A 43-year-old male asked:
If i'm allergic to ceclor but not penicillin would it be alright to take amoxicillin?
2 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in
Dr. Nayla Mumnehanswered
Allergy and Immunology 31 years experience
Maybe: If your penicillin skin test is negative, you can take amoxicillin, some people can be allergic to a cephalossporin and not to penicillin, but to be safe, consult an allergist for skin testing if it was not done yet.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Brian Novick commented
Allergy and Immunology 45 years experience
you are implying you have ?recently taken Penicillin without a problem. If that is true, then Amoxicillin should be OK..but review all of this with the Dr. prescribing it.
Mar 23, 2013
Dr. Martin Raffanswered
Infectious Disease 58 years experience
Cross-reactivity: Patients with true allergy to cephalosporins have less than a 3% chance of reaction to penicillins and less than 0.5% of those will have a serious reaction. The reality is that if you take Amoxicillin you should remain in the doctor's office for 30 mins. To insure that you will not have a serious reaction and if you do that you can be treated effectively.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Similar questions
A 36-year-old member asked:
If I am allergic to ceclor, can I take amoxicillin?
1 doctor answer • 4 doctors weighed in
Dr. Debi Williamsanswered
Dentistry 28 years experience
Not a good idea : There has been cross over allergy reactions between Ceclor and amoxicillin. Contact your doctor before taking this medication.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Lee Perry commented
Allergy and Immunology 19 years experience
It's probably safe to take amoxicillin (or penicillin) if you've had a previous reaction to Ceclor. The most common reaction to Ceclor is what's called a "serum sickness" reaction, which is not a true allergic reaction. A "serum sickness" reaction is characterized by rash/hives, joint pain, fever and malaise. This type of reaction doesn't really increase your risk of having an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. Either way, I would recommend that you sit down with a board-certified allergist to discuss your history and testing options (you may be a candidate for penicillin skin testing).
Oct 9, 2012
Dr. Jack Mutnick commented
Allergy and Immunology 19 years experience
Excellent point. And data shows that the presumed cross-reactivity between penicillins and cephalosporins is much over-estimated with a study noted in the New England Journal of Medicine. https://secure.muhealth.org/~ed/students/articles/nejm_345_p804.pdf
Oct 10, 2012
Dr. Debi Williams commented
Dentistry 28 years experience
Provided original answer
Awesome information -thanks for the input.
Oct 10, 2012
Last updated Nov 1, 2016
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