Allergies, anxiety or illness?

Last night 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 yesterday 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

Dawn,

It might be worth mentioning to a doctor--particularly if it happens
again. While the symptoms are certainly believable for an anxiety
attack, they can also be associated with various other problems.

Karen G

wrote:

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.

I would definitely call the doctor. This does not sound like any normal
phenomenon that I have ever heard of. If it is an anxiety attack, it is one
that certainly sounds urgent enough to seek help for.

--Helen

Although I'd agree that it *sounds* like an anxiety attack, it could
very possibly be from an organic source. Have you recently started
using heat in your house? I ask this because when we first turn the
heat on in our home, we *all* go through a short period of intense
itching, so much so that we're all frenzied. Now, I've mentioned many
times that we're an extremely sensitive bunch, and DS is so nuts about
itching that he does get into the mode you described fairly often. He
absolutely cannot abide itching, to the point that showering is
physically painful to him because he has dry skin and will itch
afterwards. Henry, like my DS, has shown sensitivities that are a bit
'unusual' and he also, IIRC, has a tendancy to overreact like my DS.
With that in mind, I'd definately give him a wide berth and believe
that he was very itchy, and it just got the better of him.

Poor guy, I hate that itchy period. I slather on the Aveeno and suffer
through it, but I really sympathize.

Marjorie

(Iowacookiemom) wrote in message ...
Last night 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.

My best guess would be an allergic reaction (any idea what might have
triggered one??). I think you did well to give benadryl and monitor
his breathing. (One thing to keep in mind for any recurrence is that
liquid benadryl works faster than pills or capsules.)

I would mention it to his doctor, and if he thinks it does sound like
an allergic reaction, ask if s/he thinks you should keep an epipen for
him just in case it ever recurs and impacts his breathing. That may
well be overkill at this point, but worth bringing up, IMO.

Hopefully, this will turn out to be a flukish experience that will
never recur!

Take care,
--Robyn