Periorbital Cellulitis afterwards -- related or something else

[Mandamom]

We will be calling the doc for a follow up but I wanted to check with others who have dealt with periorbital cellultis. 

 

At the end of January my ds9 (then 8) was diagnosed with periorbital cellulitis, spent 4 days/nights in the hospital with IV antibiotics and afterward had 10 more days of oral antibiotics. He recovered fine although for several days he would tire easily, get dark circles under his eyes and get pale -- particularly after any kind of activity. 

 

He was released from care after meeting with his pediatrician (the one who discovered it in the first place). (His sister was diagnosed with bronchitis the same day). 

 

 

What I am seeing now is that he's looking pale more than he ever did before January. His sister developed allergies around 8 or 9 years old so I started him on Claritin (which is what we take) to see if that helped. My mom and dad saw ds9 over the week-end and commented on how pale he looks, and his eyes look a little swollen and dark. 

 

This is not a kid who complains and if you ask says he's feeling fine. He's almost a brown belt in karate and is taking swim lessons. I have noticed the paleness tends to happen after activity. 

 

I just can't help wondering whether this is related to the cellultis even though that was over a month ago or if it is just allergies that are developing around this age. 

 

He's due for his 9 year old check up so we are planning on following up. 

 

Thanks, 

 

 

 

 

[J-rap]

Strangely, two of my children had periorbital cellulitis!  It's a very scary thing.  Since it's been a month, and if your son is otherwise feeling quite good (no fever), I'd assume his symptoms might be related to something else -- maybe mild asthma?  My allergy/asthma kids get very dark circles under their eyes.  During certain times of the year, it's worse. 

 

However, if your son has any fever at all, I'd bring him in pronto.  Cellulitis is nothing to mess with, as you well know.

[LaxMom]

My eldest daughter (now 26) and youngest son (now 10) each had one instance of periorbital cellulitis at about 6 and 2, respectively. They were both treated with rocephin shots at the pediatrician and, once the swelling went down, we could identify a bug bite that had probably caused it. Neither had any lasting issues.

 

That said, when any of my kids have been working on starting a cold or massive seasonal allergies (before the drippies start) they'll usually look pale and start with dark circles under their eyes, worse when they're tired. It's been really dry here, so mine have been more sensitive to dust, etc, lately, even though the tree pollen hasn't started yet. You may be onto something with the allergies.