Flaky Skin After Penicillin

by Andrew
(The Netherlands)

Hello, my name is Andrew Barker and a couple of years ago I had a sore throat. After a few nights I thought now was the time to see the doctor. Within minutes of seeing the doctor he came up with the master plan, penicillin.

After taking the penicillin, sure enough my sore throat was getting better but something unusual was happening. My skin started to go red all over my hands, arms, and face, basically anywhere there was skin. After a day or so my skin started to flake off. I think I must have lost at least two or three layers of skin. The doctor just said I was allergic to penicillin, nice of him I thought. The thing is it took roughly 5-6 weeks before I could even go outside again because it was so awfull to look at and people would just stare.

The skin has never really recovered and in winter time it is so thin that my hands and face look 30 years older. They bleed if I put my hands in my pockets too many times and small parts of my skin still flake in the cold. The dryness, pain and feeling you get in the cold isn't nice but at least I know now I am allergic to penicillin.

You can find more skin rash information at the diagnose my skin rash page.