Penicillin Allergy - Canton,GA

My 16 year old has a penicillin allergy that we found out about when she was a baby. Red rash all over her like heat rash only worse. It took about 2 days after we stopped giving her penicillin to lose the rash. She cant take penicillin or amoxicillin.

Hi K.. My daughter is 3 and we discovered that she is allergic to penicillin when she was less than 1 year old when she took penicillin to treat an ear infection, I believe. I can't remember how long it lasted, but I agree with other posts that you should let the doc see him to confirm that it is an allergy to the meds. They will flag his chart so that he will be prescribed other antibiotics in the future. One thing I wanted to let you know is, sometimes when kids have an allergy to penicillin, they are also allergic to other things, so be on the watch as you introduce solid foods. My daughter was allergic to eggs and milk (all dairy) that we discovered at about the same time as your son's age as we began to try foods. Luckily, the egg allergy is not there any more, but she is still highly allergic to milk, so we have to be very careful with that. I just wanted to give you a head's up. Take care.

K.- Yes- My son had a severe allergic reaction to amoxicillin when he was 10 mos old- it first started out as hives- then he became red all over his body- then it turned into bruise like splotches all over his body- he was literally pulling his own hair out! His reaction was called eurythmia multiforme (sp?) and it took a good 10 or more days to disappear.
HOpefully your little one won't have this severe of a reaction - ifhe does- you can take him to the allergist and they will give him an epinephrin shot to help with the reaction- hang in there-
Nikki
mom of 3

Hi K.,
First, I would stop giving it to him and then call his pediatrician. My sister is allergic to amoxicillin and her pediatrician prescribed penicillin and she wasn't allergic but she did get well. Maybe he needs amoxicillin instead there pretty much the same but you can be allergic to one and not the other.

It all depends on the child. But you NEED to take him to the DR ASAP in order to confirm that it is an allergic reaction and not something else. If it is a reaction, then it needs to be medically documented because a reaction the 2nd time may not just be blotchy skin, could be worse.

S.

When this happend to my daughter, I called the Doc right away and they said to give kid benedryl to prevent the reddness or hives from traveling. She had another allergic reaction prior and it did travel to her poor little private areas, legs, arms..... Call your Dr. for other questions.

When my four year old daughter was eight months old, she had an ear infection and was prescribed pennicillin. She broke out in a rash from the top of her head, to the sole of her feet. In addition, she would throw up the medicine. Her skin remained red for a little over a week. The doctor changed her prescription. I don't recall the pediatrician and I discussing what to do for her skin. However, to make her comfortable, and to remove the redness, I put aloe vera (from an aloe plant I keep in the house- you can also use 100% aloe vera gel) on her skin. It would still be advisable if you talked with your pediatrician, about how long it will take for the skin condition to clear up, and what you can put on it to help it along.

My 16mo old just had the same thing. Her pediatrican said to give her 1/2 tsp of bendadryl every 4-6 hours for no more than 72 hrs. If it hadn't gone away by then she wanted to see her. It only took a few doses and about 2 days. My daughter also has random patches of exzema (sp?) that we treat with a combo of cortizone 1% and Aquaphor. We kept up this regimine with the reaction to help keep her comfortable. Good Luck!