Yesterday evening DS, he is 13, called for me to come look at his feet. The tops of both feet and his ankles were covered in what looked like hives. He said they ran through grassy fields during PE and he thought it started itching after that.
I gave benadryl and sprayed the welts with calamine lotion.
This morning it was worse on his feet and ankles (going all the way around) and he had a rash (red spots not like hives) on both legs, arms, trunk (front and back). So I called the pediatrician and took him in. She said allergic reaction of unknown origin, let it run its course if not better by Friday call for a steroid...continue benedryl and he could go back to school. She also called in a steroid cream for the bad itchy spots.
I decided to keep him home as he was sleepy from the benedryl. Then the fever started about an hour later, 101.3 and the headache and the dizziness.
I called back and she said now it sounded like a viral illness with hives.
He is very very itchy...I have given oatmeal bath, continued the benedryl, used the steroid cream...am I forgetting anything that can help the itching?
Also, has anyone else dealt with a viral illness with hives/rash like this? It is like hives on his feet/ankles and elbows and red spots that keep getting bigger from his neck down.
I of course will keep in touch with his pedi and not hesitate to take him in to after hours if things get really bad or scary beyond what is going on now.
Just looking for a bit of motherly comfort and to make sure I'm not missing anything that could help with itching...thanks!!
Yesterday morning he woke up unable to walk without wincing his ankles were so sore and painful. He was so achy and has a new symptom of a sore throat.
I called and took him back in. We saw a different doctor as our pediatrician was out. (I can't blame her for her diagnosis....she diagnosed what she saw at the time which is what is was at the time a rash of hives that wasn't really all that bad (well compared to now) but very itchy.
They ran a strep test and a urinalysis. She checked him out head to toe and decided to give it 24 more hours before sending us for bloodwork. She gave me all the paperwork just told me to wait until we check in today whether or not to take him. His fever was down to low grade.
She said it is either a virus with a rash or the blood work could show something else....I don't think she wanted to scare me but I'm pretty sure its to test for autoimmune issues along with infections, etc.
I'm pretty sure she might have sent us for the lab work yesterday but my son was looking and acting so much better by the time we got to the office. Also, my son is pretty needle phobic the whole office knows and it took several visits with a therapist to get through 11 year old immunizations. (If he needs blood work today we will get it no questions asked BUT why put him through it if he wakes up pain free and rash gone this morning...I will wake him in a couple hours.)
Please don't bash me on the needle thing it is a true phobia and we work on it. I don't make fun of people who can't fly without medication or put their own back out trying to get away from a spider. Also, I do think it is hereditary as he has three direct family members who faint at the sight of blood and also fear needles with a passion...so if anything please pray for me today and send me some good thoughts. I want to get him healed up and if we go to the lab today it will be a rough one for us all.
I'd take him to the ER if the rash is spreading and the fever is higher. You're scared and it's not better. Take him to ER.
In truth? I'd skip this doc and go to someone else. Good LORD! Your child is having an intense allergic reaction to something and at the very least the doc should have given them a steroid shot and antihistamines to get it calmed down.
This doc doesn't sound very knowledgeable.
Has he been checked for tick bites?
If it's Rocky mountain spotted fever - it's treatable if you catch it early.
Additional:
I don't want to alarm you but rocky mountain spotted fever can be fatal.
I'm sorry your son has a needle phobia but this might be life or death so while I wouldn't make fun of a phobia I'd rather deal with the therapy in the after math than wonder what I could have done differently at his funeral.
I hope he's better today.
I would have him checked for ticks, to ensure he wasn't bitten by one. They can make things really bad. Lyme Disease is horrible.
Glad to read that you took him back in and another doctor examined him. With all the benedryl you've given him and the amount of time that has passed, if he was having an allergic reaction to something he walked through (poison ivy), it will be hard to test for that allergy now. You'll have to wait until the rash is totally gone and have him tested for allergic reactions to poison ivy, ticks, fleas, etc.
Check extremely carefully for ticks. Look between toes, behind knees, in the hair. Examine the scalp with a magnifying glass. Have your son examine his private area, very very carefully. Look under arms, behind ears, etc.
Also, ask your son's PE teacher where they were running. Ask if any other kids experienced anything similar. And perhaps you can get a sample of the grasses or flowers where he was running.
Find out if the rash "blanches" or not. That means, you press on a red spot with your hand, or with a clear drinking glass. Does the redness disappear briefly when it's pressed? This is all info a doctor might need to know.
If he's this reactive to something, you might consider taking him to an allergist instead of a pediatrician. Have him tested three ways: a simple blood test, a skin prick test, and a more in-depth patch testing.
Aloe can be soothing. Use a real aloe plant if possible. Cut off a large leaf. Lay it flat on a cutting board, and carefully slice the skin off, revealing a gel-like inner substance. Lay that on the itchy spots. Or get 100% aloe gel (without alcohol) from a health foods store.
Good luck. My daughter suffers from extreme itching (so bad she has been hospitalized for it). It's rough.
Added: seems to me, I bought a big tube of Aloe and coated myself with that too - and I may have put it in fridge?
----- It doesn't sound like anything we've had .. sorry. Sounds miserable.
I had poison ivy and I had a terrible reaction. In fact, the doctor just walked in circles around me and said he could feel the heat emanating from my body - I had huge fluid filled bubbles all over me. They itched so badly it was terrible. I ended up going on steroids.
I would think the steroid cream will help, but for me the steroids helped immediately. I toughed it out for a while, and wished I hadn't. I actually caused some scarring (on my hands) where I was starting to tear at my skin - so I went in. If he gets bad with the itching (in my case, the Benadryl was doing nothing), then call to get in sooner - not worth it, and then you run risk of infection from scratching.
Poor kid. He got into something nasty.
I don't remember headache but definitely was hot ... so maybe he got into something like poison ivy or poison oak or something. I don't know too much about it, other than it was nasty.
Because this is not a normal or known thing for him, he needs to be seen. Probably by a doctor other than the one you've been talking with.
Get him in for an exam and testing TODAY.
Absolutely get him to the pediatrican to be SEEN. He very well may end up with a systemic dermatitis over this and he'll need a shot of cortisone and antibiotics, no matter WHAT the original reason he got it. Just because it could be a viral illness with hives doesn't mean that it isn't infected. Don't wait!!!
Also if this HAPPENS to be scabies, putting calamine lotion on it is the WORST thing you could do. Those suckers burrow themselves in the skin and lay their eggs, and putting calomine on them just gives them a nice place to grow. I know because that happened to my son. I thought he had poison ivy. I felt so bad after I found out...
I really hope he is better today!!! My son had a reaction like that to amoxicillin and steroids. The amoxicillin gave him hives and the steroids made his joints stiff. It's not fun at all! Please update us as to how he is!
