HSP

[tiger66]

Has anyone had a child with HSP? Would love to hear your experiences as medics are being not overly helpful. My ds 6 was diagnosed 2 weeks ago but is struggling with ongoing abdominal pain. He has managed 2 days at school in 2 weeks. He goes back for a day which seems to wipe him out for 3 days.

Hi, my 5yo DD has HSP at the moment. It started two weeks ago, she had a bad week with swollen hands and feet and then severe stomach cramps and vomiting. Back at school and seemed fine last week. On Sunday had cramps again but not as severe. This evening I noticed she has the rash on her legs again. I wonder if I should have sent her just for half days last week, perhaps it was too much. Have you had any treatment for the abdo pain? I've read they can take steroids but there can be side-effects so it's a balancing act as to whether it's worth it.

Cushion monster, thanks for replying. Sorry to hear about your dd, it's hard to see them struggling isn't it?

hello! there was a thread on here about this just a few days ago. Sorry to hear your kids have hsp at moment. My dd (5) had this about 7 months ago. It's been on my mind this week as she's had a bad virus with some leg pain, but fingers crossed , so far the symptoms haven't returned or got worse.

My experience was that dd developed acute leg pain, and then the next day the spots came which covered her legs. The leg pain, rash and swelling lasted for about 7 days, it was intermittent and much worse in mornings and evenings. She went back to school on the 7 th day and managed OK on full days, but complained a lot of stomach pain.

Since then she has been fine in terms of pain etc, other than this week. She does seem to get a lot of bugs though and had had tonsillitis twice. The doctors said to do weekly urine tests at first ((I had to sit in my hands to stop myself doing it every day!) and regular bp. She is now on 3 monthly follow up, so far all wee has been clear. Good luck x

I really hope your experiences are uncomplicated and things improve, I found the whole experience very unsettling, particularly as when in the middle of it you have no idea when they will be better.

Did you send your dd to school with abdominal pain? I don't know whether to or not. Wasn't sure if it would make it worse.

I did send her to school with abdo pain, but I don't think her pain was really severe. I did have a chat with teacher and said I would have a very low threshold for sending her home, and if she was upset or complaining of a lot of pain I wanted to know so I could get her.

To be fair, my dd, doesn't suffer in silence (bless her), so I knew she would be letting them know if she did have a stomach ache. The teacher was great and with some gentle distraction she was generally ok. She was a lot more emotional and symptomatic when she was with me.

I found it quite hard to assess as I became very used to her saying her tummy hurt for the few weeks after the rash. But the next moment she was off running about, and she was also eating. The practicalities are a nightmare though, my work is the other side of London, so I felt very uneasy dropping her when she was maybe not right. So I reallly feel for you.

I did print the school off some info about HSP and have a word with a senior teacher. I was paranoid they thought I was being a bit over dramatic, but I thought it was important they knew what to look out for, and also explain the horrific rash.

I didn't send DD in with abdominal pain as I thought she'd rather be at home. Easier for me to make that decision though as I work part time and have family who can help. She's been doing half days this week just because she had the rash again and she doesn't really look 100%, although she hasn't complained of tummy ache since the weekend, so I'd rather be on the safe side and let her rest a bit more than usual. It's very difficult to know what's best.

My sister had this when she was 9 yrs ish - she had to take a whole term off school (they took work into hospital for her). She recovered and no problems since but very worrying at the time