Allergic reaction in my 2 yo. First hives, now fever. Now what?! Please help.

[CatholicMom]

I've called the dr 3 (or was it 4?) times this weekend. Dd who is almost 2 started having a reaction to (I think) something she ate on Friday night. I noticed it around 9 or 10pm. She had a big patch of hives on her belly that looked like a bunch of mosquito bites of varying size. Then it started wrapping around her middle, all the way around her back. Then it went up, then it went down, her back got worse, etc. You get the idea. It just kept slowly going and going until it was practically covering her. At this point her torso looks fairly clear and her arms/legs and face look the worst. It's covering 50% of her face (the hives meld together to make one big raised red hive-sheet).

 

The last time I called the dr I told her that dd had a bunch of *purple* hives instead of pink. Some were pink and some were distinctly purple, like a bruise. The dr said that some people do get bruised when the hives start subsiding and it was probably a good sign that all the Benadryl I was giving her (every 6 hrs), plus the Claritin once a day, was finally working.

 

That was the last time I talked to the dr (this afternoon). However, now dd has a FEVER. I didn't want to call the dr again immediately as I feel like I'm really nagging. This is the emergency phone service number my office provides for emergencies. Of course I can't find my thermometer :mad: so I don't know *how* high it is. I did know I wanted it to come down, though, so I gave her half of a children's chewable tylenol (as a guesstimation - that might not be enough to bring it down; I don't know).

 

ALSO, twice today (I believe after I talked to the dr), dd was sitting in her high chair and I noticed her feet were turning BLUE. Ok, actually it was a yucky lavendar/gray... like that deathly color, as if she was getting no circulation or something. It went away a minute or 2 after I took her out of her high chair. But what the heck? I kind of logged that in my brain, but didn't worry toooo much because she acted fine at that point and it went away as soon as I took her out of her high chair.

 

But only about an hour before she went to sleep she started complaining that her "feet hurt" and whining and holding her ankles a little bit. She also looked like she almost fell over (wobbling a bit) while walking because I think she was trying so hard to not put any pressure on her feet while she walked.

 

What on earth??

 

Should I call the dr AGAIN? Why oh why does this have to happen on the weekend. I'm so tired of worrying.

 

Any thoughts on hives for 2 days and THEN a fever?? Is that worrisome? Normal?? Do allergic reactions cause fevers? What about foot/ankle pain??

 

Second opinions, please!!

[Plateau Mama]

Sounds more like a virus to me.

[Mommyof4ks]

I would just go to the ER. The feet turning grayish says to me that she is not getting enough oxygen. My son turned gray when his pulse/ox reading was 89%, and he needed oxygen. If the hives are not getting better with Benadryl, then she may need steroids or it may not actually be hives but rather something that looks like hives.

[Unicorn.]

The feet turning blue would have me taking her to the ER. I'm not a rush to the doc person, but something is very wrong with that picture.

[Reflections]

The feet turning blue could be an anaphylactic shock reaction. You really need to get your dd seen, and NOW would be good.

[CatholicMom]

But isn't it strange that her feet were turning blue (only in the high chair) when she has no trouble breathing? She was talking, playing, *acted* fine (the hives *look* terrible). The dr assured me if she was going to have trouble breathing, it would have happened by now (actually the dr said this even 4 hrs after the hives began, and now it's been over 48 hrs). So it's not a *breathing* issue, I don't think. You see my confusion.

 

Anybody know if a fever can occur along with an allergic reaction? Could it be that her body is becoming overwhelmed with the inflammation? (Yet no trouble breathing.)

 

I actually have no car right now to get to the ER. I would have to call someone to get me there. OY. I might just call the dr AGAIN and ask if I should go to the ER and let her know about the blue feet thing and the fever.

[DaffodilDreams]

I'm allergic to several classes of antibiotics and have had quite a few allergic reactions. Fever was never a factor for me. I've never had an allergic reaction to food, though. I would try to get her into the ped tomorrow for sure for peace of mind - or take her to the ER tonight if you're worried enough.

[violamama]

Do not wait, please take her in.

 

Is your Dr an allergist? My allergist often consults for ERs and general practice docs and they do not always know the best practices.

 

My son was allergic (anaphalactic allergic) to eggs for the first three years of his life. The first time he reacted, he had a hives-all-over reaction, and when I called the ER they said to just do the benedril thing and stay home. The allergist was frustrated to hear that, did NOT agree, and told me to always take him when there were hives in large patches and especially on the head.

 

Sorry for you guys, hope it's resolved simply and is just some weird virus rather than a persistant allergy. Hugs!

[Unicorn.]

I actually wasn't even considering the feet turning blue to be part of the allergic reaction. I was thinking a heart issue. Please take her in.

[Momtoamayalilal2]

Has she recently had the MMR vaccine? The purple rash, fever and joint pain are severe symptoms that can be caused by it.

[melissad2]

My middle ds had a terrible reaction to amoxicillin. He was completely covered in hives, head to toe and everywhere in between. I took pictures of him because I was afraid the Dr. Wouldn't believe how bad it had gotten. He was actually swollen all over and looked purple in places. They ended up giving him vistaril because Benadryl was not doing anything for him.

[TXMomof4]

My dd had hives all over from strep. Scared the skin off of me - we went straight to the er. She started antibiotics immediately but the hives stuck around for several days.

[atozmom]

How is your dd today? Praying for her and you. Please update when you can. :grouphug:

[Unicorn.]

Was looking for an update on your dd. I hope she is well!

[CatholicMom]

Just thought I'd update and let you all know that my dd is alive and well. Thanks for the thoughts. I hate when things happen on the weekends (and in the middle of the night at that!) and I have no one to talk to. :bored:

 

Anyway, I gave her tylenol last night to bring the fever down and watched her like a hawk through the night. She was sooo itchy but did sleep. When I got up in the morning and turned the light on to get a good look at her while she was sleeping, I could see that her hives were much better!! Wouldn't you know now that it was Mon morning and I could actually take her to *see* the dr (instead of relaying info over the phone), she looked a ton better. I'm guessing the fever, the intense itching, and the fact that it got clear to the ends of her extremities & face/scalp meant that was the final peak. Because in the morning she finally (after over 48 hrs!) started showing signs of improvement instead of just spreading and spreading.

 

So, I took her to the dr anyway because I had a lot of questions and concerns... one of which was the seeming circulation issue with her feet turning blue. Also, she was having pain in her feet & ankles. The dr said the pain was probably just because of the swelling and nothing to worry about (plus it's better because the swelling is down). To my surprise, he was also not worried about the blue fingernails, blue toes, etc. I told him that it seemed worse during the hive incident but even normally I have repeatedly noticed that her lips sometimes turn white when she sleeps, her fingernails and toenails easily turn blueish (esp when she's chilly). So I was worried she had a heart/circulation issue in general. But he said that happens even with healthy toddlers and babies and might just mean I need to dress her in extra clothes to keep her warm. He said he would be concerned if it happened when she was active/exercising, or if she had any trouble breathing. But if she acts fine, he's not worried. Hm. So that was surprising to me, but that's good news. Right now she has some active pink hives and also a lot of bruised looking patches on her legs. I guess a certain portion of people will have their hives turn to bruises, which is what a lot of hers are doing. It looks like purple bruises, and the ones that had already turned purple yesterday are now that brownish yellow color of an "old bruise." Weird.

 

He said that he would bet the allergic reaction was to the tilapia we ate on Friday for lunch. It was the only brand new food for her, and fish is a common allergy trigger. Though I didn't see it coming because she's had fish sticks/cod and was fine. But he said that allergies can be very specific. I sure hope it was the tilapia because that's easy to avoid.

 

He said if the hives start getting worse again we could think about giving her Zantac or a steroid shot, but he'd rather not do that because he said it's best not to introduce any more variables since she's currently improving. Though he said the hives could come and go for up to 6 weeks. :blink:

 

Thank the Lord I think we are past the worst of it so I feel much better about it.