Strept Throat/Rheumatic Arthritis and Rash

1. Get off the internet!!!! I have a son w/ cancer, so, I say that from experience!

Do not worry until there is something to worry about. Seriously! Right now you haven't even seen the specialists. And, if antibiotics for forever is the worst of it...really, in the big picture, it isn't that bad. But, you don't even know what is going to happen. So, wait. And, get a 2nd opinion if you feel you need to. You are mom, you are going to worry. I hope everything turns out for the best.

My son had rheumatic fever in middle school. It was bad to the point where I had to assist him in getting around. I had to carry him on my back. He stayed home for 2 weeks with medication from his doctor. They did blood tests on him. He is now in high school. He plays sports, like football, with no medication taken. I have a 7 year old who had swelling to the joint area as well. He was losing weight and got really skinny. His doctor said he might have had some type of arthritis. He was given antibiotics once a month for 3 to 4 months. He is better now and has gained weight. Now when my children complain of "not feeling good" I treat it right away. It's scary to know that your child could be sick and you wouldn't even know it.

Hi G., I am sorry that your son is going through all this. I read your post from the 22nd to try and get a better idea of what is going on. Did the blood work come back positive for just strep? Was he also tested for a staph type infection? Did they tell you he has sepsis or blood poisoning? Because this is what it sounds like to me. Have they changed his antibiotic to see if some of this could be a reaction?
Please don't feel like this is your fault at all. I can only imagine how fearful you must feel, but you need to be strong, have faith, and ask a lot of questions.

My great grandmother had this condition,i.e., rheumatic heart caused by rheumatic fever as a child about 1880! She married and had two children, was a farmer's wife, piano teacher, managed an apartment building, and there were times in her life that she had to rest and take it easy, but she lived to 80. Modern medicine is so much better these days. The only way to prevent this is to jump on strep throat fast. Other than that, there is nothing you could have done. My brother and one of my sons had strep constantly as kids. My brother finally had his last case at age 11 and my youngest had his last case at 8. I knew the symptoms so well I could take a flashlight and look in the throat and if I saw bright red with white spots or red swollen tonsils, we were off ASAP. Other than that, I don't know what else can parent can do. Good luck and don't feel guilty. It is a very very rare side effect these days.

Hello G.,

Has anyone checked him for rheumatoid arthritis before? I was diagnosed with juevenile RA when I was 16 years old. I had it in almost all of my joints - it started out with a fever and me getting mono and strep throat. I was so sick I was hospitalized. During the hospitalization I was checked for Still's disease, Lymes disease and Lupus - all those came back negative - but my blood was elevated in something that made them think RA. I had stiff, swollen joints and was in a lot of pain.

Thankfully I am 27 yrs old now and have basically been RA free since I turned 25 or so. Young kids can get this - so I would check into it. Please dont worry about this info - chances are its NOT this, but if it turns out to be this then they have great medicine out there used to treat this.....

In the meantime we will be PRAYING! God is the ultimate physician of course! :0)

God bless you and your family,
Kelly

Sounds like the same thing my daughter got in 4 or 5th grade, it was Scarlette fever which can be scarey but there's nothing you could of done to prevent it, nobody told me anything about what might happen in the long run so when her heart issues and joint problems set in I freaked and after a year of seeing specialist about why my daughters joints were all screwed up they finally figured out it was the scarlet fever after affects which could take a very long time for her to get over....but the good news in her case was she went from not being able to get up from the floor unassited, open a door or write her name because of the joint pain to a happy young lady and now at 13 yes she still has issues but they are minor..if you want to talk about it feel free to email me