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Paging Dr. Hive! (multiple antibiotic allergies WWYD?)


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My 4.5 yo son got an ear infection 2 years ago. He had an allergic reaction to Augmentin and Zithromax, but with the two combined, he got enough doses to resolve the infection.

 

He had been really grumpy for a week and not looking well. On Sunday his neck nodes swelled out like a cobra. Truly frightening! I took him in on Mon and he tested positive for strep. He had no fever, vomiting (except 2 weeks earlier) or throat pain. Pain meds did not make him less grumpy. She put him on Keflex and said if he reacted to this, there was only one more antibiotic class left. On dose 5 he got a few itchy bumps; I gave him Zyrtec. On dose 8, he was covered in spots. I took him to the doc who said she was hopeful it was not hives because he was not itching like mad. He did say he was itchy and could tell me when he started getting them in a new area w/o looking, but she felt like if they were hives he would be clawing like mad since he had hundreds of them. She sent me home with an epi pen and told me to keep at it for three more doses minimum unless he started itching or got tons more spots immediately after taking the med.

 

Last night, I gave him dose 9 at 7pm and he vomited. I have no idea how much of the meds he kept down since out dinner was the same color. (It could be unrelated to the meds, we had just eaten Chinese and he was jumping around.) I checked his spots w/ a flashlight at 11 pm and they were only slightly worse. When he woke this morning they were way worse and his lips are very swollen. He is still not itching!!

 

She said if he got three more doses in, that would be 1/2 of the meds and I could stop. But I am truly worried about creating antibiotic resistant strep in someone who is allergic to antibiotics. If we can't get three doses in, we will have to go on to the last antibiotic class left. Which is also scary incase he reacts to it for the next infection. She said the chance of hives turning into anaphylaxis is small, but the chance of serum sickness is fairly good.

 

I am going to call the on call doc in 30 minutes to see what he thinks.

 

Thanks for reading this far. Any thoughts? Anyone dealing with this? What do they do if he is allergic to the last one and he gets another infection?

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What happened when he took the Zithromax? True allergies to that drug are pretty rare.

 

He got huge, bruising welts all over his face. I am wondering if he is allergic to something in the solution they make up for kids. :confused: If we have to do a new script, I will ask for capsules and will mix them with Hershey's syrup. The doc says she is not convinced the reaction was from Zithromax because allergy to it is so rare. She thinks it might be a delayed reaction to the Augmentin. The doses were only give 12 hours apart. But she doesn't want to try it again just yet.

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My DD had an allergic reaction to Zithromax when she was pretty young--4 or 5. On the 4th day of the 5 day course of treatment she developed a severe, itchy, red rash. The doctor said that she is allergic to it and that she also should not take related antibiotics such as eurythromycin. Ped thought that the accelerated Zithromax dose triggered a severe reaction.

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My son is allergic to augmentin and probably cefcil. We fought hives for a month (I'm not kiddding) when he was about a year old. He can take zithromax and I don't even let them mess with me anymore when it come to antibiotics - we take zithromax or nothing because they will always try to push something else!

 

What really helped my son who fought recurrent ear infections despite my best efforts was to see a pediatric chiropractor. He gets he neck adjusted which improves drainage from his sinuses and ears. I'm sold - we haven't had an infection (or antibiotics) since we started going.

 

If you are interested you can check for a pediatric chiropractor in your area at the ICPA website. http://icpa4kids.org/

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I have allergies to multiple antibiotic classes and my approach is to do my best to boost my immune system. Fortunately, I don't get sick very often. The main thing I do right now is take vitamin D. Anytime you have an allergic reaction to something it can take as long as three days to clear your system. If he has these allergies to drugs he may also have one or more other allergies that are making him more vulnerable to other infections. Also there is something called the allergic threshold. This means that if you are already having allergic reactions to one or more allergens and you are exposed to another allergen you are more likely to have a more severe reaction than if you were not having any allergy problems in the first place.

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Do you have your pharmacy add flavoring to your medication? That could be the source of the allergy and not the actual drug itself. I've seen that a few times in the peds practice I worked in. Some of the children are sensitive or allergic to that icky artificial gunk they put in there. If you do add flavor, I'd try the antibiotics without it the next time and see what happens.

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

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Do you have your pharmacy add flavoring to your medication?

 

 

I don't think they add it, but it comes with it. The doctors told me they did not think it was possible to have such a severe reaction to the additives. I still think I will ask for a capsule next time and mix it with Hershey's syrup.

 

The other two doctors want to start him on Clindamycin, but the risks and side effects are so severe. If we end up having to do another one, I think I will ask for another go round at Zithromax.

 

He hasn't had a dose since 7pm last night and his reaction is continuing to worsen even on Benadryl and Zyrtec. :001_unsure:

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Nothing more miserable than hives from a drug reaction! Poor kid. Keep up the benadryl. It sounds like he may need to go back to the doctor.

 

I stopped milk when my dd was 3 1/2. She had a little in her cereal sometimes, yogurt and cheese but no glasses of milk. She never had another ear infection. Who knows but it worked for us.

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What does that mean? The ped gave her a high dose? Thanks

 

It was a high dose per day. The theory is, make it easier to administer, so the kids get only two doses daily for only 5 days, and get at least as much medicine as 10 days of amoxycillin. This can trigger sensitivities in those who are borderline, my ped said.

 

OTOH, this was 10 years ago and things may have changed.

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The alarming parts of your story are his lips are swollen in the morning, and that he is getting worse even with the anti-histamine medications.

The swollen lips are a mild form of anaphyaxis, and nothing to be waited around for. I would take him in to the allergist, the ER, or call 911. Your description that it is getting worse, is that the swelling? the hives? It is now the next day. How is he? Did he get seen? Definitely tell the prescribing doctor about the swollen lips.

I hope all is getting better for him.

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The alarming parts of your story are his lips are swollen in the morning, and that he is getting worse even with the anti-histamine medications.

The swollen lips are a mild form of anaphyaxis, and nothing to be waited around for. I would take him in to the allergist, the ER, or call 911. Your description that it is getting worse, is that the swelling? the hives? It is now the next day. How is he? Did he get seen? Definitely tell the prescribing doctor about the swollen lips.

I hope all is getting better for him.

 

It has been almost 48 hours since his last does (that he threw most of up) and the rash and the swelling of the lips and face are getting worse. I have called two different doctors twice a day since this started. They keep telling me that as long as he is breathing and playing, not to worry. If his behavior or breathing change to use the epi pen or take him to the ER.

 

I just emailed photos to one of the docs, so I will see what she says, but she kept assuring me that there would be no rash so bad that they would treat it and that it won't scar. She said it should continue on like this for 5 more days!

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I am kind of surprised at the advice you're getting from your medical professionals. When DD developed that rash, the Dr told me to stop the medication immediately.

 

Swollen lips is much more serious. When lips swell, throats can swell. I don't want to scare you, but when throats swell, breathing can be impaired or even stopped. My doctors have taken swollen mouth tissues extremely seriously, and have told me that things can get worse pretty suddenly. And if antihistimines are not helping, that's the first line of defense, gone.

 

I wonder whether you can get a second opinion? I am surprised that your dr wanted you to have him take anymore of this medication after the symptoms appeared. And I'm concerned about the antihistimine not working.

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I wonder whether you can get a second opinion? I am surprised that your dr wanted you to have him take anymore of this medication after the symptoms appeared.

 

After the swollen lips they did have me stop the meds. He only had 1 dose (that he threw up) in between the rash appearing and the swollen lips. I have talked several times with two different doctors yesterday and today.

 

After viewing photos of the rash and his lips, the on call doc is afraid it might develop into erythema multiforme. So we are watching him closely. We might just go into Children's tonight anyhow.

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