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Allergy or something else?
A few nights ago Henry (11 yo) was studying spelling with my husband. He was
having a harder time than usual with it. Out of nowhere, he began removing most of his clothing, saying that he was very hot. Then he began vigorously scratching himself all over his body, saying he itched. He became frantic, almost unable to communicate, shouting, "Get away from me, it hurts! It hurts!" and ran upstairs to his room, where he vomited. He continued to say his chest and stomach hurt and did not want anyone around him. For about 10 minutes, he was writhing on the floor, scratching himself, half-crying, half-shouting about the itching and the pain. Repeated questions about where it hurt, how can we help, etc., seemed to make it worse. He kept saying he wanted to go to the emergency room but it was clear he was breathing fine and when I managed to get close enough to take a temperature he did not have a fever (in fact, it was low -- 95.2). Gradually I got through to him to calm down and describe symptoms more completely: sharp, stabbing pain in the chest, throat and stomach along with unbearable itching (I get allergy-related itching in my feet and I know how frantic it makes me, so I can sympathize). He had no visible welts or hives (then again, I never get them on my feet either). I gave him benadryl and monitored him closely. He asked for ice water and almost got going in the frantic mode again, exclaiming that it felt like his throat was growing hair. At that point I worried about a severe allergic reaction but he was breathing very well, no swelling in his throat etc that was visible. As I got him to calm down I had my arm around him and my palm was on his chest. Even when he was visibly much calmer, his heart was really racing. He fell asleep within a half hour and woke up completely fine, went to school with no incident, and his only comment when I asked him if he was feeling better was a silly, "good enough for a third popsicle." I'm left confused and a little unsure whether this is even worth a trip to the doctor -- The more I think about it, I wonder if it was an anxiety attack. About a third of the kids in his class were out that same day with various symptoms ranging from stomach flu to sore throats and fevers; he never really had anything that developed in to something I could describe as an illness. Do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone? -Dawn Mom to Henry, 11 |
#2
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Allergy or something else?
I'd have taken your son immediately to the ER, with a phone call to the ped. to notify that you were en route. The "throat feels hairy" is a scary thing for a kid to say. The frantic reactions were scary, too. I'd phone the ped. first thing Monday to make an appt. and find out what went on. I see a trip to an allergist in your son's near future. I think you got lucky; whatever was bothering your son went away instead of getting worse. It *could* have gotten worse. --Beth Kevles http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner. NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would like me to reply. |
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Allergy or something else?
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#4
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Allergy or something else?
Iowacookiemom wrote:
A few nights ago Henry (11 yo) was studying spelling with my husband. He was having a harder time than usual with it. Out of nowhere, he began removing most of his clothing, saying that he was very hot. Then he began vigorously scratching himself all over his body, saying he itched. He became frantic, almost unable to communicate, shouting, "Get away from me, it hurts! It hurts!" and ran upstairs to his room, where he vomited. He continued to say his chest and stomach hurt and did not want anyone around him. For about 10 minutes, he was writhing on the floor, scratching himself, half-crying, half-shouting about the itching and the pain. Niacin flushing? Wendy |
#5
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Allergy or something else?
Niacin flushing?
Huh? -Dawn Mom to Henry, 11 |
#6
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Allergy or something else?
Iowacookiemom wrote:
Niacin flushing? Huh? Well, google it, woman! :-) We've recently started taking niacin supplements. It's a B-vitamin and it's possible that your kid got a larger-than-normal dose if he ate several vitamins plus some supplemented cereal, I suppose. An unusually large dose for your tolerance level can cause "niacin flushing". I'm no doctor, but my personal experience is that it causes a hystemic reaction where the skin turns hot and red and itches. It lasts 10 minutes to 1/2 hour. It's worse if the niacin was taken with something hot. It has to do with the dilation of the blood vessels near the skin and the flushing out of toxins that don't normally fit into the tiny vessels so when they DO fit they start flowing and your body sees them as foreign. Or something. Remember, I'm no doctor. But niacin flushing is harmless, though startling. A racing heart could just be from panic at what's happening. The pain? I don't know about that. I personally experience itching with the same intensity and flight response as I do pain. (In other words, itching terribly and being in terrible pain have about the same response in me and maybe your kid confused the words?) -- Wendy |
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