6-year-old with allergies suddenly waking at night itching, snuffling, wheezing ... why?

[imaginaryfriend]

My dd has had severe allergies for a number of years, these include quite severe asthma, she's on a strong inhaler 2 puffs twice daily and has to have an epipen for a major peanut / cashew nut / sesame seed allergy. She used to suffer a little with eczema but that's been fine for ages. She has a strong allergy to house dust mites and has medically approved pillow, duvet and mattress covers on her bed. There are no carpets or other heavy furnishings in her room and we don't have any pets.

However over the last month she's waking every night crying and itching on her tummy, hips and back and her nose is really blocked up. She's a little wheezy but nothing too bad, a puff of ventolin eases it immediately.

I haven't changed washing powder or anything at all that I can think of.

All I've been able to do is give her some antihistamines and use Benedryl cream and wait for it to ease off. But I'm left wondering why it's happening. In the morning she's fine, no sign of any dry skin or itchy patches.

I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this.

bump

Hi imaginary - DD has a very similar allergy pattern and always suffers most at night. I was told this was due to the fact that their temperature naturally goes up at night hence the exasibated (?sp) snufflyness, itching etc.

Do you have a radiator on in her room? Is she wearing cotton only PJs? Has she upped her diary intake recently? Or, have you started to give her kiwi, soya, lentils or similar in her evening meal?

Hi Blue - the odd thing is that this never happened until the last month or so and dd was fine when we went to stay at my mum's over Christmas where there's no dust mite protection on the bed and my mum has a dog!

There is a radiator in her room but we never have it on at night and only infrequently during the day. She always wears cotton only pJs. No change in diet.

I cannot see that exposure a month ago could be having an effect now but it does seem an odd coincidence. Could one of her soft bedtime toys have gotten into contact with the dog?

Sorry I probably explained that badly. I meant that she was fine at my mum's despite having been itching / snuffling at night at home. She got better while at my mums.

Oh I see, how odd. Could she actually be allergic to the bedding you have? These things can develop and i have seen terrible reactions to sofas of all things.
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Could the mattress cover not be 'breathable'. Although they are medically approved perhaps they are just not right for your DD. How about putting on a simple cotton sheet and using a regular duvet and pillow for a few nights - what have you got to loose if she is poorly with the bedding? It is really all I can think of. I would try another weekend at your Mums or change to regular bedding and test to see how she reacts, it does not sound like she could get any worse, poor little pickle, how upsetting for you all.

I wonder if the fibers have 'loosend' up in the wash perhaps? Are the any organic fibers in the filling that could be linked to nuts etc?

Thanks for the suggestions Blue, it's definitely worth considering. She's had the bedding for a long while now, over 2 years, so it's curious that she would suddenly become allergic to it.

One thing I wondered is that we have quite a lot of condensation on our windows and if that would make a difference to the atmosphere in the room?

Maybe so, perhaps the condensation is affecting the bedding? Perhaps it is getting damp inside hence the irritation? A bit like nappy rash?

It's possible isn't it? I did see the GP about it and she had no explanation for the itching but told me to give dd a steroid nasal spray at night and dose of antihistimine before bed. I've done that but I'm not happy using the nasal spray as it's such a strong steroid and I've been told it can thin the nasal lining if used over a long period of time. I've been hoping to try to keep her allergy free without all that stuff.

I know what you mean, we bounce from steroid cream to steroid spray to ventolin to god knows what with DD and I hate it.

I do believe you can destroy your nasal lining, mine is shot and i am sure it was too many nose drops when I was a kid!

I would try the bedding thing, it is very possible. Perhaps the lining has become damp and dare I say it even a bit mouldy? I don't want to make you feel bad but these things can happen without you even knowing it. Perhaps spores are causing the issue? Worth a try with cotton again maybe?

Let me know? I would be really interested as we have a special duvet on DDs bed and she is always snuffly in the mornings, I might have to start practising what I preach! God forbid, whatever next?!?

Thanks Blue, I will experiment this week and see what happens.

Most welcome, hope she gets better soon.

Thanks.

Any other opinions on this?

OK - scraping the barrel for ideas but here goes - the condensation makes me wonder if there could be mould spores? Sometimes you get mould behind furniture, especially near skirting boards, if you have them. Or perhaps you're using something different to wipe the windowledges to avoid mould?

One of the soap powders changed their formulation and a lot of people complained. Think that may have been Persil? Are you being a good ecologist and washing at lower temperatures, which may not kill dust mite? If you vacuum with a Dyson you may want to wash the filter in the vacuum.

We have an air fitter and OH uses the nasal allergy device from Lloyds. It's a cheaper version of medinose. Bit nervous about that for children as the long term effects aren't known but it's very good.

My ds did this for years and we never found out what it was..BUT..one night I tried rubbing his chest and also his back with lavender oil just before he went to sleep.
He went through the night to our great relief.
Don't have a clue why it worked but we used it on and off most nights, especially if he seemed a bit sniffly. One theory is that it helps you to sleep deeply so maybe he just didn't get disturbed by the itching etc;
I don't know but thought I'd pass it on to you
All the best, I remember how frustrating it was. He's completely outgrown it now though fyi!

There is a little mould on the windowledge. I clean it off with soapy water and always dry it thoroughly. I wondered about that too. I feel quite snuffly in dd's room - I tend to have allergies too.

I don't use Persil, only Fairy non-bio sensitive stuff. This week I bought new covers and bedding for dd and she's still snuffly.

I'll definitely try some lavender oil though.

We put a drop of lavender oil in DDs bath and it keeps her eczema at bay. Same idea i guess?

Yes, it probably is the same idea. I will be purchasing some tomorrow!