oh my god my child is swelling!

[Boco]

dd2 woke covered in a rash today, which was confirmed as a reaction to penicillin this morning at the doctors.

Throughout the day it's been getting worse, her whole body is now covered in freaky pink and white swellings. It seemed to be getting better a couple of hours ago, then suddenly her face ballooned and her lips swelled up.

Just did a mad dash to the out of hours doctor and got steroids - he said her throat isn't swelling and chest is clear, and steroids should make it go down, but to go to hospital if anything changes.

She looks so bizarre - no way i'll be getting much sleep tonight!

Anyone elses dcs had this? Do the steroids work quickly? Can i stop following her around staring at her and shrieking with horror?

I assume you went to A&E then Boco ... thinking of you .. I'm sure she'll be bouncing around very soon

Boco .. any news?

We went to A&E, thanks for all the advice, you were right.

It kept getting worse despite the steroids. Offered an ambulance but my very fantastic sister drove us as it would have been quicker. When she was first examined at hospital her mouth had started swelling inside, so it was so lucky we went. We were sent to rescuss which freaked me out at first, but she was fine.

They gave her higher dose of steroids and antihistamine and monitored her for a few hours. She perked up quite quickly and you could see the swelling on her face going down. She introduced the nurse to me by saying 'this is my mummy, and these are her boobies'.

Got home at half 2 this morning. She's woken up and some of the swelling is back but not her mouth - just round her eyes, so after the next dose of steroids i'm to call hospital again if she keeps swelling.

Hills i have so much respect for the amount of pressure you're under - must be terrifying for you.

Absolutely, i feel really let down by the gp - my reluctance about taking her to hospital was because i thought i should just trust him and that the steroids would kick in and be fine - it could have been so dangerous to leave it any longer.

what a shock boco

glad to hear she is ok...must have been terribly frightening for you and her...do hope she is ok from here on in

at least you know she is allergic now, and can take steps to make sure she is not administered penicillin again...

DS had an anaphylactic episode at 2, due to eating peanut butter....it was very scary, but he is fine now, and we carry epipens and piriton with us

Yes Kerrymum she is still flaring up today, her little face is so blotchy again, it went back to normal last night by the time we left hospital.

Do people still have to have epipens etc if it's just a reaction to penicillin though? she's had things like peanuts before and always been fine - at least penicillin isn't something you're likely to come into contact accidently?

I'm allergic to penicillin. I was given amoxycilin (sp?) when I was four and reacted badly by swelling up and a rash. I also remember vomiting for days after constantly it was horrible. I don't carry an epipen but I don't take any medicine with penicillin in. Always check when she has jabs in the future that they don't contain it either I think the polio one used to contain it but i'm not sure if it does anymore. I hope she gets better soon.

Today she's got piriton and prednisolone steroids.

She's going to my mum and stepdads today for a few hours as i've got to do some work, and he's a paramedic with oxygen and adrenalin, and could administer if needed. He also has red lights on his car so if she did get worse he would be the best person to get her to the hospital fast.

No i didn't know that, - she's already got a chest infection and recovering from chicken pox so is having a particularly bad few weeks.

My sd is arriving in a few minutes so i'll tell him what youve said and see what he thinks - thanks.

eeek, you're scaring me.

No, she's scabbed over - she had it last week, - that lead on to a chest infection which is why she was given penicillin for the first time.

No we saw 2 doctors - one was a consultant. The first said that we may be admitted after a few hour of monitoring, but by the time the consultant arrived at 1.30 am she was bouncing around asking to look at poorly people and her face was totally clear.

She's just left with sd - he's taking her to hospital if there's any more swelling and has adrenanline - made him promise that if she sleeps its where they can see her at all times. He says he's been to lots of kids with this and given adrenanalin lots of times so i trust him to make the call.

He thinks that as she scabbed over a few days ago that it's out of her system and shouldn't make anything worse.

thinking of you

glad you went to A&E and she's on the road to recovery

Hello, how worrying for you. Hope your DD is doing ok now.

I am allergic to penicillin too, double check all medication she gets in the future. After i had my first DD was born my stitches got infected and the doctor at hospital prescribed me anti-biotics-penicillin! even though it was written all over my notes that i was allergic. Luckily my mum spotted it before i took any. Docs etc do make mistakes so def check everything.

I had the rash and slight swelling too when i was really little. Not sure if it runs in families as my older sister and my DD1 are both allergic to it too. Luckily my DD had the rash only when she first had the medicine.

xx

Hope everything is ok. My ds has had 4 anaphalactic reactions and they are horrible. We now carry epi-pens and piriton at all times.
My Gp once gave ds his epi-pen and then told us to watch him at home, nurse made him phone an ambulance which was a good job as he went downhill fast and had to be blue lighted to resus.
Children bounce back quickly its us the mum's who find it hard.

Glad you got sorted Boco. Was thinking about you all day.

She's gone back to A&E

She's been screaming hysterically for an hour, swelling again, and so itchy she's making her skin bleed. Got no medication left to give her and the out of hours gp cant give her anything else so he told us to take her back. Dp has had to go because of dd1 being in bed. Hope she's ok.