Yes, it's true. Can you believe it? Hives in patches the size of a dinner roll with little white welts inside the red. And oh, the itching which brings on the scratching, crying, kicking and tears. Hives are quite troublesome!
But it is not as you assume. The hives this time belong to Nathan. Can you believe it? (I feel like I've already said that.) He had them last night. I gave him Benadryl. They went away. Today, they are back. We made an unplanned stop at a community clinic we've never visited before (at least it was an adventure of sorts).
The diagnosis: Nathan is allergic to the amoxicillin he's taking for the Strep. Lovely. Now we're up to two kids with allergic reactions to something. That's 1/3 of our children. So instead of taking the antibiotic for 10 days, which would have ended Wednesday, he's taking an antihistamine for 7 days, which now ends on Sunday next week. (Are you paying attention to our drug habits, G-ma B?) It wouldn't be so daunting if he didn't fight taking medicine so much.
Sheesh. That's all I have left to say.
Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medicine. Show all posts
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Hives - the Saga continues
Daniel did NOT get a vitamin last night and he did NOT get hives last night. It was a small step towards victory.
This afternoon/evening, Daniel was bawling (it was quite attractive and pleasant to experience) because his jaw was hurting. Twenty minutes after I gave him some children's liquid ibuprofen, he had hives. Are you just as outraged as I was? I think I hear some of your groans.
I compared the inactive ingredients on both bottles. They both had FD&C yellow #6! (That's all they had in common.) But then I got to thinking that I'd given him children's Motrin on the way to his TMJ appt. on Wednesday and he didn't get hives from that. And that's when I remembered that he'd had hives just around his left eye. It was a different place than what we'd dealt with before. I originally thought he'd gotten splashed with something at his appt. I looked at that bottle. It didn't have yellow #6, but it did have yellow #10 as well as another color.
So I was convinced that it was the food dyes. Now what? Why now? What do we do? I checked with the clinic and the doctor I needed was in tonight, so we drove in. I gave him a brief history and my theory.
As it turns out, he doesn't really care much about the dyes at the moment. He says we need first to try to "turn off" whatever is reacting to the dyes (or whatever it really is). So the course of treatment for now is to give him 1 tsp of Zyrtec every day for a month (to try to override his allergic response) with added Benadryl if he actually gets hives despite the Zyrtec. If the month ends and the hives don't, we move on to more specific measures...whatever those are.
That's probably when we'll have contact with an allergist. The doctor wasn't sure there was an allergy test for specific dyes. Of course, I have no idea.
With the jaw pain that he was very vocal about and the hives that resulted from the medicine, Daniel has been center stage most of the day. As soon as we decided to take him to the doctor tonight, he was all cheery smiles and pep. Is this kid so starved for attention that something like this turns him into the best of personalities? Am I not meeting his needs?
I remember LOVING the individual attention I would get in elementary school when I got sick. I even created reasons to go to the nurse's office. (Are there any schools out there that even have nurse's offices anymore?) I don't think I was deprived attention at home, but the extra stuff still fed me in some way. Daniel is following in my footsteps already! What a special boy.
This afternoon/evening, Daniel was bawling (it was quite attractive and pleasant to experience) because his jaw was hurting. Twenty minutes after I gave him some children's liquid ibuprofen, he had hives. Are you just as outraged as I was? I think I hear some of your groans.
I compared the inactive ingredients on both bottles. They both had FD&C yellow #6! (That's all they had in common.) But then I got to thinking that I'd given him children's Motrin on the way to his TMJ appt. on Wednesday and he didn't get hives from that. And that's when I remembered that he'd had hives just around his left eye. It was a different place than what we'd dealt with before. I originally thought he'd gotten splashed with something at his appt. I looked at that bottle. It didn't have yellow #6, but it did have yellow #10 as well as another color.
So I was convinced that it was the food dyes. Now what? Why now? What do we do? I checked with the clinic and the doctor I needed was in tonight, so we drove in. I gave him a brief history and my theory.
As it turns out, he doesn't really care much about the dyes at the moment. He says we need first to try to "turn off" whatever is reacting to the dyes (or whatever it really is). So the course of treatment for now is to give him 1 tsp of Zyrtec every day for a month (to try to override his allergic response) with added Benadryl if he actually gets hives despite the Zyrtec. If the month ends and the hives don't, we move on to more specific measures...whatever those are.
That's probably when we'll have contact with an allergist. The doctor wasn't sure there was an allergy test for specific dyes. Of course, I have no idea.
With the jaw pain that he was very vocal about and the hives that resulted from the medicine, Daniel has been center stage most of the day. As soon as we decided to take him to the doctor tonight, he was all cheery smiles and pep. Is this kid so starved for attention that something like this turns him into the best of personalities? Am I not meeting his needs?
I remember LOVING the individual attention I would get in elementary school when I got sick. I even created reasons to go to the nurse's office. (Are there any schools out there that even have nurse's offices anymore?) I don't think I was deprived attention at home, but the extra stuff still fed me in some way. Daniel is following in my footsteps already! What a special boy.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
VITAMINS!
I think we've discovered the source of the problem with Daniel's hives.
I'll tell you right now, it isn't the laundry detergent. He broke out in hives tonight after going to bed, which is when he usually comes to us. He'd changed his shirt (because he got it wet) and put on a newly laundered one. So I know it wasn't the shirt.
I was trying to figure out why he keeps breaking out at night. Then I thought of the vitamins the kids get each night on their way to bed. I bought new vitamins at Albertson's two days after getting the new washer. They would have gotten their first dose of these the next night. I think that's the night Chad mentioned Daniel's hives.
There are some nights we skip/forget vitamins. Daniel does go some nights without problems. We don't take vitamins with us when we travel. Daniel didn't get hives the night we were visiting Grandma.
Now we just have to wait 4 or 5 nights to know for sure. Hopefully, we're on to something here. It's much cheaper to stop buying vitamins than it is to buy fancy schmancy laundry detergent. Though I do lament the time spent doing laundry today. Those are some CLEAN clothes!
I'll tell you right now, it isn't the laundry detergent. He broke out in hives tonight after going to bed, which is when he usually comes to us. He'd changed his shirt (because he got it wet) and put on a newly laundered one. So I know it wasn't the shirt.
I was trying to figure out why he keeps breaking out at night. Then I thought of the vitamins the kids get each night on their way to bed. I bought new vitamins at Albertson's two days after getting the new washer. They would have gotten their first dose of these the next night. I think that's the night Chad mentioned Daniel's hives.
There are some nights we skip/forget vitamins. Daniel does go some nights without problems. We don't take vitamins with us when we travel. Daniel didn't get hives the night we were visiting Grandma.
Now we just have to wait 4 or 5 nights to know for sure. Hopefully, we're on to something here. It's much cheaper to stop buying vitamins than it is to buy fancy schmancy laundry detergent. Though I do lament the time spent doing laundry today. Those are some CLEAN clothes!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
HIVES!
Daniel can't seem to catch a break. First it's a summer-long jaw pain that ends up being TMJ. Next, he learns he's getting fitted with braces two days before Christmas. It was related to the TMJ problem and so made things better in the long run, but still!
Now Daniel is suffering from hives. He's had them close to two weeks. We finally took him on Wednesday night to have them looked at. The PA (same one who didn't think to check for Sarah's sore throat - I'm possibly holding a grudge about that) put him on some kind of steroid to try to get rid of whatever is in his body causing him problems. After a week of steroids, we're supposed to see the official Doctor if the hives come back.
Well, we couldn't pick up the prescription Wednesday night. All day Thursday, Daniel didn't have a problem. I thought we'd had another miraculous healing. (You know how your kids are deathly ill until the moment you bring them to the doctor? Then you just look like either a nervous parent or someone shouting out for attention.) When it came down to 30 minutes left to get to the pharmacy that evening, I decided to hold off. After all, I don't want to buy any medicine that we don't need! (That kind of spending should be saved for fabric sales.)
I picked up the boys from school for an impromptu run to the mall and asked Daniel if his hives had returned. Nope. Until I got a look at him in the store. Yep. By the time we got home that evening, he was crying and writhing from itching insanity. They're covering him head to toe...literally. So we picked up the steroid Rx on the way home. He's now had it 3 days. So far, the hives are still there.
What is it with this kid's luck? And why is it that we have the types of adventures that cost money? If these hives don't go away, we may have to do some testing. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. Medical testing is never free...unless you're a cadaver. Daniel is very much alive.
Now Daniel is suffering from hives. He's had them close to two weeks. We finally took him on Wednesday night to have them looked at. The PA (same one who didn't think to check for Sarah's sore throat - I'm possibly holding a grudge about that) put him on some kind of steroid to try to get rid of whatever is in his body causing him problems. After a week of steroids, we're supposed to see the official Doctor if the hives come back.
Well, we couldn't pick up the prescription Wednesday night. All day Thursday, Daniel didn't have a problem. I thought we'd had another miraculous healing. (You know how your kids are deathly ill until the moment you bring them to the doctor? Then you just look like either a nervous parent or someone shouting out for attention.) When it came down to 30 minutes left to get to the pharmacy that evening, I decided to hold off. After all, I don't want to buy any medicine that we don't need! (That kind of spending should be saved for fabric sales.)
I picked up the boys from school for an impromptu run to the mall and asked Daniel if his hives had returned. Nope. Until I got a look at him in the store. Yep. By the time we got home that evening, he was crying and writhing from itching insanity. They're covering him head to toe...literally. So we picked up the steroid Rx on the way home. He's now had it 3 days. So far, the hives are still there.
What is it with this kid's luck? And why is it that we have the types of adventures that cost money? If these hives don't go away, we may have to do some testing. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. Medical testing is never free...unless you're a cadaver. Daniel is very much alive.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Medicating Joseph
You've heard me describe how hard it is to feed the boy. It's surely no easier to give him medicine, except for that it's in a little pointy tube that I can slide into the corners of his chubby cheeks.
Joseph has been on antibiotics since Monday night (thanks to a very angry ear drum). He's also getting cough medicine. The cough medicine dosage is tiny and I can sneak up on him with that one. The antibiotic is 1/2 teaspoon twice a day. There is no sneaking with that! Tonight as I gave it to him, he of course had his lips sealed. He wasn't upset though. He even smiled at me as I tried to coax what seemed like a cup of medicine into his mouth. He smiled with his lips together. What a Stinker!!!!
And to add to our grief, there are some teeth so close to breaking through! His first teeth! (He has had a miserable week.) As a nursing mother, teeth do not seem like good news. But they are also hard on me because a baby's look changes so much when he gets his teeth. No more cute gummy smiles!
Here are some scrapbook pages I've done lately. They were for challenges at http://www.sunshinestudioscraps.com/.
Joseph has been on antibiotics since Monday night (thanks to a very angry ear drum). He's also getting cough medicine. The cough medicine dosage is tiny and I can sneak up on him with that one. The antibiotic is 1/2 teaspoon twice a day. There is no sneaking with that! Tonight as I gave it to him, he of course had his lips sealed. He wasn't upset though. He even smiled at me as I tried to coax what seemed like a cup of medicine into his mouth. He smiled with his lips together. What a Stinker!!!!
And to add to our grief, there are some teeth so close to breaking through! His first teeth! (He has had a miserable week.) As a nursing mother, teeth do not seem like good news. But they are also hard on me because a baby's look changes so much when he gets his teeth. No more cute gummy smiles!
Here are some scrapbook pages I've done lately. They were for challenges at http://www.sunshinestudioscraps.com/.
Credits:
Paper - Sack'o'Burlap pack by Rachel's Scraps
Flowers and Stitches - Tracy Drane
Fonts - Minion and Scriptina
Credits:
Kit - SO SUNny Collab
Fonts - Goudy, Goudy Stout and Girls Are Weird
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