Any advice for 17mth with sudden hives/rash all over? Am so scared..

[Luxmum]

Good morning,
I hope someone can help me with my poor DS. He is 17 months and usually full of energy, though for the last month he has had a cough that won?t go away. I?m bringing him to the Dr this week for this. My problem and concern is that on Sunday night, and again last night, he came out in angry hives all over his body and face. He didn?t eat anything different than usual (last night for example he had just eaten mashed potato and a petit filou and drunk water). They didn?t seem to be itchy, but looked horrid. We rushed him to the hospital on Sunday (we didn?t know what it was, and a friends baby of the same age had died the previous week, so we weren?t taking any chances) but within 30 minutes the hives had gone, and DS was having a ball running up and down the corridors. He was given antihistamine (sp?) drops, and sent home.
Is there anything I can do to avoid this rash, and what do you think caused it? He had just finished his dose of antibiotics for his cough, and hadn?t reacted against them at all. He hadn?t eaten or touched anything different..? I am worried for him and just wanted some advise on how to cope and prevent it happening again?
Thanks, I am soo worried.

Sounds like urticaria - it's really common in kids and is often triggered by a viral illness eg cough/cold/chicken pox etc. It comes and goes and is harmless but can take several days to stop completely. As long as there are no signs of serious allergy like tongue/lip swelling or wheeze he should be fine - get your GP to check him over today to put your mind at rest if you're worried.

HTH

Thanks, think it's that too - especially since he has the long term cough. I just googled it (never a sensible thing to do, but I was desperate). I will bring him to the Dr today to get it all sorted out.
I love your name by the way - Liath, our very beloved elkhound was called Liath (because it means grey in irish). Sorry to associate you with a dog, it's a roundabout compliment! Thanks for your help.

Yes certainly sounds like Urticaria. My ds sufferes with this and lots of different allergens bring him up with it, including certain plants,cold, hot, pressure, ingrediants in creams etc. . He is also anaphylactic to peanuts. The best thing would be to talk to your gp about your concerns and keep an eye on what he comes in to contact with incase this happenes again. You have to be exposed to something more then once to become allergic to it, so please take note of what he is eating or being exposed to to try to find the course. He has obviously had a reacton to something.
ANd as "liath" mentioned any signs of serious reaction(anaphylaxis), signs, as mentioned, swelling, rash on lips, tongue, wheezing etc, you must get him seen straight away, best by calling an ambulance. I am not a medical professional, so i suggest you talk to your gp. But it certainly sounds like an allergic reaction and next time it could be more serious. My ds had a reaction to peanuts in crunchy nut cornflakes. His also had the rash from head to toe but he was also wheezing & coughing, tummy ache etc, and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. Then next reaction he had after coming in to contact with peanut protein, was even more serious and resulted in him going in to Anaphylaxis shock. So it is very important that you take all the precausions you can. I hope i havent worried you unnecesarily but helped you in some way.

That's alright, Luxmum - I used to have a grey cat called Liath so called my MN self after her (goodness knows why, she was the most psychotic cat ever...)

Could be his immune system reacting to the cold/cough he's had.

DD had this before Christmas. She had a really bad cold and came out in hives all over her legs, arms and face. They would be really really bad for up to an hour, then vanish, then come back. Then she had one cold after another and they just kept on recurring. There was nothing new she'd eaten, no change in washing powder, was winter so she wasn't out rubbing up against weird plants or anything. I was backwards and forwards to the GP - they came to the conclusion that it was a reaction to whatever cold virus she had picked up. It went on for weeks and weeks, then it vanished, and touch wood, they haven't come back since even though she's had a couple of stinking colds.

My DD1 suffers from this - brought on by raspberries, pineapple and eye drops. They can appear a day or so after the offending thing has been eaten or touched and come and go over a week or so on different parts of her body. I have found that treating them with antihistamine as they appear doesn't get rid of them and we have to dose her regardless over 3 or 4 days. Getting hot makes them worse so they always appear to come up at bedtime,