What medicine should I take if I have pimples due to food allergy?

Most of the pimples caused by food allergies are urticaria-like wheals. Oral second-generation non-sedating antihistamines are the first choice. Commonly used ones include loratadine, cetirizine, and ebastine. Taking one tablet at a regular dose will usually relieve the itching and slowly subside the pimples in 1-2 hours.

Not long ago, my colleague ate two pieces of mango pandan during her lunch break. Within half an hour, a red hard pimple appeared on her cheek and neck. It was so itchy that she rubbed it against the edge of her work desk. She bought a 10mg tablet of loratadine from the pharmacy downstairs and took it. By the time she got to work in the afternoon, the itching was gone, and the pimple was basically gone by the time she got off work.

If it is so itchy that you can't sit still, you can also apply some calamine lotion, shake it up and apply it thinly on the pimple. The coolness will quickly suppress the itching, which is much better than scratching it until it breaks and leaves a dull color.

A friend also asked me before if I should take vitamin C and calcium gluconate to relieve symptoms. In fact, according to the current clinical consensus, these two types of drugs are auxiliary drugs. Only for extremely mild allergies, taking antihistamines can slightly speed up recovery. Taking them alone has very limited effect. Don’t just take these two to delay the symptoms.

Of course, not everyone can be cured by taking an antihistamine. Last week, I treated a young man during my rotation in the dermatology department. After eating crayfish, not only did his body become covered with wheals, his eyelids and lips were swollen like sausages, and he felt stuffy when he spoke. He came to the hospital after taking loratadine but did not feel well. We prescribed him a small dose of prednisone for three days, and the swelling was completely gone the next day. It should also be mentioned here that glucocorticoids are prescription drugs and must be evaluated by a doctor before they can be prescribed. Do not just buy them and take them by yourself. Taking them indiscriminately for a long time will have serious side effects.

Oh, by the way, if after taking the medicine, not only do the pimples not go away, but you also start to feel dizzy, out of breath, or have stomach cramps, you must go to the emergency room as soon as possible. This is a sign that the allergy is developing into a serious disease, so don’t carry it on. These medicines are for emergency use. The most fundamental thing is to remember the food that triggered the allergy this time and try to avoid it in the future. Otherwise, if the food triggers it repeatedly, the allergic symptoms may become worse each time.