To be concerned? Intense itching from DS

[sweetmotherog]

DS is just shy of 2. In the last week or so he's had bouts of itching the palms of his hands. Really, really itching.

In the last 48 hours it's gotten a lot worse. He won't stop itching them!

No itching anywhere else.

There is absolutely no signs of anything on his palms/hands. Nothing.

He's never had the faintest hint of eczema or dry skin. His pals are completely smooth and look normal.

The itching has got so intense he's now really upset and it's like he's crying. The itching is now frantic and looks distressing. Again, absolutely nothing there.

He is his usual self otherwise. No distressing situations etc so I doubt it's stress related.

AIBU to be concerned? Should I try for an emergency GP appointment?

That comes with blistering though

Weirdly, it didn't for DS. DH got them though, but only after a while.

@italianfiat Nobody ever goes to the GP and gets sent away with painkillers/antibiotics/antihistamines and a wait and watch approach on Mumsnet, it's straight to the blood tests, referrals and investigations.

What, wait and watch while a possibly serious liver condition worsens? Good diagnostic skills from a GP should, where possible, obviate the need for lazy prescribing and they should ask the right questions to try to determine which ailment it is rather than guessing, watching and waiting.

And frankly, quite a few GPs from whom I have received treatment have been negligent.

Call doctor. I had obstetric cholestasis and sympton was itching palms. Now your little DS obviously doesn't have that but I had lots of liver function tests/ liver ultrasound after my baby was born. All turned out fine but it was taken seriously and followed up on.

@Piglet89

I think you misread my post.

Well I spoke to the GP 48 hours ago who advised antihistamine. Tried and not working.

Last night he woke up screaming, absolutely inconsolable. Only went back to sleep because of exhiasgkon. He never wakes up or cries in the night.

I'm really concerned for him. He woke up itching like something was eating him alive. I don't know what to do

Can I go back to the GP already? He seemed pretty sure it's just allergy related etc.

No known allergies though and again, nothing has changed regarding his fabric conditioner, shampoo, bubble bath. It's just his palms, literally

Can I go back to the GP already?

Yes. I would definitely go back.

Poor kid! Definitely back to the GP.

Could it be liver related? That's what would be worrying me.

Sounds awful for him. I would bring him back today to GP and get to the bottom of it

Yes absolutely go back, poor wee thing it sounds awful :(

Go back and ask about possibility of liver involvement in causing this. Poor little boy and poor you.

I haven't been to the doctor yet but Iv had something like this on one palm. It looked fine until it was wet (like after a shower,dishes) it was only then that you could see a change in the skin where the itching was. It is hard to explain what it looked like but when wet the changed bits were easy to see because they looked white compared to the rest of the skin but you could only see it when the skin had been soaked, a quick hand wash wasn't enough to show anything.

It didn't spread so I assumed it may be something like contact dermatitis.

I should have gotten it checked out and if it had been my child instead of just me I would have.

Like others I'd go to the doctor, could be an allergy, hand foot and mouth, an underlying issue. If he goes to daycare he could have picked up scabies.

Doctor said before definitely not hand, foot and mouth, and not scabies - As he said you'd see both by now, if not within a few days of itching starting.

I'm not really sure what to do today since I'm not at home and I'm in London so cannot Access my GP surgery

I had incredibly itchy hands (like you've described with your DS) that kept me awake all frigging night. It was horrendous, indescribably itchy. Two nights of it.

Couple of days later I had HFM. DD had it too.

Does he have any mouth ulcers? Lack of appetite?

manag DS has had it for about two weeks now x

hIt's just his palms, literally

^^

Same here. Just the palms. After a couple of days they were red raw from the scratching. I got the highest strength hydrocortisone from the pharmacist and tbh it didn't really make much difference.

No lack of appetite or mouth ulcers.

He is eating normally, just seems very uncomfortable all the time and often very tearful (sometimes goes into hysterics) because of it

Hmm 🤔

Sounds more like an allergy

DD sometimes gets itchy palms (but not to the extent you described) and we think she has a slight allergy to sugar - we reduced her sugar and she definitely itches less (she has eczema though)

He doesn't have a fever?

Definitely no eczema or even dry skin. No fever either

I’d call nhs direct or whatever it’s called now , I’ve always found them really helpful .
Just tell them what the gp has said and that its worse and you think it’s something else .
Hopefully they’ll be able to help

This is probably TMI, but I get a type of eczema called Pompholyx. I know I'm getting a flare up because my hands, especially palms and between my fingers, get very itchy. You can't see anything right away, but then tiny tiny blisters form, almost pinprick sized, then they get bigger and eventually I get very dry, raw patches.

Point being, maybe that's what your DC has... ?

You could try calamine lotion (but don't use on dry skin! And check it's suitable for babies) as that really helps my itching. I get mine from Boots and it's cheap. Then aqueous cream on dry skin.

Hope he feels better soon!

Any improvement, @sweetmotherog? Is your DS feeling better?

Poor wee lamb. I know it's a stab in the dark op but I see from the picture you posted, he had a plastic coloured bottle. Could it be the dye or plastic on that? Is it a new bottle?