Enlarged Blood Cells Due To Antifungal Medication. Griseofulvin Caused Pain?

Posted on Mon, 30 May 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 30 May 2011 Answered on

Tue, 22 May 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : i took griseofulvin and ten days in i felt pains could this have caused it. im 28 have always been in good health and my bloodwork normal except i started taking antifungal because after a ringworm a yr ago i still would see some spots come out here and there. had bloodwork done and my doctor said it was good just a little bit of enlarged blood cells which she said should have been caused by the antifungal

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (4 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

Yes, Griseofulvin do sometimes present with muscle and joint pains as a side effect.

Since the half life of the Griseofulvin is long around 20 hours ) the drug is expected to stay in the blood for long time and present with symptoms . Need not worry , the effect will wear of sure but slowly.Fasten the process by drinking good amount of water and healthy food avoiding fats and spices.

Also do take pain killers like Ibuprofen 400mg taken twice daily after food for two days if the pains are unbearable.

Hope I have answered your query. If you have any follow up queries I will be available to answer them.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (32 minutes later)

its been 5 wks since i stopped taking it so thats still expected

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (15 minutes later)

Hi ,

Thanks for th important information,

No , if its 5 weeks of stopping the medication its very unusual to have the symptom now.

I would suggest you to get CRP ( C reactive protein ), ESR and RA factor tests which will give detail insights which help in making out the cause for the problem you have.As I suspect it to be a disease of inflammatory origin.

Do take Ibuprofen as mentioned above for symptomatic alleviation.

Wish you good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (24 minutes later)

i did go for a follow up and they told me that its probably anxiety related because during the time i was very anxious and also the fact that i went from taking 2 mo antibiotics in a row after that. i figured it could be that because i usually experience the symptoms a lot when im not occupied. so is it possible anxiety can cause these odd shooting pains

thank you for all your help

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (13 hours later)

Hi again,

Yes, anxiety can do this, but the pains there will not be severe.It can present as mere fatigue but not with shooting pains.

Do get the tests I suggested they will give a good clue.Also drug induced problems can be identified by the same.

Wish you good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar