DS had a severe allergic reaction?

[flagnogbagnog]

On Saturday my ds came out in a rash on his torso. He'd been playing with a friend and we thought it was heat rash. By the evening his front and back were covered and the itching was agony for him. I'd been giving him piriton and using an anti itch cream.

The following morning, after a sleepless night this rash spread very quickly all over his face, eyes, ears and then lips at which point I took him straight to a&e.

They took it very seriously and immediately got him on a drip and gave him medication. this very quickly helped calm the rash down somewhat, and temporarily stopped the itching. They kept referring to it as a 'severe allergic reaction'. And we went through what he had eaten and come into contact with to try and figure out what had caused it.

He was admitted to the children's ward where we've been for 24hrs and this rash has been coming back up and calming back down the whole time. It's moving around, sometimes on his body and back, then arms, legs and arm pits and pretty consistently on his face.

We were really quite scared yesterday as were the a&e doctors. We were told we'd be refered to the 'allergy clinic' and given an epi pen to come home with. However the doctor who saw him this morning and discharged him was really dismissive. He said without knowing what caused the reaction there was no point 'testing'. He clearly thought an epi pen was an over reaction even though he said it sounded like anafalactic shock (sp?).

I'm lost now as to what to do next. We've got steroids and piriton for the next few days and an appointment at the end of the week. I want to go back armed with a bit more confidence to say 'I want him refered to the allergy clinic' but does anyone know if this is feasable? Several doctors suggested a nut allergy whilst we there which I know can be serious. Alsotold by someone else that a second exposure to the problem can be worse.

Sorry for the long post, on my phone too so it won't let me scroll to check what I've written! I guess I'm asking, what would you do?

Sorry I just add that whereas this rash was quite small and not at all worrying, on the Sunday morning, 24hrs after it initially came up, it suddenly and very quickly went into hives and was severe.

My baby had something similar, the other way around. He had anaphylaxis then he was covered in a hideous itchy rash (urticaria). 2 months he went through it letting us treat it like exzema. Grr

Anyway, we too hit a brick wall with allergy 'specialist' so Ive asked to be referred to a different hospital.

Its very scary when you dont know what it is youre suppposed to avoid, we've been there. Im sorry you're going through it too.

If you're not happy with how its been left ask to go back, see a different doctor or different hospital.

Good luck.

Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry you had this too. You are right, I need to make sure they follow this through. He is so much better this evening which is wonderful but I have photos of how bad it got so I will keep them as ammunition!

Yes I have photos too. Hes smiling in them but my heart sinks when I see them and remember the pain and discomfort he had to go through and the many doctors misdiagnosing him.

How old is your ds?

He is 8. He seems much better today but the rash is still coming up here and there. I've decided on Friday I'm going to stamp my foot a bit and demand a referral to the allergy clinic.

Do you know what caused your dc's allergy?

Yes, for us it was a yoghurt. Then egg, then goats milk. We're expecting peanuts but we hope it'll stop there but you never know.

I hope you get some answers soon.

Hello

I read this last night and have been meaning to post a reply all day and am only just getting around to it - sorry.

Right, my DD has multiple food allergies and at Christmas 2010 she started to get the same sort of hives/ rash that you describe. She seemed to get it after eating even though she was eating food that I thought were 'safe'. She also seemed to get more hives/redness/rashes on her face when she was sleeping, on the side she was sleeping on. I gave her piriton and panicked like hell as I was so so scared that she was suddenly reacting to 'safe' foods. After a very upsetting week and loads of piriton, I finally managed to get through to her allergist. By this stage the piriton had stopped working, ie it wasn'ts ettling the rash, and her lips had also started to swell up, so I was seriously freaking out.

Because it was worse when she slept, I slept on the floor of her room and made her sleep under a sheet, as I thought the heat of her duvet was making it worse.

The first time her lips puffed up I took her to A&E and it was odd as by the time we got there it had settled. I wasn't sure if it was the effect of the piriton. Whilst we waited for couple of hours to be seen, the rash and swelling came up again and then settled and came back again. The rash also seemed to move. A&E told me it was an allergic reaction and to go home and keep giving the piriton. I remember crying and saying 'but it's not working'

The odd thing about this episode was that the rash did come and go which I hadn't ever really seen with her other reactions before.

Anyway, the allergist asked me (when we finally spoke) if she'd had a cough or a cold. DD had had a cough a few weeks earlier but nothing to write home about and it seemed to clear up by itself.

The allergist explained that it wasn't an allergic reaction. He said that when the body produces antibodies to a virus, sometimes the mast cells under the skin that realease histamine which causes the rednes and hives, react to these. This causes histamine to be released and therefore you see hives, redness etc. I asked him about the lip swelling and he said that was the same sort of thing and nothing to worry about. He said that this is called Virally induced urticaria and that Piriton isn't as good for it as it's not that long lasting. He told us to give DD a non sedating antihistamine. We had neoclarityn so he said that was great. This was good as DD gets very tired on piriton. He also told us that this could take a few weeks to get over and to keep her topped up for at least 2 weeks. In the end it took 3.5 weeks before I felt that she didn't need it. I reduced the dose to once a day, at night, and she was definitely not having any more hives appear after a few days so I cut down to a half spoon and then none. The fcat that she had hives and redness on the side of her face that she slept on was because pressure can also aggravate the mast cells so I needn't have made DD sleep under a sheet and it made sense that if she turned over, the redness and hives would go after a while.

I asked him how he knew she wasn't reacting to her foods as she seemed to get a flare up after eating and he said that as the rash was reacting to pressure and moving about, it sounded like it was due to fact that she's had a virus.

He said that they get alot of referrals from A&E where the doctors fail to check for a virus. Often, he said, they see people with no history of allergies and when he sees them in clinic there are no signs of allergic reactions during their tests.

He also said that this virally induced urticaria can affect anyone and not just those with allergies.

SOrry for the long post, but I hope this helps. Definitely ask to be referred for testing but as the rash was on the move, it sounds very much like what my DD had and although she has allergies, it wasn't actually an allergic reaction that time. DD has had this once again after that episode, and I knew what it was because the rash moved. Also, if you find the rash is still there after 24 - 48 hours of taking the piriton, then maybe it might be worth asking your GP for a longer lasting antihistamine

Take care and sorry for any silly typos.

I've never met another parent of a child with urticaria so its refreshing to know that we are not alone on what seems like a never ending battle!!

Another different experience to add to the mix.

My 2YO DS has multiple food allergies and we carry Epi-Pens. Last autumn I got him up from his nap and he had what looked like hives on his legs. I gave him Benadryl (which is what we carry for the first line of defence for his food allergies - we aren't in the UK and Piriton isn't available here) but in the time it took to work the hives moved around and were over one side of his torso and down one arm. It was really odd as any food related reactions he has had have been almost exclusively on his face, neck and chest. Plus i knew exactly what he had eaten during that day and it had all been at home. I took a picture and called his doctor. After emailing the picture to them they asked me to bring him in. He concluded it wasn't food allergy related but was a viral rash caused by a streptococcal infection. The strep was confirmed by a positive throat culture they took from him. Potentially serious but I was relieved it wasn't food related! He was given antibiotics and after 2 doses the hives went.

I have had this since Tuesday! I have severe reactions intermittently between 13-19 and then nothing for the next 12 years till after ds1 was born. This is the worst I have had since in my teens. I have not slept properly since Tuesday. I am on 30mg of prednisolone and the max dose of piriton (6 per day) and it is improving, but I am up now too itchy to sleep. I do feel for your poor ds! It's not got worse each time, if that's any reassurance. Also, now you can recognise it, you can deal with it immediately with anti-histamine and it will hopefully be quite rare that it gets this bad again. I am fairly confident with mine, so although this time it was on my face and even on my lips and tongue, I knew it doesn't go mad that quickly ie. it takes a couple of hours to get to 'full blown' in any one area, so I did not go in to a and e, just stayed very aware of my breathing and it was fine.

In my teens I had the epi pen but no testing. We thought it was this, that and the other. Recently, I have realised that I think it's certain viruses which cause it in me as I always have a cold. Perhaps it is very hard to narrow it down with the test, ie. he could come up that he is fine, but it could be to something quite rare if this is the first time he's had it. I imagine if it was food he would have had it before. My gut feeling also is that it takes certain conditions to be 'right' for me to get it ie. if I am a bit run down and then this and then that and that, otherwise I would certainly have it a lot more.

Just read your post mumat39. That makes so much sense and is EXACTLY the reaction I have always got. I am going to see if I can get a different anti-histamine tomorrow. Maybe clarityn then.

Hi MerryMarigold

Sorry to hear how uncomfortable you are. It might be worth speaking to your GP about this as they may have a view and can also prescribe antihistamines which could save you alot of money.

If it is chronic/acute urticaria, then I think it's definitely worth asking for a non sedating longer lasting antihistamine. I think they are sometimes called new generation anti histamines. Trouble is that you might find that they might not all work for you so you may have to try a few. Also, have you been allergy tested? Maybe that is something for your GP too. If you're getting facial swelling, and tongue swelling, it might be good to eliminate allergies. My DD's allergist said that urticaria caused by a virus, doesn't cause anaphylaxis, but it's still a pretty terrifying thing to go through if you do suffer with facial swelling. If it was allergy related then you would definitely be given a couple of epipens. I don't know if they're given for urticaria.

Just had anoter thought. It's hayfever season again so could it be that? I get hayfever and have had it for as long as I can remember and the last few days, my eyes have been uncomfortable, my throat feels sore and my nose is tickly. Could it be pollen related? DP get's really itchy hands and a nettle rash type rash all over his hands after cutting grass, so I know that can cause skin reactions too.

Good Luck with it and hope you find some relief soon and that it also clears up soon. take care.

SuburbanMomma, how interesting that you know which virus caused your DS's urticaria. Our DD was never tested and it always feels a bit uncomfortable giving her medication for so long when we don't really know what the cause was. I'm sure her allergist was right but it would make things clearer know what the cause was, if that makes sense?

It's interesting how different care is in different countries. I'm glad that your Ds's symptoms cleared. I know some people can get urticaria for much longer than our DD had it and that must be so so difficult as it always seems so uncomfortable.

Thanks mumat. I am a lot better now, and have slept the last 2 nights, hurray!!! I tried the one-a-day anti-histamine and it seems to be doing fine, though the reaction is on it's way out after just a week. It's actually cheaper to buy the anti-histamines over the counter than a prescription charge. I'm not sure I got tongue swelling, it was a bit tingly, but my lips and chin certainly swelled, for a while. Those areas did not recur like the rest. It's so rare that I get these reactions, I'm not sure it's worth testing. It's been 3 years since the last 'bad' one (that one lasted 6 weeks and I'd just had twins, I'm sure there are some hormonal links too). This time the itching was worse than it has ever been though, especially towards the end, when the rash looked better but the itching was just in another league. I feel very sorry for kids who have to deal with this.

My friends DD has a virus with viral rash atm that does look like DS Hives. I gave her some puriton to stop the itching but didn't clear the rash. She is very poorly with it though.

However when DS had a reaction like this we were given epi-pens despite them not knowing what he's allergic too - because he kept having small reactions to things. He does have high eosinophil count though which indicates allergy.

I would be asking for copies of any bloods they took of your DS, they should have checked IgE and eosinophil if they suspected allergy as well as CRP for infection.

They have no idea what my DS is allergic too and is about to have blood tests for coeliacs disease as well - so no - you don't need to know what a child is allergic to to have epi-pens.

I would be asking for copies of any bloods they took of your DS, they should have checked IgE and eosinophil if they suspected allergy as well as CRP for infection.

Youarekidding, hello, what are eosinophils and what does CRP mean? I don't think our DD has ever been tested for those? She's had Rast and Skin Prick tests. She's 4 1/2 so are these something for older kids?

Thanks in advance.

eosinophils ( I think) are something to do with white blood cells that if raised can indicate allergic disease/ coeliacs amongst other things.

CRP - C-reactive protein - is a test for inflammation. It's only really used to show severe bacterial infection but can be raised with any inflammation. It shouldn'tbe raised due to allergy alone.

The RAST tests are tests to show how the IgE is reacting to certain allergens. These are specific allergy tests.

Youarekidding, thankyou .

We're 4 years into our allergy journey and there's so much I still don't know.

No problems. I only know about eosinophils because DS' IgE was norma andhis RAST's were negative to the main allergens that have been in foods he's reacted to.

It said about them being raised on the consultants letter and because of the bowel problems he has he is being tested for coeliacs because the raised eosinophils could indicate this.

All we know about DS is his father also had random anaphylaxic reactions as a child and because DS has had 1 he carries an epi-pen for safety. I'm very lucky to have such a great pead Cons.