6yo joint pain + rash on legs

[ImpYCelyn]

Weird one.

DS1 (6) complained yesterday of a sore knee at bedtime. He said it had hurt "a bit" since morning, but he'd been playing fine so I assumed delaying tactic. This morning he said it hurt worse, but he seemed okay and I just ignored it... I picked him up from school and he was limping, but also crying about how much it hurt. The teacher didn't mention he'd had problems during the day, so I thought it might just be a bid for TV time. BUT, when I was reading with him I noticed he now has a rash on his legs, pinprick spots. When I tried to take off his socks to see it better, he literally screamed when I did the one on the other leg, and said his ankle really hurt. A much better look shows that his knee does look a bit swollen over the kneecap it didn't this morning, but I still feel like a terrible parent, and the rash is on his bum, the backs of his thighs, and both sides of his lower legs. Not feet, and no higher. He needed the loo and I went to phone the gp for advice and I had to step into garden for phone signal, when I opened the door I could hear him sobbing from the pain of putting weight on the ankle. He now can't straighten his knee fully. He sobs if I try too (which I was doing to try to compare the size of the them).

On Friday I took him to the gp because he said it hurt when he wee and he claimed to have had red wee, although I never saw it. GP did urine dip and said he was fine. On Saturday he had a tummy ache, headache and a bit of a temp. He slept til 11am on Sunday after a late night, but perked up and was fine Sunday afternoon and Monday. And then nothing until a bit of knee pain yesterday evening. Now this.

He doesn't tend to overact illness or pain, he prefers the credit of being brave, and the only time I've seen him like this before was the day he broke his arm. 24 hours late I had to drag him out of a tree with a plaster cast... so I'm inclined to believe him. But it seems rapidly escalating and the rash is weird.

He's had a dose of neurofen and is quiet with both legs up. But moving them or putting weight in them sets him off again.

Any ideas?

Fingers crossed then! Because if it's as bad as the first his whole lower leg will be covered! I'll keep an eye on the elbow then. That also explains why his face is looking a bit puffy...

Thank you again

No problem. I'm glad I can help. You really are doing brilliantly and sounds like ds is too. Sorry you're all going through this. Sounds like your gp are on the ball, ours used an adult cuff on him the first few times until I put pressure on to use a pediatric cuff. Also good that he had bloods done, we never had that done so we Dont know if the cause was his tonsillitis the weekend before or a reaction to ibuprofen (which is a rarer cause but he had ibuprofen for the first time with tonsillitis so it could be that).

A lot of people swear by Omega 3 fish oil helping with aspects of HSP (I can't remember which though). Also avoiding things like strawberries and peanuts and excessive dairy products. This is all anecdotal from the Facebook group though, I've not seen it endorsed by any health professionals so make of that what you will.

The fact that he's not had any gastric symptoms is really good, the swelling and joint pain presents in 85% but the gastric is in 50% and appears to have a slightly stronger link to kidney issues. Gastric tends to show before the initial rash and then again a week after/before each subsequent flare

Great info again, thank you! DS is dairy free anyway, but I can easily avoid strawberries and peanuts for a while. I think his vitamins have omega 3, but I'll look into that a bit more!

@impycelyn how are you and Ds now? I sent you a pm. Not sure if you have seen it?Hope all is OK

Hi bubbles, sorry I'm on the app so didn't spot the pm! He seemed to turn a corner on Monday and had a real recovery day on Tuesday. Most of the swelling went down, no new rash, and a lot less pain. He went back to school yesterday and was fine. He said his legs ached a little this morning, but was fine after school. He wanted to go swimming which I allowed as I thought it might help get some of the stiff joints moving. He also wanted to go to Beavers, so on the understanding that he didn't run etc and that DH went too to keep an eye on him, he went. But I really regret that now. He got home and went straight to bed without eating as he was so tired (he'd had a sandwich before he went), and he was pale. As Beavers is no later than he's been up all week, and as he was taking it easy I thought it'd be okay, but it really wore him out. He woke up crying about an hour and a half later, saying his head ached. But he's been settled since, so hopefully he'll get a good night, and then we'll take it really easy for a while! I think I just felt sorry for him as he's hated not seeing anyone for a week, and was desperate to see his friends. But I should have out my foot down

Its hard getting a balance, I think really you did the right thing as I went the complete opposite, I didn't let D's do anything, no playing, no swimming,no bike riding, i told his school not to let him do pe in case it hurt his joints, told them to make him stay inside at break times in case of rough play. Poor boy was miserable because I was so over controlling. You seem to have a really good handle on things and did it with the best of intentions. Hope he feels better this morning.

Hi Impy, how are you and ds?

Any update impy?

@ImpYCelyn