace else.