To be panicking about my child?

[worriedmummy29]

Sorry for goady thread title but I am genuinely so scared and worried abiut DD4. Long time poster but have had to set up new account due to email being hacked.

I have health anxiety about my children. Also diagnosed with PTSD due to seeing DD1 then 8 weeks stop breathing. I also have severe anxiety and depression so could use a little perspective.

DD4 broke out in severe hives Tuesday evening. We took her to the chemist who recommended piriton. This cleared the hives well. The next morning she flared up again only far more severely including a lot of swelling on hands and lips and dr referred us straight to A&E. A&E gave her steroids which should cover her for 3 days and advised we continue with piriton until Sunday.

Since this she has flared up 3 more times, the other two not being overly bad but I took her back to the GP as it wasn't clearing with the piriton and that was something I was told to look out for. GP was baffled that the flare ups are continuing despite medication but couldn't advise further as she is as medicated as possible. He did provide steroids to be given if she suddenly takes a turn for the worst and advised we call an ambulance if this happens, needless to say I am so concerned.

Her flare ups are continuing today, it comes and goes with the medication but presents differently each time, i.e in different areas of the body. The latest is all over her face and her eyes are swelling up but through it all she's fine in herself and no issues breathing thank god.

We have no idea what's causing this, nothing new has been introduced to her food/detergent etc, there have been no changes whatsoever so without knowing what's causing it, we can't prevent it. I am hoping it could be viral? But drs have no idea. If it continues by Sunday we are to book her in for allergy testing but I am so scared that she'll have a worse reaction.

I know your not DRs but since the DRs I've spoken to can shed no light on it and I'm just to wait it out unless it becomes an emergency situation, I was wondering if this has happened to anyone or if there are any ideas how to help her? I have scrubbed every inch of the house and washed all fabric etc. Sorry this is so long.

DD had this with Covid. it comes and goes with the medication but presents differently each time, i.e in different areas of the body. The latest is all over her face and her eyes are swelling up but through it all she's fine in herself and no issues breathing thank god.

That's interesting, she has had a cough but it's been a couple of weeks now and she had been on antibiotics. I'll see if I can get a test for her. Thank you. I'm just truly hoping it's working it's way out of her body. I can't bear the thought that I'm allowing continuous exposure to something that's harming her and I feel so useless.

Honestly, you need to monitor DD’s breathing. If you hear any coughing or wheezing, or see her scratching at her throat or mouth you need to call an ambulance immediately. I am concerned that she may develop anaphylaxis if she is covered in hives already. I would also write down everything she eats in the next few days and see if she seems to react to anything.

@Fraaahnces thank you, yes we're monitoring her closely. She is absolutely fine in herself, playing and chatting even during the worst flare ups. She's had a cough for a couple of weeks so we can't really go by that which is frustrating, I did mention it to the Dr, the consultant and the GP yesterday though, all of whom told me her chest was clear and no sign of anaphylaxis. They told me to watch for any swelling in the mouth area or any wheezing etc instead but obviously if the cough gets worse that's another thing to look out for. I feel so on edge and terrified that the worst will happen but I can't do anything in the meantime apart from stay on top of her doses. It's awful.

Poor DD and poor you.

Has she had a virus or an infection or anything recently? Sometimes just the body's immune system clearing the infection can send itself into overdrive and cause hives - usually as the infection is on its way out, or even after you think the person has recovered. If she's had a cough or a cold or something, that could be it - and if so, then hopefully it shouldn't last more than a week or so.

I'm not a doctor obviously, but I have twice experienced something very similar to this when I was in my late teens. As it was 30 years ago I can't remember what they gave me for it - but I do remember having horrible hives and puffy eyes and feeling incredibly grumpy about it, and over the course of about a week I remember it subsiding and then bloody coming back again a day later, which was very annoying!

I can see why you're worried but try not to be - sometimes these things don't even have an obvious explanation! If it doesn't stop then it sounds like allergy testing would be a good idea but honestly, I'd bet you my last quid that it's nothing too serious xxx

I know a child that reacts to this with strawberries. Took years to diagnose and only when they went strawberry picking that they realised as he was covered in hives. Things like Summer Fruits squash containing strawberries gave them a few too.

Someone I work with has mentioned having hives due to a build up of histamine in the body. It's high in certain foods like tomatoes, so might be worth googling low histamine diet so you can could reduce these temporarily. My own DD3 has had a few cases of hives all over her body in the last couple of months, but no swelling, and we finally worked out it was caused by a pre-made tomato sauce we had used to make pizzas.

This happened to my daughter as a teenager. We were on holiday in Switzerland.

She was prescribed steroids which eventually worked. The doctors said that it was probably triggered by a virus but in a lot of cases they never find what triggered it.

It went after maybe a week? She had lots of creams to soothe the skin as well as steroids.

This happens to my DD with strawberries, starts as hives everywhere then settles with piriton but flares up on different parts of her body for about a week. The GP originally thought it was due to antibiotics so didn't even think about the strawberries until it happened again x

Thank you to you all for taking the time to read and respond, I can't explain my gratitude. She has had an infection, about two weeks ago now she had a fever and a cough with a sore throat. She'd had an ongoing cold for a week prior so took her to the Dr who prescribed antibiotics but said it could be viral. She finished the week long course on Saturday so maybe it could be connected? DD is rather a fussy eater so tends to only eat the same foods on rotation so it's definitely nothing new in her diet or home life as no changes have been made to anything in the house. Interesting that she may have had a build up so I'll definitely look into that too. Yes so hoping it's just something viral working it's way out. Her flare ups are happening outside of the house too and before she's even eaten anything. She only drinks water or fruit shoots and she hasn't had any of the latter in over a month. I just wish I could help and I hate the thought of her suffering indefinitely if we have to wait for allergy testing. Also terrified to let her out of my sight but I can't keep her off school forever.

The thing is with allergies they can build up over time, so you can just become allergic to something that has never caused a problem in the past.

Also you say you haven't changed detergent or anything, but have you checked for the dreaded 'new and improved' wording? Detergent, soap, shampoo etc

It might be worth keeping a food diary as well as things like when she has a bath etc to see if anything shows a correlation with the hives appearing.

Could be a daft question but one of the reasons my GP thought it was after effects of antibiotics was because she'd only ever had a course of 5 days before and this time it was a 7 day course. Was yourDD on them for longer this time at all? Also is she at school/nursery? My DD is very fussy at home but will eat anything at nursery, she's younger so I get told what she's eaten which is where I realised the strawberry's from x

I dread to think if she's suddenly developed an allergy, it could be so many things! I'll keep a record but the issue at the moment is the flare ups are so regular that I can't pin down what's causing them if that makes sense. I need the hives to go so that I can try different things and see if one of them sets them off again iyswim because the constant reccurence makes it impossible, they only go for a coupke of hours max and she coukd have had nothing to eat in the time it flares up again. Just checjed the detergent and all products we use and there's no mention of 'new and improved' though that was a really good thought.

She has been on the same antibiotics for 7 days once before, last year when she had strep so I wouldn't have thought it was that but you never know. I'll keep a list of all ideas and keep track what she's eating etc so I can show the Dr if we do have to go back again. Thank you so much everyone.

My Mum gets a really itchy rash with some ABs. That just started randomly - not had a problem before.
However, if the ABs were finished on Saturday and the rash didn't start until the Tuesday, I wouldn't have thought that they would be the problem.

Check if there are strawberries in the fruit shoots. You could ask for allergy skin tests to be done and they test all the main ones. This will take out the guess work.

Viral rash?
My eldest ds had this - it was baffling...the welts/hives moved around his body

Thank you so much everyone. I'm checking ingredients in everything so I can make a note, though I still have no clue how I'll be able to tell what's causing the hives when they only disappear for about an hour or two max. Still praying it's viral and will just resolve itself!