Mama Bunny and Reglan

Mama Bunny and Reglan

Reglan can be a very powerful and fast acting medicine. I was prescribed Reglan for motility and digestive issues while pregnant with Baby Bunny #2. I started taking it when I was around 3.5-4 months pregnant, after having taken different medicines beforehand that my OBGYN didn't consider to be as effective.

I was prescribed Reglan on a Friday. After my doctor's appointment, I had my prescription filled, but decided not to take it until the next day and just finish up that day with the prior medicine, Zofran.

On Saturday, I took one dose of Reglan with breakfast, one dose with lunch, one dose at dinner, and one dose at bedtime.

After breakfast, I felt no different. Reglan is fast acting...but not that fast!

After lunch, I started to feel a little iffy. Caged. Anxious. Highstrung.

I ignored it and went grocery shopping. Came home, made dinner, and popped my third Reglan.

This time, my tongue started swelling up and my throat itched. I didn't connect these symptoms with Reglan and instead figured that I must have eaten something that I was allergic to. All of those symptoms were consistent with how I've reacted in the past to food allergies.

My tongue swelling and throat itching went down and I continued eating.

It approached bedtime, so I took my last scheduled Reglan dose for the day.

Within 10 minutes, my tongued had swelled up, throat swelled mostly shut, and the muscles in my upper back and neck froze still and essentially locked me in place.

Panic time! At this point, I realized that I was feeling like that because of the medicine, not any food I had eaten. But I could barely move, could barely breathe, and couldn't talk at all.

I managed to communicate to Papa Bunny what was up and he called a friend of ours who is a pharmacist. At her urging, he pried open my jaw, which was also frozen in place, and dumped an entire bottle of baby Benedryl down my throat. I began to feel relief from my allergic reaction almost immediately and the swelling and itching mostly receded over the next half hour.

The dystonic reaction of frozen muscles – I was “grimacing” - took far longer to go down and were not impacted by any medicine. In fact, all of my frozen features didn't fully relax until the next morning.

Dystonic reactions are cumulative, which means that if I have another, it'll be like a continuation of the previous episode in terms of impact, instead of a new episode.

Needless to say, I haven't taken Reglan ever again! It might be a great option for many people, but not for me!