Seeking Advice in Long Island for Odd Rashes/hives

Did she have blood test to test for: EMA (Immunoglobulin A anti-endomysium antibodies) AGA (IgA anti-gliadin antibodies)
AGG (IgG anti-gliadin antibodies) tTGA (IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase)

My son at age 18 months old only weighed 18 pounds. He had rashes and skin problems and we could not get weight on him. My husbands mother had Celiac Sprue, but with no rashes. I saw some of the same traits in him. So I looked it up and found out what to ask the doctor to look for and had him tested. He has Celiac Sprue. It took 2 months of a total gluten free diet to straighten him out. Now at 16 years old he is 6' 2" & 190 pounds of muscle.
He is also very seneitive to dust, chemicals grass and certain trees, but not "Allergic" to them.
The Celiac website is http://www.csaceliacs.org/celiac_diagnosis.php

Good Luck.

Beet Red rash could be a yeast infection out break. It could be caused by sensitivity to Tylenol or amoxicillan. And it can cause fever. However, I want you to know Allergies can occur anytime. One day you may not have an allergy to something, but the next you can because the body is constantly changing especially in children. Don't be deceived by the thought that it never happened before.
Have your child checked for a body yeast infection. I have seen it before in my a dear close friend and in my niece. They thought it was allergies or even Eczema, or Psoriasis. It took them months to find out it was yeast. But don't be closed minded to exploring options.
Your child's health is important and the description you have given seems severe.

Good Lord, I know how frustrating this can be! You do everything right and it still comes out wrong. Our youngest daughter had numular eczema as an infant, asthma and ear infections and it drove us crazy. We spent hundreds of dollars on Dr. visits, creams, antibiotcs, allergy tests and suffered so much stress with worry and sleepless nights. Finally I made the decision to stop using traditional cleaners in the house, began washing her clothes and bedding with Shaklee's laundry products and I got all the other toxins under my sink out of the house. In fact I found the only thing I could bathe Kelly in was Basic H! ( which is an all purpose cleaner)I too had felt like I was spinning plates at a circus and it was diffcult to keep them all from falling until I was introduced to learning about the effects of the modern day arsenal of chemicals that are in our homes on a daily basis. Her skin became calm, her asthma under control and her constant scratching and clawing at her eyes and nose stopped and she became a happy kid. This changed not only her life but our families as we planned our life around her. I would love to share more, even about the Airsource unit that brought even more benefits for her and the whole family. Take a look at our website at www.shaklee.net/andreozzi and push the contact button and I can send you my personal health testimony. Good luck! Mare

A possibility could be her having an allergic reaction to soaps, shampoos, laundry detergent. Could be from her bath so she should be completely rinsed well each time. Try changing the soap also. Could be from the laundry soap used, and any fabric softeners,too, which could leave a residue in the clothes. Plain old Ivory soap and laundry detergent is probably the best although some people say they are allergic to it. But if clothes are rinsed well there should be no problem.
Or could there possibly be some plants around, such as poison ivy, sumac or oak, that she could have some contact with? Another allergy is to many different metals, such as those in children's jewelry, belts or decorations on clothing.
Hope this helps you find a solution as I know from experience how uncomfortable and painful this can be.

I know you mentioned having your daughter tested for food allergies. Did you have just the skin tests or did you have the blood tsting done as well. FYI, the blood testing is the most accurate. My son has battled allergies since he was an infant. it started with red patches & exzema. The skin test, did not reveal too much, but the blood test revealed so much, the number one thing my son was allergic to was my cat. I had to get rid of her after 18 years, which meant I also had to pull up the carpet & get new carpeting as well (becasue of the cat dander). The second thing he was the most allergic to was milk, so he has been on rice milk since he was 1 year (he is now 6 1/2). He is aloso allergic to augmentin, breaks out in hives. I have had my son retested as recently as May 07, number one allergen any pet dander, cats, dogs, etc, milk & eggs, plus a whole host of other things. Even if I make Mac & Cheese, I have to separate his & make his with rice milk.

Hi C.: You mentioned that your child is allergic to dust. Have you tried an electronic air purifier? Homedics manufactures an appliance. You can also go online to further research what's available. Consumer Reports rates products based on cost,quailty,and performance. It's necessary to crank-up the heat during the winter season which results in collected dust being forced into the air. If you have a vented heating system you may need to vacuum the vents more frequently during this time of year. In addition, where there's dust, there are dust mites which may be contributing to your child's allergies. Frequently vacuum the mattress and box spring. I hope that your child's condition is soon remedied. Hope you find this message to be helpful. C. N.

christina,

so scary. i can only imagine. i would seriously start seeking a specialist maybe at schneiders or stony brook. if your pediatrician and allergist can't figure it out, it's time to go to the next level, especially if they keep getting worse. many people with serious allergic reactions have to carry around an 'epipen'. i work with someone who is allergic to many things, even benadryl. allergies can develop at any time, even to things you were never allergic to before. i took penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, etc. as a child, now i'm allergic to them. medication allergies are tough unless she is only taking one. if she is taking several different drugs, it's hard to say if one and which one is the culprit. is there a cleaning product you stopped then started again? could it be some sort of mold allergy? it has been warm and moist around here the past couple weeks. i say specialist, specialist, specialist. i wouldn't fool around with it.

Does the rash move? My son came down with a rash and hives, not a bulls-eye, and it turned out to be Lyme Disease. Symptoms are different in children. The dr. didn't know what it was and refused to believe me. My son tested positive for Lyme disease after 3 days of taking amoxicillan. I hope for your child's sake it is not Lyme Disease and what the other mom said about the zyrtec and steriods working, works for you child too.

Like another mom said, one day you can be fine with something and the next you can be allergic...I too am allergic to penecillan, rash & hives, only after I got pregnant.

Keep on top of the Dr.s.

I can't believe another mother is going throught what I went through with my daughter. She started getting hives soon after she had tubes put in her ears (age 2)-We also ruled out any allergies through testing . I went to dozens of doctors who really had no answers. She looked like she had some sort of disease !! It was horrible !! I couldn't look at her. Her skin would be hot to the touch, and she was also swollen, but no fever. This is what I feel is causing this:

The allergist did a chest x-ray with the initial outbreak and it was found she had pneumonia !! No one else picked this up. She went on medications but after the pneumonia cleared up, she would still get the hives. The allergist (I will be glad to give you his name , if you want)-decided to put her on a combination of Zyrtec and Pepcid.
The combination of an antihistamine and the antacid cleared her up !!! Eventually, I was able to wean her off after almost 2 years of medication. As a mom, who has gone through this for so long, I can almost "sense" that the hives are not going to come back. What I feel is that when she gets some sort of virus ( and she might not have any symptoms of being sick-), this is how her body reacts. She recently came down with Fifth's disease (sp?)-and I saw a few hives come out again. I started the meds again and they worked.

Believe it or not, my 9 year old son also got a severe case of hives recently after getting nervous about running for student council in school. The allergist said he never saw 2 children in the same family come down with hives like this. Same thing, he was swollen, hot to the touch etc.
Same meds (but Zyrtec was changed to Clarinex as Zyrtec in now over the couner), and they worked again.

When both my kids were in a severe state of inflammation, the allergist gave them an injection of steroid/antihistamine. This worked almost immediately, but the shot is very painfu.

Good luck. By the way, I am taking both children to an immunologist at Schneiders Hospital at the end of the month to make sure there is nothing wrong with their immune system. Although, like I said, I think this is how their body reacts when they get a virus.

Let me know how you are doing. I know this is tough.

D. B