Sunday, April 1, 2012

What next?

Last night, Ninja came to me shortly before bedtime and showed me strange itchy bumps on his arm and the back of one knee. I sprayed an anti-itch spray on them and put him to bed.

This morning, he woke up COVERED in bumps, on his face, chest, back, arms and legs. They were raised welts, not red. We were getting ready to go to Palm Sunday Mass, but I quickly changed direction. He’s had all his vaccinations. I frantically searched on the NIH and Mayo Clinic websites, looked at pictures, and decided the bumps were hives. An antihistamine was recommended. I ran out to our regular drugstore, but they were out of Benadryl. I drove to the next closest drugstore, and bought Benadryl and soothing oatmeal bath powder. Got home, gave him two Benadryl, and the welts and the itching began to recede. He rested drowsily most of the afternoon. An hour ago, the welts began to come back. More Benadryl. The welts are receding more slowly this time, and he is in the shower. Any other suggestions?

For a healthy kid, he comes down with a lot of stuff.

7 comments:

  1. Poor guy. Well, as long as it's not getting worse, just keep giving Benadryl. Either something he touched or ate. Or breathed, I guess. My daughter gets hives so I know how worrying it is. As long as he's having no trouble breathing though, they just go away.

    Change detergent lately?
    Buy new clothes?
    Eat anything new?
    Eat at a new place?

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  2. Hmm. Has he ever had a mild reaction to anything? Reactions get typically worse with each exposure. So what may have made his mouth itch a bit once, could now show up as hives.

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  3. I reviewed as many things as I could think of. No new brand of detergent. No new shampoo, body wash, soap, or face wash. No new foods. Washed all his bedding in hot water today. Checked his mattress, box spring, and bed frame, and found only dust in the corners of the bed frame, no bugs. Hasn't been outside yesterday or today - resting due to the concussion and hives and not being able to do anything fun. He's just gone to bed, and I'm going to check on him before I go to sleep.

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  4. Any meds for the concussion? A reaction to those could build up over time. My daughter once took several days to show a reaction to codeine. Are the hives in the original spots different? I'm thinking maybe a bug bite.

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  5. The Dr. told me to give him ibuprofen for the headache as needed, and he hasn't had any in about a day. He has also had ibuprofen in the past. No codeine or other pain killers.

    One of the spots last night did look something like a bug bite. I looked at photos of a variety of bug bite types at the NIH website, and the rest of the welts on him didn't really look like any of them.

    It's a mystery. I hope he will just sleep comfortably.

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  6. Get thee (ninja) to an allergist. If it is an allergic reaction, you need to know what he is allergic to ASAP, as allergic reactions tend to get worse with each exposure.

    - woman who has had an epi-pen since she was 6. (turns out I'm allergic to sulfa drugs and it saved my life YEARS later in college. Some kind of mix up at the pharmacy on campus, which dispensed me an antibiotic I reacted to. Roomie used the epi-pen when I went into anaphalavtic shock, which bought me 15 min til the ambulance arrived.

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  7. Unlikely to be meds then. Although ibuprofen can cause hives, it's pretty rare. My sister got bitten by a tick once and got hives as a reaction to the bite. As the poison from the tick spread, the hives spread too. I agree with Stacee though. After a reaction this dramatic - with the hives not instantly responding to and staying down after a single dose of Benadryl - I'd make an appointment with an allergist.

    Hope the Ninja is feeling better in the morning.

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