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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 12:23pm | IP Logged
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Hi all! I was wondering if you all could help me. My daughter is 10 years old. A few months ago, she broke out horribly in a head to toe rash, having NEVER EVER done this in her whole life before, and her face swelled; mainly her eyelids, the area around her nose and mouth, and her ears. She looked terrible!!! We had a virus going around the house at the time that turned out to be pneumonia. I had given her some ibuprofen for fever just a 1/2 hour before, and then she broke out everywhere and started to swell quite a bit. I freaked out thinking it was a reaction to the ibuprofen, which she has had numerous times before without incident, so we rushed her to the Urgent Care center. My husband took her in and had mentioned that there was a virus in the house, but they treated it as a reaction to the ibuprofen and gave her a shot of benydryl, put her on pregnisone (sp?..steroid) and told me to give her Benydryl, a tagament pill, and the pregnisone for the next few days. So, I did. The rash seemed to get much better after a few days, but then, around day 4, it returned in earnest. I immediately thought that was really odd, since the ibuprofen was obviously no longer in her system, and called our pediatrition. Due to the pneumonia virus in the house, which can cause a rash, apparantly, she put her on antibiotics, and then had the whole family come in to be treated with antibiotics as the virus had been in the house for a few months! So, she seemed to be getting better, and only had a bump or two appear here and there over the past few weeks, but then, one day two weeks ago, she looked very pale, and she said, "Mom, I have bumps all over me again.", and she showed me her belly. Totally freaking out, assuming she had leukemia or something, I took her BACK to our pediatrition again, who sort of shrugged and said, "Well, lots of kids get rashes, and we don't know what causes them, just keep her on Zyrtec..it is probably an allergy to either food or something in her environment", and she gave me some Zyrtec samples and a handout on hives. I left the office sort of feeling like, "HUH? So, just keep treating the symptoms, and let it go at that?" So, I switched detergents to the "free" of everything kind. I do think it is probably food related though and not detergent. She has been getting them everyday for the past few weeks again..which brings me to right now...
She just ate a bowl of potato soup, and now her ear is swelling a bit, and she is covered in a rash, and she has bigger, blotchy patches on her arms. The rash itself does not look like a typical raised hive usually, although right now she has a mosquito bite looking hive on her forhead, and she has tiny raised bumps on her belly rash because she seems to be having more of a reaction. But, it looks more like a splotchy rash usually. Hard to explain. So, I just gave her a tsp. of Benydryl, which seems to help, usually. My husband did NOT want me to just start keeping her on Zyrtec, so I had not been giving her that because he thought that would not be good for her to just be on t indefinatey, with no rhyme or reason as to why, and he told me to just keep giving her the Benydryl as she needed it.
We DO have some allergies in both sides of the family. Eggs, milk,corn,mosquito bites...I am not sure how to proceed though. My eldest son was allergic to green apples and shellfish as a younger kid. His ears and feet would swell, and his lips sometimes. Also, he would start to drool profusely, and sometimes throw-up. He doesn't have trouble with either of these foods anymore.
Anyway, I have never taken my kids to an allergist before. Should I? I didn't really like the "treat the symptoms" approach, or is this correct? Also, if I try to figure it out at home, how do you do that? Anyone have any experience in how to even approach this? With my son, it was obvious that it was green apples, because we did not eat them all the time, and it was usually after he ate green apples off of his grandparents tree. Also, the seafood reaction was after he had eaten the crabs that my Mom would often bring to us. So, there was no "mystery" really. It seemed pretty obvious what was bugging him.
Anyway, the doc didn't mention/recommend an allergist. Do most insurance plans cover the tests they run? Any thoughts would be appreciated! The reaction today seemed to be heading towards a more severe one. Her ear was starting to swell, for example, and there are even hives between her fingers. She had a bowl of the Wal-Mart brand of Honey Bunches of Oats this morning with milk. She made some gingerbread cookies with white flour, mollases, sugar etc. She ate the potato soup, which has red potatoes, bacon, corn starch, milk, butter etc in it. The cookies had sprinkles on them..maybe the dye? (I had thought the dye perhaps because the ibuprofen was orange??) The rash seems to get worse after she takes a bath. I don't even know where to begin in an "elimination diet".
So, very worried! Any advice??
Kim
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 12:41pm | IP Logged
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O.K Now she just came BACK to me as I typed this and her eyelid is swollen and her rash is all around her face and mouth again like it was the original time. Her face looks pale in contrast. Gave her another tsp. of benydryl. She is obviously allegic to something she ate today!!!! Hoping this doesn't result in a trip to the Urgent Care again!!!
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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Angi
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 12:46pm | IP Logged
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If you are available to chat, via facebook or something, I might be able to help. But, first, if you still have a Zyrtec, I would give her that. You can double up Zyrtec and Benedryl if needed, but rarely needed.
Definitely go see a pediatric allergist! The symptoms you describe would be cause for an Epi-Pen for my girls.
Until then, keep a food diary, writing down everything she eats, when she eats it, and any reactions that occur.
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JennGM
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
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Kim, get thee to an allergist! Find one that is particularly open to pediatric and food allergies, not just environmental or asthma.
The dose of Benadryl seems low. My 9 year old, when he has reactions is supposed to have 2 teaspoons. And the Zyrtec is good to help with reactions and hives, but you need to keep taking it to build up the resistance. I know your husband doesn't want to do this, but it is the usual safeguard.
Is she itchy? When the swelling starts is her tongue itchy? Does she feel her throat closing on her? These are dangerous signs of anaphylaxis. Each reaction can be worse, so you need to watch her carefully, give her Benadryl and perhaps take her to the ER if she is feeling interior swelling.
You might not get answers, though. So often there can unexplained hives or reactions. Our younger son had two huge reactions and we never found the cause. My SIL also had terrible cases of Hives and now carries an Epipen and stays on Zyrtec because they never found the cause but it was life-threatening. An allergist appointment would sort through if she needs an Epipen, which could give you peace of mind if she is having random reactions.
It takes a while for the body to calm down. We did the same as you mention -- steroid, dosing up on Zyrtec and Benadryl. Hives can have a "double life" so can return in full glory after 24-48 hours, after everything seems fine. It might not be what she is having.
But the allergist's visit might help a little. If it's something like peanuts, or tree nuts or shellfish, to find that out would help. There can be cross-contamination, and if your daughter is super sensitive now, just the small trigger can cause this reaction.
Also, although it is a bit young, her hormones might be developing/stirring, and that causes more stress on the body. So what might not have been anything before might be double effect with hormonal changes. That happens with me--I get more migraines and allergic reactions at different times of my cycle.
Have her take lots of Vitamin C and drink lots of water, and rest. Her body is going through a lot.
Feel free to PM and I can chat on the phone or email if you wish. I know this is completely unnerving.
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 1:53pm | IP Logged
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What Jenn said. Allergist ASAP. Your poor daughter needs to know what's going on, and you do, too.
One tip for the testing, which can be painful. Our allergist gave us a tube of numbing cream and had us slather it on DD's forearms before we came for testing. We had to wrap her arms in plastic wrap, too. It did help with the pain, which is considerable without something to numb the effects of all those needles.
Our pediatrician is the queen of "treat the symptoms," but even she thought an allergist was a good idea for DD. In your case, you can't afford to continue without knowing your daughter's allergy triggers so she can stop eating/touching them.
I am praying. I know just how stressful this is!
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JennGM
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 2:31pm | IP Logged
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I will add, it will take a while to be able to do the skin testing on your daughter, as they usually can't do that if she is on antihistamines. But there is blood testing they can do...and just to get an allergist who does see this kind of reaction frequently and knows how to control it most efficiently can be reassuring.
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 6:14pm | IP Logged
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Well, a lot happened since my post! I really appreciate the info, and plan on looking at it when I can tomorrow. Gracie's reaction seemed to be getting worse, like the one she had over a month ago and took her to the UC for. Anyway, I called the pediatrition to ask what I should do as she was not responding to the home treatment (zyrtec/benydryl) so she made an emergency appointment with an allergist in town for me. We took her in and he gave her TWO epi-shots! She has been placed on pregnisone, and we have the epi-pens in the house now. I am to take her tomorrow for blood work to rule out serious conditions that could be causing this, (the pneumonia virus coming into play? (she is well, but it could still be affecting her somehow) diabetes, thyroid, and I assume other scary stuff. Then, next week, we take her in for food allergy tests, and I assume what you all were talking about with the prick tests etc. He does not seem to think it is food, but he is not sure. So, please pray that we find out what is troubling her. I appreciate your help and please pray that she is o.k. and we find out answers. She still have a bit of a puffy face and a rash all over her belly, back and legs. So, very worrisome.
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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| Posted: Dec 12 2012 at 6:17pm | IP Logged
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I'm glad your pediatrician took notice and action! Were these Epipen Jr? They come in two.
I can't believe she is still puffy after that...poor thing. I see he's thinking it might be auto-immune response or something...
I'll keep praying. Poor thing. The EpiPen must have made her really jumpy, but I'm sure she's exhausted, too. The steroid can make her moody, so just look for that.
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Dec 13 2012 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
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I was up thinking of possible allergens all night, of course. Beyond the food, which I assume the doc will test for, I was thinking of things such as the chewable Vitamin C tablets I introduced when we were all suffering with pneumonia. Could they cause such a reaction? Also, fels-naptha/homemade laundry detergent. I do not use it now, as I thought maybe it might have been a factor with the first reaction a few months ago as I had just made some of the powdered kind for normal washers. Or, then, I thought about how she seemed to have a reaction to the shock that my Mom used in her pool all summer. One year, her hair started to fall out in one place a little after swimming all summer in the pool. She goes a few times a week. This year, when she would come home, her face, besides the area where the mask would be that she used to swim in, was sort of red and blotchy, and the rest of her body would have a blotch here and there, and her skin would look pale in contrast to the red, which seems to be the way it looks when she has a reaction, at least the two bad reactions she has had to ??..I do not know. I thought, maybe she developed a sensitivity to chlorine? I used to bleach my towels all the time, but stopped that too a while ago, thinking maybe it was bleach that was bugging her, but I haven't used that in awhile, which led me to think...what would she encounter on a daily basis, that would have had her having a mild, ongoing hive reaction for all this time...maybe the cascade in the dishwasher that is on our dishes somehow? I know my son uses too much when he loads the dishwasher, and a lot of our dishes are cheap plastic, so maybe they absorb it somehow, or at least don't rinse well? I have told them they only need a little, but sometimes I get a whiff of the chlorine smell or the water will taste just the tiniest bit like it, and we have well water, not city water, so maybe they are not rinsing well? The other possibility of course, is that it is not environmental at all, but instead, something wrong with her internally, but I am hoping it is external! Hence, my thinking along those lines for now. How would they test for a chlorine sensitivity, or perhaps, if she was just starting to have a histamine reaction to things in general, it would be natural for her to be sensitive to something as harsh as pool chemicals etc ,and may not be the actual reason she is getting the hives. Very confusing and frustrating to not know what is making your child sick! She has big dark circles under her eyes today, as if she has black eyes, from them being so swollen yesterday. Got the blood work done this morning, so hoping and praying they find out that is all normal! Assuming they won't tell me until our appt. next week, so it will be an agonizing week!
Thanks for the continued prayers and advice!
Kim
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Dec 13 2012 at 1:22pm | IP Logged
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One bottle of Vitamin C that we have has phenylalanine in it. (per another thread I just read..got me to thinking about that. I had mentioned this to the nurse yesterday, just about the Vit. C, not that it had phenylalanine in it, and she said to bring them in next week and they would test her with those too.
Kim
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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I'm so sorry, Kim. That is so very scary having those reactions. Since it seems she has had reactions in the past (not just all of the sudden although bad now) that maybe it is an environmental thing that her immune system reacts to. My son has a peanut allergy and has reacted to other things as well but never that severe. I know the worry too well.  Keep us posted!
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Dec 13 2012 at 2:26pm | IP Logged
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Just to comment on something someone said above - about getting to that age where hormones are starting to get to work (even years before puberty sets in) -- I just wrote in another post that certain times of the month I am far more sensitive to certain foods (particular high fructose corn syrup) than other times when I might not react at all.
Now, my reactions are NOTHING like your daughter's! But I say this to point out that her body might be becoming more sensitive to things she was fine with before....
so as you are analyzing diet and environment, focus on the last couple of years patterns - nothing before that.
And we're praying!
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Dec 14 2012 at 5:05pm | IP Logged
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Thanks again, everyone. I gave her honey wheat toast this morning, with butter, thinking that would be benign enough, but she started to get hives, even on the pregnisone, so called the allergist, and he said to go ahead and giver her the benydryl today. So, I wonder if she is allergic to wheat, or it is was totally unrelated. Can't wait to get the blood tests back. Super stressed about it all!
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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| Posted: Dec 14 2012 at 5:16pm | IP Logged
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It could also be something more hidden.. like soy.. it's in most store bought breads.. it's in chocolate.. it's in most prepared food.. it's the main "vegetable" in vegetable oil and in shortening.. it's in lip balms and lotions and... well you get the idea..
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juliana147
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Kim, big hugs.
Hang in there... you will get this figured out.
I do know how hard it is, believe me...
I will say a prayer for you guys today.
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10 Bright Stars
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| Posted: Dec 18 2012 at 12:10pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for the continued prayers. She goes in for her appointment tomorrow. She still keeps having breakouts, but not as bad as the reaction the other day. So, will be very glad to hopefully have some answers about it. In the meantime, trying to keep her away from gluten?
God bless,
Kim
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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Just wanted to say we can totally empathize, dh and I have been having rashes/hives like this for months on end, with only a small break in between when dd was born in July. I had thought the rash was maybe worsened by pregnancy, and had gone away since I'd had baby, but now it has been back with a vengence. Sometimes it will be fine, other times it will flare up just terrible, itching and burning SOOOO bad. Now it's on my chest. It is enough to drive a person to distraction. I truly feel for your little girl.
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Kim, continued prayers! There are so many questions. One of the hardest things about having allergic children is the stress on the mom. You feel responsible and there is a lot of work to do to make your child comfortable. Then to play detective, even harder.
Right now her skin is super sensitive, so most everything will be harsh. It won't necessarily be direct reactions to what is touching her skin, but just sensitivity because she is so inflamed. So it is good when a child has eczema or hives to give soothing baths, to go to unscented soaps, lotions and detergents. Don't rub her skin, just pat dry, keep moist.
I don't know if the doctor will suggest it, but if her reactions are so terrible, she might need to just have a calming down of her system, so elimination or just a basic, basic diet can soothe things so you can actually see what she is reacting to. Avoiding gluten doesn't hurt. I haven't done it, but maybe a GAPS diet? Wait of course to see what the doctor says.
I did mention (and so did Jessica), hormones can be a factor, and there are mysterious reactions that might not ever know. I do pray you'll get some answers.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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No help, but definitely praying for you and your daughter as you struggle to understand what is going on! She must feel just awful! 
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Thanks for the prayers, everyone. All of the tests results came back normal. Her white blood cells were slightly elevated, but they said that is normal for her being on prednisone. So, she is supposed to come back in a month for that blood test to make sure they are normal again. So, she does not appear to be allergic to any food they tested her for, or environmental thing. So, the results were fairly inconclusive, but his theory is that it has to do with the pneumonia she had a month or more ago, and that her immune system just went into overdrive and is causing this histamine reaction. So, we are keeping her on a daily zyrtec, and slowy weaning her off the prednisone. So, not really any news per se, but at least the tests seem to show that nothing serious is going on. Hopefully, the wbc test will show that all is well in 4 weeks. Please continue to keep Gracie in your prayers! They are really working!!!
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Kim married to Bob (22y)
Mom of 11 blessings:
Bobby 19, David 17, Noah 14,
Mary 12, Gracie 10,
Isabelle and Sophia 8,
Gabrielle 6,
William Anthony 4, Joseph 3 and Luisa Marie - born in M
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: help! My daughter keeps breaking out!
