Reaction to penicillin....

[bekkyboo]

My poor boy has a severe throat infection, so we were prescribed penicillin.... This was Tuesday

Yesterday, light rash...


Today, all over back and stomach - up neck, behind ears - got alot worse after last dose.

I have booked in with Gp for this afternoon when hubby can take him (no car at home at moment)...

Anyone else out in hubber land with bubs reacting or allergic to penicillin? And what else should i keep an eye on before he gets to the Dr this arvo...???? anything i can do to help?

he doesnt have a high temp (but with his egg allergy that comes after rash,so ill be keeping a close eye on him) - what else should i look for.

also when can you ask for a pr!ck test? as he has a shown reaction to eggs, now this and had intollerances to wheat and dairy (better now).... i dont want to keep trying him him on new things and get more reactions.... There are no real allergies in the family either (except for i just found out, penicillin in FIL)

Any help would be awesome! TIA

[Mrs J]

My DD is Deadly allergic to it, she starts off with the rash and it ends up with her not being able to breath as her throat swells up etc not a pretty sight and its hard because most of the meds have it in it.

[bekkyboo]

how long after the rash comes out dose she have breathing difficulties?

G just fell asleep in his high chair so he is in bed now, I better keep a close eye on him...

[Miaow]

EJ has an allergy to penicillan also and came out in an itchy rash all over her neck and chest the last time she had it. She did get wheezy a little the same day also but she had cows milk for the 1st time and threw it all up so am not sure if the wheeziness was due to the penicillan or the milk as it happened after the milk.. She'd had bad diahorea also so i'd actually stopped the antibiotic the day before i saw the doc about the rash but i was on penicillan also and she was reacting to that in my milk

Make sure also you don't give him anymore of the antibiotic until you see the doc.

[Lirael]

DD is, but I wouldnt know how severe as I took her straight to the doctor. but my doc is a 5 min walk away. you can get other anti bs though

[mum2my4]

My oldest son is allergic to penicillin after 1 dose his whole face swelled up like a balloon. He looked awful. I took him to emergency and they gave him phenergen to stop the reaction.

He was then prescribed non-penicillin ab's.

The main thing to watch out for is swelling of the tongue and airway which causes an obstruction and then they can't breathe.

[Pippi Longstocking]

My sister nearly died from a complication from an allergic reaction to penicillin. She developed Stevens Johnson syndrome and spent 8 weeks in intensive care.
Do be careful! If you suspect an allergic reaction, definitely get him checked out.

[bekkyboo]

Hubby is about to leave to take him now.

He has got a phlem (sp?) cough now, and still has the rash. I didnt give him any more of it, but you could notice a big difference after the dose this morning....

[Miaow]

:hugs: Hope all goes ok at the docs - As the others have said they will change the antibiotic to a non-penicillan one (EJ has Erythromycin (sp?) instead)

The rash with EJ took a couple of days to settle down - my doc said to put a little cortisone cream on it when i took her.

[theycallmemum]

My eldest son allergic, he came out in a pimply rash all over his body as a bub. The rash may be related to the infection your bub has but the doctor should be able to tell the difference. If it is a penicillin allergy you need to make sure he isn't given it again as the first couple of reactions might be mild and then your child can have a severe reaction. My son wears a medic alert bracelet just in case we are in an accident or something like that.

[Mahjong]

DS is also allergic, a light rash develped after giving him a dose when he was about 18 months old...

Hope the little guy is OK, keep us posted :)

[bekkyboo]

Well, the Dr's went PATHETIC... Hubby took him as we only have the ute at the moment, So i wrote down everything that has happened, what when where and how so they knew every little detail. Turns out that our regular GP has hired a new Dr, and we got her.... Great.... that trip was utterly useless.

So this is how it played out...

Rash? Oh, thats not bad - It had calmed down ALOT, he still had a bright red rash covering half his back, a light pimply rash on his belly, and some behind his ears. This morning after the dose (so the 4th dose ever - the other doses the rash was building up but i didnt put two and two together) - the bright red rash was all over his back, and the other over his belly, and bright red behind his ears.

Throat? Looks to be good Of course it looks good when you dont actually get a good look there! This is the reason he was on it in the first place. 2 days ago the dr described it as SEVERELY infected... So bad it was giving him an upset tummy... So BS it was fine...

What to do? Take him off the penicillin and put him on pnuergon (sp?) - Even tho the rash "isnt bad" and it doesnt itch him, and without the penicillin IT WONT BE THERE! and more than that, didnt give him anything to combat the infection without the penicillin.

So he is on nothing now, and im still none the wiser about what happened. In the list i asked about getting a skin pr!ck test - but she didnt even say anything about that... J gave her the list to read as he found it impossible to read it and keep G under wraps...

Oh, she didnt tell J what amount of the other too - or anything...

Im going to keep an eye on him tomorrow, and as soon as i can - make an appointment and demand our regular GP and try and get to the bottom of this.... Whats the point on going to a dr if they dont deal with the problem??? Allergies in babies are serious, I dont want to play around with this...

[Miaow]

Not good that the new doc wasn't helpful at all :( Hope you can get into see your usual doc as soon as you can :fingerscrossed: Hope the rash will clear up fast now the penicillan is stopped.

[rynosmum]

This is exactly what happened with our son when we took him to Emergency with a penicillin allergy.

They need your son off all antibiotics to clear his system. If you sense his other symptoms coming back, take him back and they can put him on something not penicillin based.

They gave him Phenergen to stop the effects of the penicillin which is absolutely paramount.

There is a risk of anaphylaxsis which is life-threatening so the Dr has recommended the right course of action. Absolutely though, head back if the original illness resurfaces. Strangely enough, our son's original infection didn't come back so no further antibiotics were required.:thumbsup:

[bekkyboo]

Thanks :) Im sure it will be fine now, im just p'oed that i dont really know what to do next, and whats going to happen next with his throat, he has already been sick for almost a week... I hate stupid doctors, i seem to get them everywhere i turn lately.

[bekkyboo]

Thanks RM, I was just frustrated for the fact taht she did really just dismissed it all. She said to J that the rash wasnt bad - and that it wasnt a problem, He said that he didnt know what it was like earlier - because he wasnt home... But it was literally 20 times worse.... She (given that this is a secondhand account through hubby) was very flippant and didnt give any real dirrection at all. She didnt tell us how much of Phenergen to give him - and this was after she said that the reaction was "not bad".....

Im just so angry because - once again, my boy is sick, i couldnt be there to explain to the doctor properly and i didnt get any more clarity to the situation.

[rynosmum]

Im just so angry because - once again, my boy is sick, i couldnt be there to explain to the doctor properly and i didnt get any more clarity to the situation.

Competely understandable - I'd feel exactly the same way. I hope he feels a bit better tomorrow, poor little man.:hugs:

[bekkyboo]

Thanks, Me too... He has been sick for about 5 days now :( Ive decided to make an appointment when i can take him back myself - somethings can only be done by a mum :rolleyes:

On the issue of skin pr!ck tests - what things are tested? Can they do penicillin like that too? Because by the time i get back to the doctor with him the reaction will have gone and they will have no proof of what the reaction was?

The reason im pushing for it is, he has had the same reaction to Eggs (each time we tried it got worse), and first try of wheat and milk came up with an intollerance (they have since cleared) - i dont want to keep finding these allergies out the hard way....

[Roopee]

I have a severe reaction to penicillin. I cant touch it, get it on my skin or ingest it. It started when i had my first dose of it whn i was about 8 and i had the same symptoms as your son but then a few years later a Dr decided to prescribe it to me, telling my mum that i would hve outgrown it by then. I hadn't.
I was rushed to hospital with a severe reaction, where my throat had all but closed and i was slowly suffocating, had a massive rash everywhere. I was minutes away from dying apparently.

PLEASE do not let a Dr prescribe it for him again!
Get him a medical bracelet- you can get some cool ones now- mine is one of those solid silver "knot" bangles and if your Gp is hesitant in labelling him allergic i would find a new Dr.
My three older children haveall had penicillan and none of them are allergic so far.

[harvey123]

i'm allergic to penicillin and am also allergic to erythromycin which is what they tend to prescribe if your allergic to penicillin. just be careful with any other antibiotics. i'm not sure if you can have a ***** test done for antibiotics but it would be worthwhile because when i was given erythromycin not only did i have a reaction i then had to start another course of antibiotics. at least maybe you could find an antibiotic that you know is safe.

[bekkyboo]

I didnt give him the antihistamine last night, but i did this morning as the rash is still raised on his back and behind his neck. I talked to my dad (ambo) and we decided it was best to give him it - so hopefully he doesnt have an adverse reaction to that!

So him to need the medic braclet, does it need to be a confirmed allergy? As the doc was usless and didnt do much in the way of diagnosing it and i dont want to have to go through all of this again just to have it 'confirmed'....

[Miaow]

So him to need the medic braclet, does it need to be a confirmed allergy? As the doc was usless and didnt do much in the way of diagnosing it and i dont want to have to go through all of this again just to have it 'confirmed'....

I've been thinking of getting a bracelet for EJ also when she gets a little bigger cause at present she doesnt go anywhere without me so it isnt really needed.

My doc just took one look at the rash and the fact she (and i cause of breastfeeding) had been on it and said it was an allergy to it and noted it straight away in her record. He never did any other tests to as such 'confirm' it.

[kamaraj]

Ds1 was on penecillin a few weeks back for a bout of tonsillitus. He had a major rash all over but was really bad behind his knees, groin area, under arms and behind his ears. Once his course was up the skin started to peel up from the tips of his fingers, I never thought it was a reaction of any kind just that the anti biotics were strong and thats how his body coped. I thought it was a heat rash from his temps but from reading all this I wonder if it was a reaction.

[Miaow]

Ds1 was on penecillin a few weeks back for a bout of tonsillitus. He had a major rash all over but was really bad behind his knees, groin area, under arms and behind his ears. Once his course was up the skin started to peel up from the tips of his fingers, I never thought it was a reaction of any kind just that the anti biotics were strong and thats how his body coped. I thought it was a heat rash from his temps but from reading all this I wonder if it was a reaction.
Make sure you tell the doc about that next time you go and see them as it does sound like a reaction to it