Loowit Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) My youngest, who is 10, has not been vaccinated for chicken pox due to reactions to vaccines. He has been sick since Tuesday. Started out with a very sore throat. Took him to the doctor to rule out strep, it wasn't strep. That night he started vomiting to the point that there was blood in his vomit and we took an ER trip. They gave him meds to help stop the vomiting. Since then he has had a runny nose and started getting a cough last night. He only had a low grade fever on day 2 and hasn't had one since. Yesterday he noticed two red marks on his upper arm. Today they are bigger and have a raise bump in the center. They are not blisters. He says they are itchy, but not too bad. He has no other spots. My first thought is could it be chicken pox. But I was told by a nurse practitioner years ago that the rash starts on the trunk of the body and spreads, so that leads me to believe it is a different virus. I am debating whether I should call his doctor and get it checked or if I am just overreacting. Edited June 17, 2016 by loowit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I have no idea if it could be chicken pox, but I would not hesitate to call the dr about the rash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cave canem Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Do they look like blisters? That's how a pock starts. I have never heard of chicken pox at this time of year. My daughter's mother pock was on her upper arm, a couple inches below the axilla. FYI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrichor Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 some sort of insect bite? do ticks bite like that? I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Yes, could be. Funny, I was thinking it's the right time of year. We've had it in the late spring/early summer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2samlibby Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) That doesn't really sound like chicken pox to me. Both my kids had it a couple of years ago (April/May) and I had it as a child. For my kids, they started out with fevers and then several blisters the next day on the chest area. Then they spread. Does he have more spots yet? Each day should have more spots, if it is chicken pox. I think my son had a sore throat with his, but my daughter did not. They did not vomit and there was no cough with it. I think your son has a different virus. Edited June 17, 2016 by mom2samlibby 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Thanks for the replies. I looked at the spots again and am pretty sure it isn't chicken pox. It is now two raised bright red spots about the size of a quarter with a bump in the middle. It is getting more itchy, poor kid. He also is developing a croupy cough. I did put in a call to the advice nurse to see if they want to see him. The ER said we should do a follow up appointment two days after he was seen there, I was planning to skip it since it is usually just a waste of time with them telling me that yes he is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Both my kids had chicken pox. WIth both it started with flu like symptoms, headache, low grad fever, body aches, crankiness. When I had chicken pox at age 17 I thought I had the flu, it was mostly an achy feeling. But no vomiting or sore throat or cough. My sister had a sore throat but that was when it was very clear she had chicken pox. She had a blister in her throat. It healed up quickly though. And with my kid, once the pox appeared, they sort of bloomed all over. It was like I saw two flat red spots, then those developed blisters and then over the course of a couple hours they had spots all over. I could see them develop before my eyes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticmomma Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 Doesn't sound like it. Pox start from the trunk out and the spot you describe sounds more like a bite to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) Did doctor do the rapid strep or also swab for the overnight culture? My kids tended to also vomit when they had strep :-( and sounds like a bug bite on top of everything (unless more spots appear). Has he been vaccinated for measles? My kids all had c. pox.. If it was that, there would be far more blisters popping up all over by now. What kind of poisonous spiders are in your area? Edited June 17, 2016 by JFSinIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Took him to the doctor. She said that he has a bad cold virus. He often gets a bad sore throat and vomiting with them for some reason. They did a rapid strep on Wednesday but I don't think they cultured it. He has had a lot of sore throats in the last year, about one a month and has gone in a few times for a strep test, they are all negative. She thinks the spots on his arm are from some sort of bug bite. He hasn't been outside much because of being sick, so not sure what sort of bug. We don't have venomous spiders in our area, so I am not too worried about that. The spots are getting bigger and looking much more like very big hives now. She said to give him benadryl and put cold compresses on them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 I would also wash those "bites" with hibiclens, add some antibiotic cream along with the cold compresses to the "bug bites", and draw a line around them so you know how much bigger they have gotten. Keep an eye on them, as a number of people are discovering that they have MRSA instead of bug bites. My kids do have big allergic reactions to any sort of insect bite, but we've also had 5-6 rounds of MRSA here. Our initial MRSA was from a scrape at a public pool. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) DS22 had chicken pox in the summer. So did our neighbor's child, who gave a mild case to ds12. Glad you took him to the doctor; I hope he feels better very soon! Edited June 17, 2016 by trulycrabby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 17, 2016 Share Posted June 17, 2016 (edited) Have they ever done the overnight culture for strep, since he has had so many sore throat occurrences? Sometimes one of us will get a huge hive from a mosquito bite, just happens. Edited June 17, 2016 by JFSinIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 They did a culture a few months ago. It was negative. He gets horrible reactions to mosquito bites. I haven't seen any around, but it could be that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Hives are common with mycoplasmic pneumonia. Nausea and the other symptoms fit as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 (edited) Hope the little dude feels better soon. Update us when he does. Whenever someone posts about a sick kid here on the boards, our collective parental radar kicks in and they remain in our thoughts until we get an all-clear to stop worrying. :-) Edited June 18, 2016 by JFSinIL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 My youngest, who is 10, has not been vaccinated for chicken pox due to reactions to vaccines. He has been sick since Tuesday. Started out with a very sore throat. Took him to the doctor to rule out strep, it wasn't strep. That night he started vomiting to the point that there was blood in his vomit and we took an ER trip. They gave him meds to help stop the vomiting. Since then he has had a runny nose and started getting a cough last night. He only had a low grade fever on day 2 and hasn't had one since. Yesterday he noticed two red marks on his upper arm. Today they are bigger and have a raise bump in the center. They are not blisters. He says they are itchy, but not too bad. He has no other spots. My first thought is could it be chicken pox. But I was told by a nurse practitioner years ago that the rash starts on the trunk of the body and spreads, so that leads me to believe it is a different virus. I am debating whether I should call his doctor and get it checked or if I am just overreacting. It does not sound like chicken pox to me. It starts very fast and spreads overnight. Lots of little shiny blisters. Sounds like something else, and I would have it checked out. If any potential of Lyme, get treated! Doesn't sound typical though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 Hope the little dude feels better soon. Update us when he does. Whenever someone posts about a sick kid here on the boards, our collective parental radar kicks in and they remain in our thoughts until we get an all-clear to stop worrying. :-) DS is feeling much better today. He was sick and coughing all weekend. I think he will have a lingering cough for a while. The spots on his arm are much better. They had grown very large, but are now back to just quarter size and much less red and puffy. They both have a small scab in the center, but don't look infected at all. My middle child got the cold virus or whatever it was too, but he didn't get nearly as sick, no vomiting just a runny nose a cough. The funny thing is he also has two red spots, but on his forearm, not his upper arm. But his spots are very small, about the size of a pencil eraser, and aren't raised or itchy. I am sure they are totally not related, but it does seem odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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