Tree House Academy Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 HIVES. Just like many of you thought. :( Oh, how I wish it had just been chicken pox! The doctor said he had no idea what caused them (of course), but it was likely something he ingested (i.e. food). He didn't eat anything new or different in the last few days - so now we are supposed to stop peanut butter and strawberries and re-introduce them slowly. I just pray he doesn't have a peanut allergy. Those are SO hard because so many things have peanuts or peanut products in them...even chocolate chip cookies have the warning for peanuts on them. :( My dh insists that I immediately take him to the allergist and have a skin/blood test done to see what he is allergic to. I prefer the "maybe this was a one time thing...let's see if it happens again" approach. My doctor didn't seem too terribly concerned. He told me to keep benadryl handy and to give him Zyrtec or Claritin daily until the hives are completely gone. After I had my first son, I started getting hives all over. They itched like crazy and, even though I had all the allergy testing done, they still never determined what caused it. I took hydroxyzine and zyrtec in combo for 8 years before I stopped getting hives when I stopped the meds. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 HIVES. My dh insists that I immediately take him to the allergist and have a skin/blood test done to see what he is allergic to. I prefer the "maybe this was a one time thing...let's see if it happens again" approach. My doctor didn't seem too terribly concerned. He told me to keep benadryl handy and to give him Zyrtec or Claritin daily until the hives are completely gone. Much of the time, we never figure out the allergy. I would wait, too. I, personally, like zyrtec. Good as benedryl without the sleepiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periwinkle Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 My ds and I are both allergic to laundry detergent and break out in hives if I don't use All Clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted April 4, 2009 Author Share Posted April 4, 2009 Nope...detergents have all been the same. He did take a bath in a different type of bubble bath...but that was LAST SATURDAY....so it had been 6 days before he broke out. Surely that wouldn't do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 A lot of times kids get hives from a virus. If there wasn't an obvious food exposure (like he ate something and immediately you noticed the rash) I woudn't be too worried. If it happens again or if you notice a correlation with a particular food or other exposure then that's a different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 You cannot check for allergies while he is still on Benedryl and still reacting. Be prepared--he may continue reacting for 4-6 weeks, though over that time the reaction should be less and less. Has he been sick lately? Sometimes when the body has taken a beating from illness there will be an allergic reaction. This happened to my daughter. We had had a really sick winter, and she had the stomach flu twice in one month. Her poor immune system was completely stripped down. She had a big allergic reaction and we never figured out what she had reacted to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnetteB Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I can only eat strawberries once or twice a season before hives break out. Sometimes it is just one strawberry that triggers the reaction :( Berries were not even part of the extensive allergy testing that I had done years ago so I had to figure this one out for myself. Our ds, 5, gets tiny dry bumps all over his back, chest, and stomach when he has peanut butter so we've recently added that to his "Can't Have It" list. We keep benedryl in the medicine chest at all times just in case something gets by us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 DS has peanut allergy. But one time he had hives in various parts of his body that came and went for about 5 days. We were sure he didn't have exposure to peanuts or tree nuts. The pediatrician told us that since it lasted for 5 days, it was probably caused by a virus. She instructed us to give him claritin once a day till the hives went away... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 (edited) After I had my first son, I started getting hives all over. They itched like crazy and, even though I had all the allergy testing done, they still never determined what caused it. I took hydroxyzine and zyrtec in combo for 8 years before I stopped getting hives when I stopped the meds. :( The same thing happened to me with my now 5 yo dd! I started getting hives when I got hot--if it was hot outside, if I exercised, if I took a hot bath, etc. This past week I've been avoiding nightshade foods (like tomatoes and potatoes) and I've felt much better. So far no hives and no splitting headaches. I will be very sad if that is part of the problem. I planted tomato plants this year so I could make some fried green tomatoes. :sad: Edited April 4, 2009 by Cricket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnetteB Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Hot and cold urticaria runs in our family:glare: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urticaria Hives and welts can form just from a temperature change or exertion. Ds, takes Loratadine on days that he will be working up a sweat. My sister has suffered from this since her early teens and this has been her favorite method of "dealing with it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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