Friday, March 19, 2010

Flashback Friday: Strep Throat

Spring 1998--Spencer has a fever that won't go away.  We take him to the doctor.
Diagnosis:  Strep Throat
Treatment:  10 day course of amoxicillin
9 days into treatment (on his 3rd birthday):  he wakes up covered head to toe in an itchy rash
Diagnosis:  Spencer is allergic to penicillin


Flash forward 12 years without a single episode of strep throat....

Spring 2010--Ellie has a fever that won't go away.  We take her to the doctor.
Diagnosis:  Strep Throat (with Scarlet Fever rash)
Treatment:  10 day course of amoxicillin
9 days into treatment (a couple of days before 5th birthday):  she wakes up covered head to toe in an itchy rash (with swollen lips)
Diagnosis:  major déjà vu 
  



RANDOM FACTS ABOUT MEDICINAL ALLERGIES:  According to our pediatrician (and online research) an allergy to a medicine can show up at any time while taking it.  The most severe allergies often occur within a few hours of beginning it, but it is very common for it to take several days of exposure before reacting.  This was Ellie's first time ever needing antibiotics and her reaction was much more severe than Spencer's including swollen lips and face. It was Spencer's third or fourth time taking penicillin before he reacted.  Once somebody has reacted to a medicine, the likelihood of a more serious reaction in the future is much more likely.  Therefore Spencer and Ellie have doctor's orders to avoid penicillin for the rest of their lives. They estimate that up to 10% of the population is allergic to penicillin. 

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8 comments:

Karey said...

So weird that the rash didn't show up before day 9! Hope Ellie feels better soon!

Charlene said...

I hope she feels better too! Why did the rash take so long to show up?

K said...

Poor Ellie! I hope she isn't too miserable. I remember how much I hated having a reaction to penicillin. Blah! I hope she gets feeling well again soon!

alexandra said...

That's rough! I know one of our kids had a reaction but I can't remember which one, so whenever they ask me at the doctor's office, I just assume they all have an allergy to penicillin.

Now I don't feel so badly about saying that.

I hope Ellie's on the mend (again) soon!

Denise said...

poor baby! that's just awful. I hope she starts feeling better soon!

Shalyce said...

Saw you on MMB. So scary! Glad it wasn't a more serious reaction.

Mika said...

I'm allergic to amoxicillin too. It's no fun. Plus you have to tell everyone in the medical world evertime you go in for anything.

melissa said...

happened to me, I had a reaction when I was a baby but when I was older they thought I would just "grow" out of it and so they gave me penicillin when I had my jaw surgery at age 12. I woke up later and could not breathe I thought my throat was going to close up and I would suffocate, scary stuff! fortunately we were staying with my great uncle (who had done the surgery, so I was staying with him for the month of recovery) and he ended up giving me something around 10 shots to reduce the effect. saved my life and I'm glad I've lived to tell about it :)

the things that blog posts can remind us of!

hope she's feeling better!

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