Mottled skin and blue lips/hands

[pharmacoco]

Any ideas on this one please wise parents?
My son is 14 months old, when he had just turned 12m he had his first 'episode'. That day he had eaten, slept and drank well, then suddenly he turned on me. He went quite vacant, his skin mottled, his lips and hands went blue and he began to shiver his lips. I took him to A+E (who were fantastic) they suspected sepsis, his temp and blood sugar was borderline hypo. He was given a dose of IV antibiotics, fluids and Ibuprofen. 20 mins later he was his usual self. They excluded sepsis, diagnosed tonsillitis and discharged us with oral antibiotics.
Two weeks later, the same thing happened, blue skin etc. This time I gave him Ibuprofen and by the time I'd arrived at A+E in my car, it had resolved so I drove him home without being seen.
This weekend a trusted family member minded my son and the same thing happened. Being rightly concerned they took him to A+E, where he had ibuprofen and was discharged 6 hours later with a viral infection.
The doctors were shown images and videos of how my son was, they were not concerned and feel it's how my sons body reacts when it's trying to cool down.
Any ideas / advice or experiences on these episodes most welcome.

My now 17 year old used to get blue lips and nails and mottled skin before/ at beginning of an illness as a toddler. Like you I took him to A and E the first time.
It turned out to be just what he did, and he grew out of it around age 4 or 5. The doctor said sometimes their blood goes to their organs and they can get a bit "peripherally shut down" and it wasn't sinister as long as they were breathing fine etc. But that it was sensible to get medical help if I was worried.
He is the healthiest of my kids now, never ill.

Was his temperature actually high when this was happening? If so, I'd tend to agree that it's how his body reacts when trying to regulate a fever.

I thought I’d typed this. Exact same age now and when it started.

He’s had about 7 of those episodes now, mainly seems now to be after eating, but no allergies etc.

We have a referral soon for a paediatric clinic, but my gut feel is that his temperature regulation is still immature and he runs quite cold - both me and his dad feel the cold, so it’s unsurprising if he’s inherited that.

Thanks all for the replies!

Temps were usually cooler, certainly not a spike, however I'd have checked the temp during/after these 'episodes' in which, if it is temperature regulation then I'd expect him not to be feverish. When my son has had a temperature he doesn't act like this at all. He's just hot, flushed and bothered !

It's actually very reassuring to hear others have had similar situations with hopefully nothing majorly untoward :-)

@WalkingOnSonshine

I thought I’d typed this. Exact same age now and when it started.

He’s had about 7 of those episodes now, mainly seems now to be after eating, but no allergies etc.

We have a referral soon for a paediatric clinic, but my gut feel is that his temperature regulation is still immature and he runs quite cold - both me and his dad feel the cold, so it’s unsurprising if he’s inherited that.

Good luck with the referral. As the hospital thought my son had sepsis they did see him in a FU clinic about 10 days afterwards, they seemed happy he was well and not fussed about the mottled skin etc

@WalkingOnSonshine hello - just wandering if that paeds referral ever came through and how you got on?

Hiya @pharmacoco we had it a couple of months ago. He had his heart and lungs listened to, reflexes etc. All was fine!

The consultant said if it spread further from just his lips and ended up being more of his skin and other extremities, to go back. But he’s only had 1-2 episodes since and just his bottom lip.

It’ll be interesting to see in the winter if he still has the same thing.