Possible Antibiotic Rash in 14 Month Old

Dear S.:

If your child had had the rash before, the doctor would've noted it during the examination when he prescribed the amoxicillin.

If I were you, I'd call right away and tell the doctor. Don't wait. He may want you to go immediately to emergency or may meet you at his office.

Best wishes,

M.

I would go to the dr's. My daughter had an allergic reaction to her pnemonia wich produces regular hives and had a reaction to the antibiotic (erythema multiform) which looks like little target marks. Normally it can be treated with simple benedryl but my daughter ended up in the hospital for 4 days because she was swollen twice her size and could barely see out of her eyes. Also she couldn't pee. So I would go to the dr. just to keep on top of things.

Read the insert, that usually always comes in the package with prescription medicines.

Next, put in a call to your Pediatrician. ASAP. Even during off hours, you can call their office, their message machine will mention a "pager" number or physicians exchange number, and you can call the Doctor. And he/she will call you back. That is what they are there for. Even off hours.
If it is an allergic reaction.... you NEED to know, and he will need to be seen.

Next, did your baby have any fever, before or during his illness? (if he has Pneumonia, I am assuming he had had a fever or high fever? This is usually typical of Pneumonia. Often, a baby/child, will get AFTER a fever, what is called a "viral rash" or fever rash (which looks like a heat rash)... it is not unusual and is indicative of the virus leaving the body... and all the toxins coming out. Both my kids have had that, after they have had a fever... when they were younger. If this is the case, it is not contagious and nothing worrisome.

Next, the prescription insert, should in detail, mention any "side effects" of the medicine. OR, you can look up online, if "rash" is common with Amoxicillin.

Next, look for any other things/symptoms, which crops up, since he does have Pneumonia... AND I would DEFINITELY give a call to your Pediatrician. No matter what time of day...
Pneumonia is serious, in baby or adult.

Next, if suddenly stopping an antibiotic... you can get a relapse or he will still be sick, and/or the virus bug will come back stronger.... because it can possibly have gotten resistant to the antibiotic since it was not given for a full cycle.... thereby not giving it enough time to FULLY work in the system.
Amoxicillin is usually given orally, by syrup, for about 10 days. Is that correct?

If the Amoxicillin does not work... you HAVE TO go back to the Doctor, and tell him/her... not all "cillins" will work for each virus. So they will probably prescribe you another type of the same family of medicines.

You SHOULD call your Pediatrician. You don't have to wait until their office is open. Pediatricians are used to being paged and called for many reasons.

Give your son lots of liquids... Pneumonia can dehydrate... or watch that his breathing does not get labored etc. And watch for fever.

All the best,
Susan

Hi S.,
My son had something similar, he had little red bumps all over his back, shoulders, chest, stomach some on his knees and arms too. I thought at first it was a heat rash since it's over 100 most days at my house but ater a week it didn't go away. We took him to the doctors (not his normal dr as she is out on leave until Jan) and he told us it was an allergic reaction, although none of us knew from what. He put our son on Zyrtec for 7 days and said to come back, well after a battle with his doctors off(that's a whole nother story) we finally got him in to see another doctor because he still had the rash after 3 weeks, and the doctor told us with one look at our son that it was not an allergice reaction but a viral infection. Since it was almost gone he wasn't going to prescribe anything to my son but he probably should have been on something. Luckily his little body fought it and nothing bad happened. I would take your little guy in if the bumps don't go away soon. My son had them for 4 weeks and his skin is still discolored from the bumps- the dr did say that would go away though. Hopes this helps,and that your little guys feel better =)
Take care,
H.

I would go see the doctor. My little guy had an allergic reaction to amoxicillin as well. It started showing up after a few days of being on the medicine as little red bumps and it got progressively worse (within 24 hours) to being raised and then filling in so it looked like a raised birthmark. They told me that amoxicillin reactions usually happen after a few days or up to a week after starting the medicine not the first day usually.

Good luck!

My son is allergic to amoxicilin and the rash can show up a couple days after. It starts in the torso area and then it spreads. Absolutely discontinue until you speak to your doctor - it can get even worse causing difficulty breathing, etc. I would get into the doctor's office asap!

Follow your gut. Steam, keep your little one's air passages loose. Reflex, massage, apply slight pressure to the pad of the foot under the toes. That sends energy to the lungs. Apply light pressure to the outside of the big toe by the base of the nail. That reflexes the sinuses. Call your doctor. This does sound like an allergic reaction. A chiropractic adjustment would also help tremendously with the respiratory problems. You baby is not too young. If you don't go yourself, get a referral. I can recommend a great office in Long Beach on PCH just north of Seal Beach. Dr. Mark Kennedy.

Hi, S...
What your children have is called a "penecillin rash" (I probably spelled that wrong). Both my daughters have it too. Since Amoxicilin is derived from penicilin, you can get a rash from it, as well. My oldest daughter gets it far worse than my younger one, and my 16 mos. old son doesn't get it at all. It's a slight allergic reaction. Next time, request something that is not derived from penecilin, and let your Dr. and pharmacist know about it. On a side note, my father is deathly allergic to penecilin, so I don't know if the allergic reaction has anything to do with heredity....?

Good luck!

Hi S.,
I have a 2 year old daughter who has taken amox previously and after a day and 1/2 broke out with a rash on her torso. It was raised red pimple looking bumps. It sounds like your son is also having an allergic reaction. My advise is to call your pediatrician's office ASAP and explain what you see and ask them to call in a different medication to your local pharmacy. Hope this helps.

Don't give him any more. It sounds like an allergy. I am allergic as are my children. It puts me into shock if I take it now, allergies to that build so the more that gets into your system the worse the reaction. My son only needed 2 doses before he reacted to it.
I would take him to the dr as soon as you can so they can see the reaction to document it and determine if it's bad enough to take something like benedryl. They will also want to make sure that the beginning Pneumonia isn't getting any worse and if he needs another antibiotic. With my son it had already cleared itself up and he'd only had the 2 doses so it might have cleared up some on it's own.

I have not given antibiotics, at this point, to my daughter. But I have a friend who's little one got a pretty bad diaper rash after taking some. It was pretty bad and nothing seemed to help. I gave her some cloth diapers, so the area could breath a little...encouraged her to let the tush get fresh air and light...and gave her some diaper lotion potion spray (tree tea oil, lavender, jojoba oil, witch hazel, etc...). That all did the trick within a day or so. I think rashes are common side effects of antibiotics, but you should definitely consult your Ped about it. Hope your little one gets better quick (both of them!).

hi, my little guy also got a rash from amoxicillian. get your little one to the doc, call them and talk about it, no matter what time of night. don't feel like you're bothering the doctor, they are plenty used to it. they had to go with another type of antibiotic. doesn't mean they are allergic, but very well could be.

Hello S.. Sorry to hear your son is going through this :( I wanted to share with you my experience. I had pneumonia about 5 years ago and while I was in the ER, I was administered Levaquin, which is an antibiotic. I didn't realize the effect it had on me until the man I was talking to stared at me and dropped his jaw. I asked him what was wrong and he asked me if I had the chicken pox, and I said no. I looked down and noticed my arm was red with splotches everywhere. I couldn't see anywhere else because I was in a bed, but he said they were all over my face, as well. I don't remember them itching, but I could be mistaken. I was in such shock because I had never had an allergy to anything in my life before (with the exception of latex, but that's not a drug), and it was weird for me. The man called the nurse over, and she looked at me and immediately unplugged my IV. She said, "Now you know you're allergic to Levaquin". End of story. LOL But anyway, I don't know much about allergies but I would say call the 24 hour nurse line affiliated with your insurance, or wait until later this morning and call the actual doctor. Good luck to you :)

I agree with what most everyone else is saying, which is to follow your gut and get him back into the doctor's office. My son had the same thing, and being that not only am I allergic to penicillin, but my sisters and my father also are, I knew right away what was happening. Like other's said too, I know that it can start as a rash, and develop into something more serious (not being able to breathe). I took him in immediately and was told by a N.P. that it wasn't an allergy. She could give no other reason why he would have a rash immediately after starting amoxicilin, so I demanded he be given another antibiotic (NOT penicillin). There are so many other options. Trust your gut. Call your doc.

Hi S.,

Don't stop the meds until you've seen the doctor. It could be either and allergic reaction to the medication, a secondary viral rash, or a complication of the pneumonia. Only a doctor who actually SEES the rash and does other testing, if appropriate, will be able to give you an acurate answer. You can't make these kinds of determinations by written description.

You don't want to stop the antibiotics if it turns out that this is not an allergic reaction because this can lead to antibiotic resistance in the organism infecting your son. It is important that the antibiotics be switched rather than stopped, depending on the Dr's determination. BTW, did your doctor do a chest X-ray to look for infiltrates, or was he going by general signs and symptoms? Viral pneumonia won't respond to antibiotics, but they're usually prescribed prophyllactically because viral pneumonia can lead to bacterial pneumonia. If the disease is known to be viral, it would be OK to stop the antibiotics until you can see the doctor, but go NOW if you haven't already.

As for your other child, everyone is different. Just because one child develops and allergic response to something doesn't mean that the other one will too. Still, it's worthwhile keeping an eye on your older child because allergies can develop with repeated exposure if there is an underlying genetic propensity.

R.

STOP THE MEDICINE IMMMEDIATELY. NOW. BABY'S HAVING A REACTION AND IT'S VERY DANGEROUS WITH ANTIBIOTICS. ALLERGY.
My dad's a doctor.

Wendy

My first advice: call your doctor and don't give any more doses of amoxicillin before speaking with them.

Now, for my personal experience, since I am going through almost the exact same thing right now. My son also got diagnosed with mild pneumonia on Tuesday and was prescribed amoxicillin 2x per day for 10 days. He also has a rash covering his torso, but nowhere else on his body. The rash is tiny red dots all over his tummy and chest. The exception is that I know he had the rash prior to the amoxicillin. He's been seen by two pediatricians and an ER doc this week and all three said it was viral (caused by a virus) and nothing to be concerned about. Now again, I know he had it prior to the antibiotics. If your son's rash looks similar - tiny red dots all over the torso - it could very well be that he has the same thing my son has.

But, as I said, I am not a doctor so you should definitely confirm with yours.

My son had a reaction to amoxicillin that he was given for earaches. Amoxicillin can cause a non-allergic, non-threatening reaction about a week after the treatment starts. You need to get in to your pediatrician as soon as you can. A doctor needs to see a rash to diagnose it. Call the on-call service for your doctor tonight if you aren't comfortable waiting. If your son is breathing fine, his fever is under control, go in the a.m. first thing. If he's acting uncomfortable, irritable, and is having ANY trouble breathing, go to the ER.
With our son, the amoxicillin rash first looked like he had been bitten all over by mosquitos. (We had been in Yellowstone on vacation, so that was our first thought!). It was all over his legs and arms first. By 4 hours later, it had spread upwards/inwards to his chest and face, and just like one of the other responses said, he swelled up like a balloon by the end of the day. If it's this reaction, it LOOKS AWFUL, but at least for our son, he didn't care, wasn't itchy or uncomfortable from it. The doctor knew immediately what it was, and perscribed simple children't benedryl. We stopped taking the amoxicillin, as we were on about the last dose anyway, and with the benedryl, the rash cleared up in about 3 days. Going forward, the doc recommended we make everyone aware that he had this incident, since it could indicate an allergy to all of the "cillin" antibiotics.
I hope that's all it is, and your little one is healthy soon!