Breaking Out in Hives

I think most of you probably saw this on Facebook, but I thought I'd post a quick update on here in case anybody didn't! We learned today that Elias is allergic to amoxicillin! It kinda took us off guard since this isn't the first time he'd had that antibiotic, but the doc told us that it's not unusual for children to react the SECOND time they have a drug instead of the first. Gee, great.

This was Elias' 10th day on the amoxicillin for his ear infection - he only had 3 more doses before he was finished with it. This morning while we were out grocery shopping, I noticed that Elias' ears were really red. I thought that was odd, but I figured maybe his hat had been on too long or something. Then later when we got home, I saw that his hands were red and they felt warm. Once again, odd, but I didn't know if that meant anything. He was acting fine, so I didn't worry. (Note for any of you who are shouting that this is obviously an allergic reaction - I've never had an allergic reaction to anything... No food or drug allergies... I've never even had poison ivy! So this is all new territory for me.) The only unusual thing about our day was that he woke up very early from his nap, but he wasn't fussy or acting like he didn't feel well.

Later when Justin got home, I asked him if he thought that Elias' red ears meant anything. So then we got to talking about his red hands, and Justin suggested it might be a reaction to the medicine. (Justin is allergic to penicillin himself, so he knows all about this.) Then when we pulled up Elias' sleeves for dinner, we saw that the redness had spread all up his arms, and there were obvious hives on his arms. This child was having an allergic reaction. Justin wasn't near as freaked out as I was, since he's survived this scenario before, but we decided to take him to the local walk-in clinic to be looked at just in case.

So we loaded up after dinner and had the doctor look at him. By the time she saw him, the hives had spread all over his body, he looked so pathetic! (It never occurred to me to take a pic. If he still has the hives tomorrow, I'll capture it for posterity.) So she prescribed prednisone for him just to help his body recover quickly, and she said benadryl will help with the swelling and maybe counteract the way the steriod might keep him awake. So my poor buddy. Welcome to the world of moms with kids who have allergies! I think it wasn't near as scary as an allergic reaction could've been, for which I am THANKFUL!