My DS3 is bruising very easily and has a fairly faint rash accross his body, when you look close up.....

[spikejack]

Any information / experience of this would be gratefully received. Nothing scary though. Please! I am verging between rationality because my son is full of beans, eating fairly well and sleeping ok-ish....and then absolute panic that its something terrible and he is medical danger.

About 3 weeks ago, I had noticed that my son (who is not particularly clumsy or boisterous) had VERY bruised shins. Embarrasingly so and I did not recall him falling or complaining of hurting himself as often as the number of bruises. After a number of gasps froms well-meaning friends when I asked for their opinion on the them, 2 weeks ago, I took him to the (locum) doctor (only one available for my last-minute appointment) who said that that he 'wasn't overly worried'. He told me to come back if they did not disappear, got worse or if I was concerned. A week later, the original ones were fading but he seemed to be getting more, popping up here and there, but again, mostly on his shins and occasionally on the top of his arms.

We took him back to a different doctor a week ago, who again said that he wasn't 'too concerned' although he admitted that they were 'quite severe-looking'. For our peace of mind and to rule anything out, he has now referred us to the Paediatrician at our local Hospital. We are currently waiting for an appointment letter.

Whilst I watched my son play yesterday, I saw him accidentally lean back quite quickly on the edge of his wooden bed-frame. He cried because it hurt (which I could understand) and left a red mark. About 3 hours later that mark had turned into a deep red/purple bruise with tiny little dots round it and a lump underneath (al of his bruises seem to get a lump underneath them).

At the time, on very close inspection of my son's skin, I noticed a pinprick-like rash accross his body. It isn't completely covering him, but seems to be is kind of spread accross his body in drifts. It is very faint. He doesn't have a temperature and in the last couple of days has developed a runny nose and bit of a cold/cough.

After looking up these symptoms on here, I've scared myself senseless so am now going to phone the doctor in the morning to report the rash and chase up the Paediatrician. Of course I don't want to begin diagnosing him myself, but I keep seeing IPT mentioned where these symtoms appear. Don't know what I'm asking really - just experience of this maybe???

Sorry, but I think you need to get him seen fast. It could be nothing at all or it could be anemia, could be all sorts of blood disorders-I know there's one that needs treatment but resolves quickly, but, yes, bruising very easily and pin prick rash are symptoms of leukemia-which doesn't mean that your son has, of course-could be that the rash is just a viral thing (as you said he has a cold at the moment) but do go and get the doctor to do blood test, just to be sure.

Could also be scurvy ~ lack of vit C in the diet. I had this in the 80's and was .

Thank you. I had worried about the 'L' word (and still am), but whilst waiting for an appointment with the Hospital, I'm trying to calm myself down with the fact that he seems to be happily running about and playing just as he always does, eating well etc. As I mentioned, neither doctor seemed too concerned, but my gut feeling now is to get him an appt first thing. I was cross that neither doctor took a blood test, which wil only delay results etc, but thought they'd probably rather he had it done with a Paediatrician, so his experience wasn't a terrifying one.
Problem is, if they've referred me and I'm now waiting for a letter, I'm worried that the doctor will try to fob me off as a neurotic mother when I phone him up AGAIN tomorrow. Not that I care about that - I just don't know if I can demand a blood test. Obviously, its all new to me and we've not had anything so serious to worry about before. I'm in a bit of a state to be honest and am struggling to hold it together.
Will phone the doctors asap.
Thank you.

Hmmm, thanks Solo - didn't know scurvy would produce bruising.
He eats a good amount of food and I generally try to give him as much healthy stuff as I can, but he is 3 and has a tendancy to be fussy. I have been thinking that it could be to do with iron, as we struggle to get him to eat anything green and he has (literally this week) just started eating tomato based sauces again. He would only eat plain pasta, rice, no mince, chicken etc. He eats fruit well and cucucmber but, blimey its a struggle to get him to eat a balance diet.

I was told that a good portion of cauliflower was akin to eating a large number of oranges. If he doesn't like cauliflower, mash it into something he will eat :)

Don't let the GP fob you off. If he does ask him whether he is sure he wants to ignore two major leukemia symptoms in a child on a chance they will disappear.

I'm being a bit dramatic here, I'm not saying that your son has leukemia at all, but if GP is an ass, than you need to be ready to insist for the test to be done.

Good luck and let us know how it went.

And you will be calling him with a new symptom-so I doubt he will think you're a neurotic parent.

And yes, scurvy does show up as unexplained and easy bruising. That's what happened to me.

The "L" word was the one that popped in to my mind as well OP. There is every chance that your boy is fine but there is no point in worrying yourself sick - take him to the doctor and insist on a blood test.

Thank you. Will do.
Have decided I'm going to go to bed now to get tomorrow here quicker.
Have also just done a stuupid thing and googled some of the more unpleasant possibilities.
Will come back and let you know what they say.

purpuera ? Ds had this when he was 7 - bruise-like marks on his skin (trunk and legs) perfectly well otherwise. No treatment was needed-the gp said that it might have been an auto immune reaction to a cold.

Any update on this spikejack? I hope your son is ok. Like others have said, there are many reasons why this could be happening.

Don't give a second thought about coming across as a neurotic mother. It needs investigating.

FWIW, my son was ill for 6 months - very sleepy, no rashes or bruises just 'not right' some days but then bouncing round like Tigger the next! I was back and forth to the doctors, Paediatrician, Neurologist, Hospital, A&E and got no answers despite test after test. Turns out he did (does) have the 'L' word.

Good luck and I hope you find out what it is.

I can't comment on the bruising, but following on from Solo's comments, I'd sneak vitamins into him somehow. DD has vitamin drops in her milk or on the back of her toast. They are these ones. It is much easier to sneak them into food than fruit or veg. I am not suggesting that they are a replacement for fruit or veg (before I get jumped on) but if you aren't sure that your DS is getting everything he needs then it is a good place to start.

ITP is also a possibility. My dniece developed this aged 4. Low platelets. Ask about this

Any update?? Hope everything ok x

Hi and thank you all so much for your comments and concern.

TOTU, I 'm so sorry! I really hope that your son is ok? That has just made me realise that, horrble as it is, ITP seems to have been the more preferable (if any) diagnosis. You must all have had a tough time of it.

I saw the doctor last Wednesday morning (after mentioning the rash over the phone) and he told me to 'get here, now!'. He passed us onto a Doctor who worked for a number of years on a Paediatric ward and who is also a skin/dermatology specialist. She felt fairly sure it was ITP, so she wrote us a letter there and then and we headed off to the local Paediatric unit.

After a very long day and an agonising wait following a 'full blood count' and after explaining to us that they really were looking out for Leukaemia, meningitis etc, they confirmed that it was ITP. His platelet levels were 3 (and apparently the lower end of normal would be 150,) so they have warned us to look out for nosebleeds, bleeding from the mouth and have said 'wrap him in cotton wool and DON'T let him bang his head'.

We came home that evening with him and tried to get our heads around it.
The next day he developed sores in his mouth which were bleeding a bit. I think I must have disturbed them (didn't know they were there) when I brushed his teeth at bedtime. The Hospital wanted us in again to check them but said that they were tiny, compared to some they have seen. Phew.

Next day and I noticed that his nose was bleeding a little bit. I phoned them and they said that the thing to worry about would be a nose-bleed that wouldn't stop. This looked like a tiny cut (he could have even scratched himself with his nail).

We are gradually getting used to it. I verge between terrified hysteria that my little man has a problem with his blood, which I cannot fix and then a kind of 'lets just deal with this and take each day as it comes' state of mind. He seems fine and his leg bruises started to fade quite well but some are coming back a bit now. He is tired from time to time, which is horrible because it suddenly becomes 'real' when my lively 3 year old is shattered at lunchtime.

The Hospital are arranging an appointment for us in a week's time to check his levels and then again 2 weeks after that. One minute I'm crying because I'm terrified. The next minute, he is dancing about laughing with his Brother. He seems seconds away from whacking his head at every opportunity so he's been in a cycle helmet on any outings we've done (cycle or not!). I just want him to sit on the sofa and watch DVD's all day - and I NEVER thought I'd hear myself saying that!

I just hope that we are well into the '6 months' now (9as usually this lasts for between 2 weeks and 6 months). He had an abnormally large bruise on his shin after a weekend away in September last year. He didn't cry or say that he'd hurt his leg, but I just noticed it. I'm really hoping that was the start of it. Am just trying to take each day as it comes and hope that it goes away, without the need for any of the treatments they will do if it doesn't just go on its own. Apparently, most cases should disappear almost as rapidly as they came.

breatheslowly, I think you are right about the vitamins.
He and his Brother have the chewy multi vitamins every day, but after the diagnosis of ITP, I looked into possible benefits of certain foods. The Hospital said that 'no particular food will help on its own' and that I should just make sure he eats a balanced diet. He is 3!! We don't ply him with sweets (obviously) but he won't eat a brocolli tree for anyone! So I've done a bit of research and it seems that foods like oranges (satsumas etc), brown bread, pulses etc are good for the immune system and therefore could benefit him particularly at the moment.

Its really strange - I'm normally a night-owl and stay up til ridicukous o clock. But since Wednesday night, I've been in bed by 10.30 each night, Not really because I;m tired..its just because I think and worry too much in a naieve way, I just kind of want to sleep through it all

Glad you have a dx, but sad that it's causing you such angst. As you say, hopefully it'll be all over with very soon. Take care :)

So glad to hear back from you, I was thinking about you. Well, it's obviously very worrying time for you but still better ITP than leukemia.

After your post I had realised that DD seems to have been having lots of bruises on her shins lately And had a nose bleed last night, too. Hard to know when to panic when it's your own child, easier to diagnose someone else's on the internet

Hope you're at the end of it

i was thinking itp as reading the thread op - dd's little friend had this as a toddler - she is fine now. try not to worry.

Spikejack thanks for the update and I hope your son has more good days than bad. Also, that your worries lessen over time.

My son is doing fine. He finishes his 3 years of treatment in August, and I hope never to hear the 'L' word again

Thank you all so much for your kind words. Yes, its worrying (but worrying comes naturally to me . I was a parent helper at pre-schol today and we walked to the local garden centre and back (in the snow and ice) to see the pets. I think my constant "mind your head" and "please don't run" are ineffective at home due to over-use now! Pre-school are happy to have him for his usual sessions but I think I'd worry too much. They are all very lovely, caring and attenttive, but I'm worried that something simple, like a flying toy, thrown by a particularly challenging boy in his group would be all it might take for a whack on the head. Also, if he bumped his arm of leg and even a small bruise appeared, I think the staff would feel terrible. He has a bruise on his cheek from where I gave him an "ooohhh, come here" squeezy kiss!
Fingers crossed it goes away soon and we can all relax.
mycatsaysach - glad to hear your DD's friend is ok now. Its encouraging to know that other people have had it and have come through it ok.

TOTU - You must have an awful 3 years. I'm so glad your son is through it now and I really really hope that your nightmare is over.

Winnybella - our doctors originally said that bruising is normal and particularly on the legs, as its the first point of contact with the ground for little people. With my DS's legs, they were really worryingly bruised. Everyone that looked at them gasped in shock because they looked so terrible. I was so worried that if I didn't see a doctor or find out the reason behind the bruising, someone would report me to childline, thinking I'd been kicking him myself .

Will keep you posted with updates. We have an appointment next week to check his platelet levels again. No doubt that will be a tense time because I'm so hoping they will have increased. The Hospital have warned us that his levels may fluctuate, going higher or lower than they currently are. Just want to sleep through the next few weeks, in the hope that I'll wake up and it will all be a distant memory.

Spike jack how did you get on? I’ve got a 3 year old with the exact symptoms and really worried!!