piriton

[Katsma]

Hi everyone, never posted here before but am hopeful you may have some good advice for me.

Yesterday I fed my 7m DD egg for the first time, causing an instant reaction in the form of an extreme rash, red and raised, wherever the egg had been in contact with her face. She fortunately seemed to not like it, and I don't think she swallowed any. Having scared me to death, I phoned the doctor and described the symptoms and he prescribed an epipen.

Today, she has developed a severe nappy rash, which extends all over her torso, up to her neck, front and back. This seems to be really uncomfortable for her and she is scratching it, making it worse.

Question is, do I give her piriton or let the rash go of its own accord? Have googled it and people are saying it causes extreme drowsiness and loss of appetite. Not wanting to make her even more miserable, any advice?

Not sure but I don't think Piriton is suitable for under 1's.

Piriton is not recommended for children under 12m...!
I would take her to a GP to see if they can prescribe something to ease the itching, etc....tbh, when they ahve a bad itchy rash things like loss of appetite or drowsiness really are irelevant, unless it would be a permanent medication, but that is just my personal opinion!

Oh, and it also says on the side of the bottle that it's not for babies under 1, although the pharmacist sold it to me knowing she was only 7m???

I am surprised at that pharmacist, tbh...

Try some calomine lotion that should help with the itching but I'd also take her to see the gp as well.

OH, am just thinking and I can't recall any antihistamin suitable for under ones...btu got an inkling that they then often give Medised, which has an anthistamin in it, aswell as Paracetamol

as bagpuss says it's from 12 months on the label, so you shouldn't do it without medical advice. Perhaps a call to NHS direct?

I've never noticed it being drowsy inducing or causing loss of appetite, and it's very effective.

Hope your dd picks up

Bath in bi carb of soda is meant to ease itching.

Pharmacist also said to keep epipen in fridge. Says on packaging do not refrigerate?

Any idea how long rash will last?

My DD had an allergic reaction to egg at 8 months. I did take her to the GP and he did prescribe Piriton although he had a good look at one of his medical books first and she did have a smaller dose than normal. When I went to the pharmacy to pick it up the pharmacist did query it and say it wasn't normal. I think the GP needs to look at the symptoms anyway

I agree that the doc should take a look, but he just said he would refer me to a paediatrician at the hospital. No idea how long that's going to take!

I sat with her all afternoon stopping her sleeping in case she developed any difficulty breathing.

Have googled like mad and it seems egg allergy commonly goes hand in hand with others. Will be terrified to give her anything new now.

I've given my ds piriton twice now (hes still under one). He had an allergic reaction to egg and cream - facial swelling both times the first time i phoned my friend who works in the childrens hospital and she spoke to a doctor who confirmed that if i took him into hospital they would just give him priton so it was ok to do that myself. Also he said they used to alter the dose depending on the weight of the baby but now they just give the dose recommended for one year olds (unless your baby is very young i think).

I mentioned it to two hvs and my gp and they all said this was the correct thing to do, second time i gave it i phoned NHS 24 afterwards to see if i should do anything else and the doctor i spoke to said then that she would have been giving priton if she'd had to come out. DS didn't seem bothered by any of the side effects, just had a nice long nap and woke up looking back to normal.

Hope your DD is feeling better soon.

my ds had an anaphylatic reaction to egg at nine months and has piriton and epi-pens since. He was perscribed 2.5 ml every 4 hours. Hes 2.5 now and has got various allergies so i would try and get referred for allergy testing.

DD2 had a similar reaction to egg at about 9m.
she is only allergic to egg yolk and only lightly cooked egg, so scrambled/quiche/omelette. fine with cake etc.

has had allergy tests and they have said she will just need piriton if she comes into contact again, but it is an easy one to avoid and likely she will grow out of it.

anyway, i just wanted to share a positive story as this time last year i was imagining she was going to be allergic/anaphylactic to all sorts.

by the way, i did give her a BIG spoon of piriton at 9m when she had the reaction. Doctor said i did the right thing.

by accident my child was overdosed with pirtion first time they had a bad reaction. When we finally got to see a consultant he said just as well you did. We had an adult epipen before the weight guide on the leaflet. I wouldn't recommend giving anything to a baby without medical advice UNLESS their breathing is affected - then their life is at risk and an overdose of piriton might buy you a little time.

Epipens are not kept in the fridge. Check it hasn't gone cloudy, if it has it need replacing.

Thanks everyone for your responses. We've since had a visit to A&E where she's been monitored to eliminate any other causes of the awful rash. They concluded that the cause was severe egg allergy.

As for the Piriton - they said it was okay to use on a child under 1 if they're having a mild reaction to something. They said that if you administer it yourself, to make sure that you remember the dose and time administered in case the condition worsens and you need to present at A&E. Also to remember time of any epipen usage.

We've been referred to a childrens dietician to help with an egg-free diet, and for allergy testing very soon. Am currently lovin' the NHS!!