Hives?

Cat dander is my triger and I will have trouble breathing and break out in hives. Sometimes I will have to have breathing treatments just to feel better. You should at least look into alleries as a cause. See if the doctor can test her for allergies. Most doctors wont though because most kids don't show signs until after ae 3. Good luck.

Speaking from experience, what she wasn't allergic to yesterday, she maybe today and vice versa. The body constantly is changing (espicially in a 10 month old) and allergies can't be established until they are 6. My daughter broke out in hives (both kinds at the same time) once when she was 2 and we thought she was allergic to strawberries, but when I had her tested at 6 they said no. Could be many things but Aveeno makes a wonderful oatmeal bath product which will help with the itching!! Good luck!

I just was hospitalized with an allergic reaction to ammoxycillin 2 days after I had finished my 10 day dose. I have taken ammoxycillin for 30+ years, for various infections, with no reaction. I learned an antibiotic allergy can occur at any time in your life. It can also occur up to two weeks after the last dose. I would be very leary of using ammoxcyllin again. And if your child is currently taking stop usage immediately. Hope she is feeling better soon. P.S. My children that had RSV had chronic respitory issues with any cold/allergy. I felt like they were using breathing treatments constantly!

Hey,

This may not be what you want to hear right now. But, my son had RSV when he was a month old and we joke that he has had a cold ever since. He constantly battles allergies, colds and ear infections. I breast fed him and I am a stay at home mom... so don't ever let anyone tell you it's because she is in daycare (assuming she is) I don't think it matters after RSV. Our dr. said it damages their lungs. My son has had all the other issues you mentioned as well... reactions to medicines, we bought a nebulizer and he has treatments everytime he is sick. At 6 mo the dr. put him on Cingulair and it really seems to help quite a bit. My sisters kids had some similar problems with allergies, etc and both of her kids were almost completely allergy free by 5 years old... so hopefully it's something they will outgrow... in the mean time like you said it's so hard to watch them be so uncomfortable. My son had a rash once from heat... like a heat rash on his sides and under his arms. Other than the medicine reaction that is the only rash he has had. They treated it with hydrocordosone.

I know that Zyrtec and Cingulair are both available for babies over 6 months. We have taken both and Cingulair seems to work better for us... but i would definatley ask her dr. about something along those lines. Good luck and hang in there!

RSV really messes your lungs up. I some how managed to get it when I was 14 despite the fact that it's only a "infant" sickness. So now whenever I get a cold it goes straight to my chest. I wheeze and cough. It's miserable. I do my best to stay away from colds not that it has done much good since my daughter started school. As for the hives. Antibiotics can stay in your system for something like 10 days after you quit taking them. You could take her to get an allergy test. It is not the most comfortable thing for any one to go through. Best of luck to you.

Nerves can cause hives, if she is upset about being sick, going to the doctor, seeing you upset all that can cause hives, Benadryl will help, the hives will be gone in no time. Of course is will have to be a liquid and a safe strength for her age, and she may be to young, you can ask the doctor.

L.,

I have dealt with allergies with my son. He started out with rubbing his nose into the sheets when he was an infant, then I had him in the outfits that had metal buttons and he broke out in the shape of the button. He became allergic to bounce, so I started using a liquid for a softener, which works well. Hives are itchy usually. Hives are usually caused by being nervous. I'm not sure how the allergy looks, but my guess is, she is allergic to something. Allergies can appear sometimes, after being exposed more than once. You prob. know that, but the only way to see what it is, is to use the process of elimination. You really need to find out so she won't have a severe reaction someday. If the doctor seen it and said it was the antibiotic, then it must have looked like a reaction to something. Sometimes it's hard to tell if something is an allergy on the inside (something internally eaten) or something that is something that she is getting in contact of. The internal one is the most serious one. Since my son has allergic reactions to a lot of things, mostly external so far, along with seasonal, I always keep antihistamine with me at all times. Just in case. This could keep a bad situation turning worst. Not that it will, it's just a precaution. There are always allergy doctors too. If your in Springfield, there's only two. One at st. johns, and the other, cox. Your baby had rsv, her immune system is low and she is really prone to everything else. It is great that you are questioning everything, you have that right as a mom. You are a good mom for looking out for the BEST interest of your cute little girl.I hope you find out what it is, theres nothing worse than worrying about it. You will find your answer. Keep searching and questioning things, as time goes by. It will hit you what it is. The other thing you could do is find a pediatric nurse that's been one for a long time, they are great at knowing things, they are mom's too. good luck.
D. E.

My beautiful little girl has the same problem. It is the medicine in her case. Try other medicines and see what happens, only not penecillins,or cephlasporins (probably not spelled right)-they are related to the penecillins. There are sulfa drugs and many new drugs that may work. We have found nothing that works for my gal and when she does have to take something it reacts with hives and then takes 5 months to clear up with a lot I mean lots of scratching the whole way thru-yes she is very miserable and we are looking into an allergist to hopefully find some answers.So far she has not had any other reactions but we have been told for some time to watch for others later. this is no fun and she is miserable! Work on it now so your's can find some relief.

I get chronic hives. I'm lucky enough to be allergic to my period and stress. Since you're daughter is too young for the first thing, maybe it's stress. It could very well be that the physical and mental stress of being so sick for so long is making her body produce this allergic reaction. I also have asthma so I can understand how physically taxing it must be for your daughter when she can't breathe and you have to give her a breathing treatment. You might want to try an oatmeal bath or stock up on benadryl cream. I personally find that gold bond works the best. Good luck!

My son is also 10 months old! I nursed him and when I took amoxycillin (not sure how to spell it either) we both broke out in hives. When I quit taking the meds both of our hives went away. Being a massage therapist and knowing a great deal about natural ways to treat illness I tend to think that if the only new thing is the medication then all signs point to that being the cause of the hives. I feel that so often it's easy to blame things like laundry soap and what not, but I think you are right on top of things. Perhaps call a nurse line or another doctors office to get another opinion. I've had issues with our son's doctor not giving him the attention he needed when he had a 105 temp so I went else where. You aren't alone! I hurt when Gabriel hurts also! Hope this was some help!

Hives could be a reaction to infection in the body, but I would take her to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist for all other symptoms. My Daughter and son had similar symptoms and took them to this specialist, where he took out there tonsils and adenoids. Since then my kids haven't been sick at all!!!! I would check into to this. We went to Dr. Peter Shapiro his number is ###-###-####. Wonderful, Wonderful, Dr!! Hope this helps.

L., hi my little boy also had rsv when he was little and now he has asmtha. Does your little girl break out in hives after a breathing treatment? it could be the medicine in the machine? believe it or not your little one needs allergy testing. she could react to things now that she didn't when she was born(dog for instance) talk to your dr, about getting her tested. It will make her feel better in the long run and give you some piece of mind, I know how you feel with the winter sickness, I was there about 1 1/2 years ago. keep your head up..it will get better. L.

My oldest daughter was 6 before she had the hive reaction to the penicillin, she now has a medical alert necklace and has to be very careful of the antibiotics she uses.

your daughter's immune system is doing the wacky. Has she been exposed to any molds? Breathing problems and chronic sinus trouble at her age seems off, I would think an allergist might be of some help.

It's a good idea to start checking your labels there are lots of dangerous chemicals in products for children. Bronopol, BHA,DMDM Hydantoin,Oxybenzone,Triclosan,Boric acid and Sodium Borate,Dibutyl Phthalate,Toluene, and Quanterium 15. If you would like more info about safer products for your family and home call me please ###-###-#### or ____@____.com. I hate to hear about so many children suffering from chemicals FDA has considered OK! Remember your skin is the largest organ in your body it comes onto contact with chemicals everyday whether they are good or bad. It could be as something as simple as Lysol which is not safe. Look up your cleaners you use everyday and their chemicals. You might be suprised all the reactions they can cause.

I would first remove all dairy products if you are feeding her any. Second, if you are feeding her baby oatmeal or other, check if there is wheat in it. She may have food allergies and that may need to be tested for. If not, get your residence check for mold. Hidden mold can cause a host of issues and problems. You can contact Children Mercy Hospital or go to their website. I would do additional research on "hives" as well to find what the cause of them could be, especially a ten month old. Ask your mom about you and then the dad's immune system when he was young. Get to the bottom of it. You and your family are in my prayers for resolution..
M. from PC, MO

I've heard of a lot of different people with strange symtoms that were at the end of their rope to find a root of thier health problems. Have your home checked for mold. It can be growing on the inside of your walls and be undetectable by looking at the surface. Some people are more sensitive to these type of allergens than others.

I think if she keeps having sinus problems and hives I would take her to an allergy doctor and rule that out because if she is allergic to something that will affect her sinuses, you would see hives too usually. The sinuses if it is persistently irritated will give her a cold or ear infection and even a cough from the drainage in the back of her throat. That might be over reacting but if it is allergies she will just keep getting sick over and over until you do something to take care of the allergy. I would wash her sheets in hot water and her blankets and do it in some laundry soap like "All" free and clear, and I'd try to keep her up off the floor where dust and allergens usually are and see if that helps any. I'd also try to pay attention to what she ate before she got the hives, where she was, like was she just taking a nap for the last couple of hours, as even if you take her to an allergy doctor he's going to try to narrow down what might possibly be causeing the hives. Hope this might be of some benefit. Good luck!

I noticed you asked this on the allergies and asthma group - and it looks like most of the folks who answered have first hand experience with this. And I think they all have good advice - esp. since your dd seems to have also developed some breathing issues too.

I have to say that I have one who 'may be' allergic to penicillin and who ended up back at the doc while on zpac (doctor commented about his eczema - which he insisted was lifelong --- and it wasn't - it had appeared in the 24 hours following meds ---And which popped up the next time he was on them too. And the eczema disappears after he is done with meds.)

I don't really know how the doctors determine what rashes are med based and which are other causes.

I do know that SOME kids do tend to get rashes when they are sick. It is just the way their particular body responds to viruses and fevers. So it could be that your dd is prone to rashes.

I know that we were told that the only way to tell for sure if my Ds is allergic to pen. is to give it to him again. And since there are alternatives my current doc won't chance a more severe reaction 'just to find out'.

Rashes freaked me out. BUt at least with my kids, for the most part the rash was just a visual annoyance. (My kids didn't get itchy, hive rashes...)

I would see an allergist. Allergies can develop anytime. My (now 21 year old) daughter had similar problems as a child, finally (at age 4!) an allergist was able to help. Be sure to get one that specializes in children.

L.

I have a 16 mo. old boy. When my son was around a year he got an ear infection. The doctors put him on amoxicylin too. He broke out in a really bad rash on his torso. The dr. said it was an allergic reaction to the meds and gave him a z pack. He was fine. Sometimes he does break out a little when the weather changes now but nothing like with the medicine. I hope that this helps. If you are still not sure of what the dr. is telling you get a second opinion. It can't hurt. Good Luck!

Working mom of a very active 16 month old boy, married to my wonderful husband of almost 3 years.
M.

L., I understand your upset....it's your BABY for goodness sakes....I know this is wild, but has your Dr. checked your child for STREP. I know she is bit young, but sometimes, children get a rash with STREP. If the rash doesn't go away and your child doesn't want to eat much and crys and complains which its really hard to notice strep in a child so young, except she won't eat much food. It's a fairly minor test that would be worth checking into...It may be allergies, but seasonal allergies rarely cause a rash..... I think your Dr didn't know so, she/he couldn't tell you...Sometimes they do this...remember the medical industry is a Practice not a Profession. Some are better at it than others and some things are just not an exact Science.... My twins both have issues with allergies and one of my twins has a nebulizer but she used it in her first and second year of life and now we just have to have an inhaler around and some allergy medication for a couple of months in the Spring...It will be ok, just hang in there.................Hugs J.

L.,
I am a mom of a 16 month old boy and we also had a really bad winter. He broke out it rashes a few times while he was sick....for him, it was a viral rash. And yes, those come around when children get sick. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do but let it run it's course. When my son was covered with it, I was told to give him AVENO baths to soothe him. I know what you mean, when your children are miserable, you are then miserable. You can also compare her rash to a viral rash by simply just typing that in on the internet. That should give you some pics to look at.
Good luck!

S. S.

My 3yr. old son often breaks out with hives when he is ill or has a fever. He was very premature and his first two yrs. of life I kept him in the home during the flu season and stayed away from large groups of kids. If I didn't he would be sick all the time. He also takes breathing treatments when ill. Now that he is three he started pre-school two months ago and so far he has had a cold off and on the whole time. My sons hives do not bother him so his doctor said don't worry about it. Even ranch dressing will break him out, but it soon goes away. I do feel for you, we have had a sick boy since the day he was born and if we get two weeks sick free we are very happy! Hang in there and I wouldn't worry to much about the hives.

My 6 year old had the same problem last year. She started out with a cold and cough. Then after she was over the cold she broke out in this horrible rash from head to toe. It would come and go and had very different patterns and shapes. We took her to children's hospital and 5 doctors came in all at once to look at her. They diagnosed her with urethema multiforme and sent her home. We took my daughter to her physician and he said it is just a virus and it will go away with time. After 4 months of this rash we took her to a dermatologist and they said it was chronic hives. She was on so many different medicines (Zyrtec, allegra, benadril, and hydroxazine) depending on the diagnosis from each different doctor. It eventually went away after 8 months without a real diagnosis. My daughter with all of this has breathing problems and acid reflux now. When she has a tough time breathing we give her a breathing treatment and she is fine after that. Unless it is a REAL EMERGENCY save your money. Otherwise you will spend so much time and money and get different answers on what her rash is depending on what doctor or specialist you go to. Hope this helps!

Dear L.,
When my son now 40 yr. old, was about 8 or 9 months old, he broke out in a rash. It started by him just being firey red all over. I immediately took him to the peditrcian who was stymied. He gave me some liquid Benadryl say ing he had probably reacted to the laundry soap or something. I had not changed anything either. Later that evening, he became very fussy, then crying, he couldn't swallow his formula or water. Fortunately, being a nurse, I knew his throat was swelling, called my peditrician and went directly to the emergency room. They gave him an injection of ACTH, a cortisone drug.
It acted very quickly and he was fine. However the next day he looked like he was coverd with little blisters. So I made an appointment to be seen by a dermatologist right away. When she found that I had not changed anything, she asked if he had an infection. The only thing I could think of was that the morning before all this occured he had awakened with some crusty drainage from his eye. Her response was that he had probably had an auto immune response to the infection causing the allergic reaction. Two days later, he peeled like a snake and lost dead skin from his entire body. As he got older, he began to have allergies to other things, but none of them so severe. Never had another reaction like that one either. It is somewhat of a mystery and you may never really figure out what caused your baby's reaction, but I have to guess the dermatoloist was correct. Hope this helps and that things go okay for your daughter, too. J. B

I think I'd take her to an allergist to make sure. You can't be to careful. Children's Mercy has some great doctors, and I'd highly recommend that you only see a pediatric allergist. Seasonal allergies usually take a season or 2 to develop since the child does not have exposure until they are born, but my friend's child used to hive up from outdoor allergies and when he played with their dog! Hope you get some answers :)

L., I too get hives with no obvious cause. I am on Allegra all year long to keep them away. My allergist says mine are probably from stress. Doctors make up stuff when they don't know the answer. If you haven't changed anything in your house, I don't know what it could be either! I doubt it would be the dog that usually causes sneezing/watery eyes/runny nose. But allergies can just pop up out of the blue. When I first started getting hives they did the allergy testing on me(140 little injections in my arms) and I came up + for wheat and corn! Now I had been eating those things all my life(I was 22 at the time) and bam I am allergic to them. I cut them out of my diet for about 8 months and then gradually added them back in and was fine. Now I get hives but we retested those 2 and they came back fine. Hang in there and just give her benadryl when she gets them. Don't do that testing unless the hives become life threatening because it hurts!!! By life threatening I mean facial hives connected with her mouth and throat. They can cause your throat to swell shut. My son also got hives once and I think it was because he was just sick too because nothing else had changed. Good luck!

Have your doctor send you to a specialist who can tell you what the hives are,sounds like your dr.don't know.my daughters allergic to penicillin and when she takes it she don't break out in hives just one half her face swells.shesallergic to tomatoes and gets hives.

wow, what a rocky beginning. Do you have any animals in your house?

I do wonder about the pet dander... could be a delayed allergic reaction. Also, there are PLENTY of allergens out there right now "blooming up a storm" so it could be that.... but it could also be a reaction her body is having from being sick..I definitely would not change anything you are doing... do what makes her better. I wish I could give you a better answer. I have an 8 year background as an ER nurse, and your doctor is giving you all the possibilities. HMMMMM....My son had RSV when he was just under a year, and we keep medication for his nebulizer all year round, just in case.. Children who contract RSV are more suseptible to asthma in years to come, and we have given it to him several times when he has been sick since. Definately don't smoke around the child (if you even do that). Be aware of what makes your child wheeze... is it only when he/she is sick? Or is it different seasons.. ORrr is it all year round. This is important to tell your child's physician. Good luck with your situation, and hang in there.

Hi L.,

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Relief for hives
Several months ago I broke out all over my entire body with hives. They hurt, stung and were very itchy. The hives were due to an allergy of some sort. I was on prescription anti-histamines and a cream with a high concentration of cortisone(which I really didn't want to use - plus it didn't take any pain away). The anti-histamines worked opposite on me in regards to sleeping - they kept me awake. One thing that helped me during the most painful nights was my routine of taking a bath in Sol-U-Mel and Renew Body Oil, then I would rub my whole body with Pain-a-Treat. I didn't hurt or burn nearly as much, my skin was soft and I was able to sleep for several hours

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I don't know about the hives for your daughter but thought I would share my story. When I was 5 and beginning school, I would get hives. Sometimes the hives would get on the bottom of my feet and then if I stood on them, I would pass out. This continued all my childhood - school would start and I would get hives. My Mother thought it was a nervous condition and that I didn't want to go to school. Now that I am OLD I still get the hives in the fall and school still starts then but that isn't why I had hives. I am allergic to several different things and Fall is the worst time for me. An old wifes tale is to eat tapioca pudding to relieve the hives and it actually does work. I am also allergice to pennicillin and sulfer.

Your daughter sounds a lot like myself. I had multiple ear infections when I was young and had tubes in my ears. I remember having breathing treatments too. I also had a hives reaction to an antibiotic, but it was a sulfa drug. Now, whenever I am sick I get hives just on my elbows and feet. Weird, huh? I used to think it was just when I got a fever, but I have had them several times now with illness without a fever. So, I can believe that they are just a reaction to being sick. I also remember breaking out in hives all over as a teenager for no apparent reason. We couldn't find any related cause.

I have started researching healthier lifestyle changes and have changed my diet to include more whole, fresh, and organic foods. I only got sick once this past winter, whereas I used to get sick several times. I really think better nutrition has helped my body fight off more illnesses. This would be important for your daughter while her immune system builds back up. You may want to talk to your doctor about children's vitamins. I know her diet is somewhat limited right now because she is so young, but I have included two great websites that discuss nutrition for kids:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030800.asp "Feeding Toddlers: 17 Tips for Pleasing the Picky Eater" It has good ideas for introducing new, healthy foods to toddlers.

and
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T040200.asp "ABC's of Teaching Nutrition to Kids" I thought this one was especially good because it teaches parents how to make learning about healthy food fun for kids. It talks about how to educate kids so that they make healthy choices on their own later on and so they know which kinds of food are healthy and why. The only thing I didn't agree with was that he suggested rewards, but everything else was pretty good advice.

Hope this helps. Best wishes!

My 7 year old daughter just went through that. They must have the same doctor because he said the same thing. It is hives from being sick. She had a fever off and on for about four days. Low grade, but I guess enough to cause more problems. He gave her an antibiotic and told me to give her benedryl and soak her in an oatmeal bath for itching and stuff. It worked so I guess so....good luck PS the oatmeal did keep her from itcing which kept her from spreading to other parts of her body. I was in fact scared it would spread to her throat and it would swell and well you know how Mommy's are paranoya!

Poor little thing. She's had a rough start.

In addition to having her tested for allergies, I would advise reevaluating her place of care during your working hours. This many and severity of illnesses in such a short amount of time is alarming. Reducing the number of children with whom she comes into contact also reduces the ratio of exposure to potential infections.

Also, research and evaluate every chemical used in your home and at her place of care; the effort will be worth it. I had to switch fabric softeners (Bounce to Downey) to eliminate hives in my oldest, for example, and did not introduce a dog to his environment for many years, choosing a low-allergy breed when I did. Your daughter's immune system needs a chance to fortify itself before next winter's onslaught of seasonal attackers.

Good luck and let us know the results of any research you unearth.

C.

You have had a rough year! I have three children, the oldest two (5 & 3) have allergy induced asthma and especially during weather changes we have allergy problems (coughing at night, wheezing, hives or eczema). They both have to have breathing treatments during this time of year to help them, as for the hives, can you link it to the breathing treatment? (My daughter was having a reaction with the albuterol.) It could be the medication for that, but it may also be the body/skin's (immune system) way of fighting off a cold or infection. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

I have 3 sons (4, 2 1/2 and 14 months). My youngest is the exact same as your daughter. I stopped nursing when he was 5 1/2 months about the same time we started going to the Dr EVERY week (no lie) he was having constant "asthma" attacks. The Dr's I saw diagnosed him as "asthmatic" because everytime he got a cold it went straight to his lungs and he would wheeze, rattle, crackle, etc. The nebulizer didn't work with albuterol, pulmicort, or duo-neb (have tried all), no change. But I finally had him tested with an allergist (Dr.Frankel), and he finally figured out that he was having a reaction to his formula. HE was NOT allergic (they tested him for the common food allergies), and he is not allergic to dairy, but as soon as I took him off the wheezing stopped. WE switched to Soy and he broke out in hives. Took him off the soy and the hives went away. He is not allergic to either but has an interolerance. There is a huge difference. You may want to try and take things out of the picture to test. He still gets pretty bad "asthma" attacks (I have read and heard from other dr's you can't diagnose asthma until around age 4)..when he gets a cold. Someone also suggested that his sinuses might be blocked and just to keep flushing his sinus' with saline. My family has bad food allergies, sinus problems and asthma, so we have tried a lot. I totally understand your frustration..sometimes I feel like I am a better doctor than my son's and I didn't even go to med school. I think I read somewhere that a lot of allergies don't show up until close to age 1, so if she is allergic to something like your dog, it could be just showing up because her body has matured to react to it? I am thinking of taking my two youngest to a GI dr, because I am convinced that it has something to do with their digestive system. SO you might look into that, or also if she has had any exposure to anything new like packaging of toys, new paint on the walls, different filter..sometimes I have reactions (hives) because of just packaging or the odor of a new candle, cleaning supplies, shampoo, etc. I hope this has given you a few more avenues to investigate!! Good luck!

It sounds like you both have had a long winter! the hives things did happen to my daughter when she was about 3 and re-occurs(?) every time she has a fever. The hives are usually all over her face and stomach. They usually go away when the fever breaks. I don't know if this is what is happening to your little one, but sounds similar. My daughter is 5 now and still breaks out in "hives" when she has a fever - although she is not as sick now that she is older. Hope this helps!!
H. :0)

My daughter breaks out in hives whenever she runs a high temp. We went to the er at least once a month for a year with fevers as high as 105.5 and hives/rash. My son nevere did this nor does he ever have a temp higher than 100. I have found that if benadryl does not work and there is a temp or illness involved, it is the illness and the bodies reaction to the illness and fever. You can try an oatmeal bath that may help calm her and help if the hives seem to be bothering her. I am also an RN so trust me, I have checked with all resources when my daughter started doing this at age 1!
Good luck!~M.