Hello MOms,
Here is my problem. My five year old came home from school Wednesday with a case of hives I gave him some benadryl and that seemed to help buyt since then he is still getting them.
This morning he woke up and the "spots" seemed to be everywhere face, arms, legs, lower back, and I gave him some benadryl and he came upstairs to see me and the welts looked really bad. Is there something else I can do for him, do I need to take him to see the doctor, how long do they last, could they be something else. I am at a loss and need help.
Thank you
Ok everyone, here is what is happening so far.
I did call my doctor on Saturday morning because they really looked bad and she told me to continue to give him the benadryl every six hours which I have been doing. I also went and got the Aveeno Oatmeal bath and gave him that last night plus the aveeno oatmeal lotion which seems to be working. I plan on taking him to see her tomorrow because I am not so sure what the heck it is. I have changed nothing been over that over and over in my mind. Since they started at school I asked the school nurse if they had changed anything and she told the cleaning people were using something different when they wipe the table and chairs down so I thought perhaps that was it but then he would break out at home and he also broke out at my father in laws house too. They don't seem to bother him I mean he is not itching any of them and that could be because of the bendaryl. I did look at his legs a few minutes ago and now it doesn't really look like hives but like a skin rash. It could be a virus but he is not running any temperture and he is eating and drinking ok good bowel movements and so forth. I will continue to do the bendaryl with him and I appreciate all you moms who have responded and please continue to respond. It is nice to know that other people go through this stuff. For the one mom who asked about chicken pox yes he has had the vaccine for that. I hope I get a result from when I take him tomorrow. Also he is not having any breathing problems so that is really good.
Thanks again to everyone who has responded.
K.
Update Number 2:
I am taking him to the doctor today of course he is not getting as many now so I am not sure that it is hives. They don't seem to be bothering him in regards to itching. He was running a low grade fever last night but this morning when he woke up he said he felt really good.
I will let everyone know what the doctor says as I am very curio us myself. Thanks for all the ideas.
K.
Ok 3rd Update:
The doctor said that is was hives and that it could be from a virus. She checked him for strep which he did not have. Now today and yesterday he is blowing green from his nose so that makes me wonder if it is a sinus infection which of course would explain the hives. If they are not gone by tomorrow or Thursday he is going back to the doctor and then he will be seeing an allergist to find the cause.
K.
I use to get hives as a child from nerves. But never all over. That seems like more of an allergy issue. I would consult with the doctor. It could be something as simple as soap or laundry detergent. Or food related as well. Ask them as benedryl while I good medication should not always be used if it is a continual problem. good luck. For the itching, if there is itching, an oatmeal soak or cornstarch work great:)
stac
Well hives is a alergic reaction to something. Find what he is alergic to and the hives will dissaper
Hi. my daughter just went through this. The dr. put her on prednisone, benadryl. claritin, and pepcid. Pepcid has a histamine blocker in it. They were gone in about 3 days. My daughter is 15 so i think you should take your son to the dr. My dr. told me that benadryl alone would not clear it up. We also don't know where it came from. Hope this helps a little.
Perhaps you are not dealing with hives, but rather one of the childhood illnesses i.e. measles or chicken pox. Children do still get them especially if they are in school, because they are highly contagious. Generally, they are not confined to one area, but rather spreads across the body. They are extremely uncomfortable. Have the children had all of their shots? Perhaps you should see a physician, but I do know that calladryl lotion helps calm the itching. Good luck.
Take him to the doctor right away, could be an infection called hand foot mouth disease which needs antibiotics and a special cream that happened to my daughter, who is 4 years old.
Your kid very obviously has an allergic reaction. You need to talk to his pediatrician and go to an allergist and get him tested. If you can't narrow it down to things he ate that day or was exposed to that day, then they'll have to test him for many things but at least at his age it won't be traumatic. It does not hurt. My 2 year old did fine.
I would take him to the doctor. Hives are generally an allergic reaction some sort. I used to get them a lot as a child. One time I ate too many strawberry from the strawberry patch in our yard. If I ate any thing with the old red food coloring I would get one great big hive on my lip. I have had them on private parts only. I have also gotten them from over exertion. It also could be a reaction to new detergent.
Your doctor should be able to help you get to the bottom of the problem. Also, it is possible to get hives in the throat and this could close off the airway.
The benedry will help, but depending on the problem something stronger might be needed.
Definitely take him to a dermatologist. A few weeks ago I put in a similar request here because I was freakin out that it was bed bug bites but then my condition got worse to where I definitely knew that these weren't bug bites because they got bigger and more hive like. Anyways, I went to a dermatogolist who diagnosed me with Papular Urticaria which means bumpy hives. So far mine aren't going away and I've had it for about 4 months now. I hope your son doesn't have this but I know that once you take him to the doctor you'll at least gain some info on what it could be.
Have you considered heat rash or chicken pox? Sometimes they're hard to determine (my sister's skin is so sensitive that her pox were blisters).
If it's hives, try to figure out what he's been exposed to recently. New detergent? New food? New thing at school (did they get new chairs, carpet, toys)? It can be hard to track down. I am allergic to Neutragena soap - supposedly hypoallergenic. Go figure.
If he gets a fever or gets dizzy or has trouble breathing, seek medical treatment - esp. if he can't breathe. That's an emergency.
HTH.
My son had the same problem. One day he started getting hives and even with benadryl it took 2 weeks for them to go away. it took 2 or 3 episodes of this to figure out that he was allergic to amoxicillin. He is having an allergic reaction to something so it's good to keep the benadryl in him, but if you could find out the trigger that would help in the long run. I hope you are able to figure it out! Good luck!
Hello there,
Well my three year old son had the exact same thing! He came home from school one day with the hives. They weren't too bad but I did notice them. I gave him so benadryl and they slowly went away. I consulted the school to see if anything new was given and also racked my brain for any changes in the house. Nothing. So after seeing them go down and away with the benadryl but coming back when i was giving him the benadryl, I took him to the doc. In the end they told me he had seasonal allergies. That to get hives in young children is the way there little bodies show the allergies. He is now on liquid zyrtec and is totally fine! Just another idea that you may check out.
Hey there maybe your kid is getting the chicken pocks. I would consult your pediatrition.
Hi K.,
I am surely no doctor but..this might help. My son had these bumps but they weren't the same as chicken pocks. They were welts, usually red and swollen. I took him to the doctor and he diagnosed Fifths disease. At that time (about 15 years ago!) the doctor said there was nothing I could do. Just keep an eye out for a fever because that could mean something else is going on..such as strep throat. So..for your piece of mind, you might want to take your boy to the doctor. If it is Fifths disease it will disappear after a few days. If it's not well..it could be something else and easily treatable with antibiotics. He could also have allergies. My son was allergic to oranges and this caused almost the same kind of reaction. Hope this helps!
Hi K.,
I just saw your post and I know what you are going through because my son is also prone to getting hives. The first time he got them I had no idea what was causing them. I was in the same boat where nothing that I could think of had changed in his diet or anything we were using. Coincidently a few days into this I started using some more naturally based laundry detergent and when I realized that his hives were clearing up I washed everything he comes into contact with in the new detergent and the hives went away. It was really weird because I had previously been using the same brand of laundry detergent for months and it hadn't had any effect before and I discovered later that it definitely was a laundry detergent thing when we stayed at my mothers and the hives came back when he started wearing clothes that she had washed. They do say that you allergies can suddenly develop.
The latest incident of hives came up with a stomach virus, and the hives were so bad I took him to the doctor. She said that searching for allergies was like looking for a needle in a hay stack, but top of her list in this case would be that his body has an allergy to the virus he has. Sure enough, once the virus had passed, the hives went away and that was that.
Hopefully that will be the case with your son.
L. P
I had hives as a child too. You have to find out what he is allergic to. What new product and/or food has been introduced to him. It took my parents awhile (1-2 months)...but it was Irish Spring soap and Old Spice cologne for me. Go back to whatever soaps (hand, wahing machine, shampoo) that you used before or that are listed as allergy free types and see if you can eliminate the hives. They have allergy specialist than can help with this if you cannot figure it out on your own. Good luck.
K.,
This certainly could be food allergy. Coming from the holistic side of things, I stay far away from allergists. The tests they do and treatments only treat symptoms and not the root cause. Best bet is a naturpath. They will help you find what is causing the hives. In the meantime. There are homeopathic remedies for hives. If you are not familiar wtih this modality, and want to know the remedy and how to get it, please feel free to contact me, and I can easily give you the info. as well as direct you to a local naturpath.
L. M
Hi K.- If your son goes to Phelps Luck Elementary School in Columbia, my girlfriend's girls also came home from that school with the same symptoms you describe. She did take them to the doctor, and benadryl was perspired. The working theory form the school nurse and doctor is exercise induced hives. The girls have responded well to the medicine. My girlfriend and I both think there is something at the school causing the issue, Please let us know what else you find out and good luck.
Hi K.,
We just went through a bad case of hives with my ds, age 7.5. He woke up with them really bad on his feet, hands, all over on Sunday morning, talked to nurse at peds office, she said give benadryl and watch for breathing issues. Sometimes hives can get into mouth, toungue, etc and block breathing, that is the main thing to be worried about. We ended up at ER that night b/c his lips were swelling a bit and it hurt him to make a fist his hands were so swollen. They check it him good, upped the benadryl dose and told us that a virus, even a normal cold virus, can trigger hives- we never knew that. They said hives should last 2-3 days, for our son it took a full 3.5 days until they were gone. We gave benadryl round the clock every 6 hours, even waking him as needed to keep him comfortable. I also gave him lots of homeopathic remedies to help his body process it out and keep him drinking lots of fluids.
Good luck!
Has he had the chicken pox vaccine? If you have hives and they don't go away, without being re-exposed to the allergen, it's probably not really hives. It sounds like chicken pox, but it could be poison ivy type thing as well. Good luck and call your doctor on Monday if they're still there. Otherwise, treat the symptoms, oatmeal bath and calamin lotion if they itch.
I would consult his doctor ASAP why should he have to suffer any longer than he has to. (I would call the doctor now even though it is the weekend.)If the benadryl not working he can give you something stronger. Do you have any idea as to what caused the reaction? Maybe the doctor can help you figure out what the allergic reaction is from. Ultimately you are going to have to find out what caused the reaction so you can eliminate it so he does not have to suffer anymore. Goo luck & I hope your son is feeling better soon.
Hi K.!
My daughter had hives last year and my first thought was "what is she allergic to?" But I went over everything and I hadn't changed any soaps or detergents and she hadn't tried anything new so I was baffled. I ended up taking her to the dr because I knew the hives were a sign of something. Turns out, she just had a viral infection. They were able to giver her something for the itching that would also gradually make them go away but as for the infection itself, it had to run it's course since it was viral. She never ran a fever or anything else. Just the hives. The nurse told me that hives are considered an emergent because it usually indicates an allergic reaction and that I did the right thing by bringing her in. So I would definitely take your son to the doctor. Hope this helps!
Your son needs to be seen by an allergist, preferably a pediatric allergist. They are being triggered by something he is eating or contacting and will persist as long as he is in contact with that allergen.
