Penicillin reaction in 2year old

[BlinkAndMiss]

My DS has tonsillitis and was prescribed penicillin. I've given him his first dose then food half an hour later. I gave him some nurofen after that to help his temperature but then he threw up everywhere. I'm really worried now because a) he has no penicillin in him which will mean the infection is continuing to get worse, and b) he has nothing in him to help his temperature or the pain which scares me.

What do I do? I want to give him some Calpol but I'm worried about making him sick, he's finally fallen asleep but I just don't know what to do for the best. He feels very hot but not sweaty and he has goosebumps, he's only wearing a best and has a light blanket. His next dose of penicillin is about 1am - do I give him it?


Thanks in advance, I just feel so powerless to help him and last time he was so poorly with it. I thought I'd got him to the GP in time today but it seems the medication might be making him worse.

[PickledInAJar]

There are several possible reasons for vomitting; the infection itself, a temperature, or antibiotics.

Don't worry about the dose you gave, if your DS vomitted after you fed him (and you fed him 30 mins after taking antibiotics) then he'd have likely absorbed a lot of it. I'm guessing it would have been about 60 to 90 minutes later, by the time food was eaten and nurofen given?

I am interested in your reason for giving a 1am dose though?

Also, going by "feeling hot" isn't very scientific and I would be happier actually taking his temperature to be more precise. You don't say what age your DS is, and that would depend on how much temperature I'd tolerate before being concerned.

Finally, it's possible there could be a reaction to penicillin but without knowing other details about your DS, it would be hard to tell. Usually the second dose is the one to cause a reaction if there is going to be one, so look for a rash, shortness of breath, swelling etc. Any of that and I'd suggest you call NHS direct before giving another dose. Obviously shortness of breath or any breathing problems should be dealt with as an emergency, so allow yourself to have a low tolerance for that.

[PickledInAJar]

Oh, and regarding calpol, can you take the temperature and see how bad it is? Unless he's in pain, I'd only take it if the temperature indicates it is needed.

You mention he seems to be worse since seeing the DR, but I would suggest nighttime is always worse, and antibiotics don't usually improve anything until at least 24 hours in the system.

[BlinkAndMiss]

Thanks for your reply Pickled, the 1am dose was to get the penicillin into him as we only got it that evening. The dose is 4 times a day so every 6 hours. At the Dr his temp was 38C, his torso was burning last night but his fingers and toes were freezing.

In the end I phoned the out of hours dr to ask for advice, the GP who rang me back said that she was happy to write a prescription for an alternative. She advised that we give him the alternative as soon as we got it, so about midnight he had half of it and threw it all back up again. At that point we gave him Calpol and he went to sleep, I just kept a very close eye on him.

Back at the dr this morning he said to stop the penicillin and to see how he went because he seemed to have improved since he saw him yesterday. He's been better in himself and has only had Calpol, he's still unwell but seems to be ok without the penicillin and hasn't been sick at all.

I'm not exactly comfortable stopping the penicillin but I thought I'd give him 24 hours to improve without it, if he seems to go downhill we're straight back there and I'm going to ask for a different dr. It's difficult to know what to do in such circumstances. Is it safe to let him fight it off himself or is this just stupid?

[BlinkAndMiss]

Sorry, I should have said he's almost 2 years old and has had tonsillitis 2 other times. He was given amoxicillin on the previous occasions but not this time and I don't know why.

[PickledInAJar]

Poor little fella. I agree with you that amoxicillin would have been my choice but allergy wise it's the same family as penicillin. What replacement antibiotic were you given that was vomited back up the second time? I am guessing it would not be penicillin family so probably is nothing to do with the nausea.

For tonsillitis I would probably treat with antibiotics, not least because they are so small and the infection is easily spread to ears etc.

The good news is they tend to bounce back quite well at that age. Try to increase his fluids if you can, that always helps a bit. Good luck for a better night tonight!