Hives with strep? Anyone see this?

[Stephanie2]

Two weeks ago my son developed hives around his mouth after eating eggs. He then was breaking out when he ate things that had traces of eggs. I had to pull all of this from his diet.

 

Today, he broke out in hives after eating...Annie's Organic Gummy Bunnies. I mean, COME ON!

 

He has had allergic reactions before to peanuts and walnuts (in fact the walnut reaction was anaphylactic and covered his entire upper body including his tongue and lips, had to go to ER, do steroids, yada yada). Later his IgE food panel showed NO ALLERGIES!

 

ALL of these reactions occured surrounding strep and the use of azith. All this time I have been suspecting some hypersensitivity (serum sickness, perhaps) from the azith. I am now wondering if it is the strep itself creating these reactions. I asked the ped about this and she has heard of hives with strep.

 

But what I REALLY want to know is if you smart and experienced moms have seen this with strep and/or azith??!!

 

Going for a culture tomorrow to see if the augmentin did not clear the strep (by the way, how about all these posts recently about multiple abx not clearing strep!? Getting a little scary!). Azith did not clear it a few weeks ago.

[emmalily]

I used to have hives *all the time*, mostly for no apparent reason, sometimes linked to food. I do also get them when stuff is blooming though (like one popped out on my neck this morning, can't remember when I had one last it's been so long, and sure enough everyone around me for the last two days has been sneezing and coughing and rubbing at their eyes because of all the pollen in the air). What's the pollen count like where you live?

[mkur]

I asked the ped about this and she has heard of hives with strep.

Last year when my son was put on antibiotics for acne, the derm would switch them alot. One time he developed hives because I thought he had developed a seafood allergy. The derm switched antibiotics and we avoided seafood for 6 months. He hasn't had hives since.

 

I believe that pandas/lyme can make your immune system go crazy. I'm not sure where the genetics and/or gut enters the picture. My son is a classic pandas but I believe he is now reactive to other things.

 

My brother had asthma(hospitalize several times) which was triggered by wheat. They removed the wheat for 10 years and he no longer has asthma or migrines or a wheat allergy. I cannot remove strep from the environment or control exposure - its everywhere - so we are currently treating with IVIG. I'm hoping it will cause his immune system to calm down and the extra immune cells will attack anything else that shouldn't be there. I'm also hoping that his immune system and the other donor cells are strong enough to fight off anything new he might be exposed to.

[butterflymom]

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Edited October 9, 2015 by tampicc

[Familyof5]

My son used to get hives from cold uticaria (when hives appear on exposed skin with extreme temperature changes). He would be playing out in the snow, come into the warm house and get hives on his face. This went away this past winter (since we removed his major trigger from his immune system: toxic mold). He hadn't had one episode with hives until just a week ago, he was outside playing in neighborhood, came into house and his arms and face starting getting hives. Coincidentally we also got a hampster about three weeks ago. My son's symptoms which had been virtually gone, have started excacerbating: lots of vocal tics: sniffing, throat clearing, clucking, and with the cold uticaria reappearring I'm thinking that the hampster is causing his immune system to rev up. Probably time to put an ad in the paper for a free hampster!

[Stephanie2]

My son used to get hives from cold uticaria (when hives appear on exposed skin with extreme temperature changes). He would be playing out in the snow, come into the warm house and get hives on his face. This went away this past winter (since we removed his major trigger from his immune system: toxic mold). He hadn't had one episode with hives until just a week ago, he was outside playing in neighborhood, came into house and his arms and face starting getting hives. Coincidentally we also got a hampster about three weeks ago. My son's symptoms which had been virtually gone, have started excacerbating: lots of vocal tics: sniffing, throat clearing, clucking, and with the cold uticaria reappearring I'm thinking that the hampster is causing his immune system to rev up. Probably time to put an ad in the paper for a free hampster!

 

Are you sure he does not have strep?

[Stephanie2]

I still don't know what to think. I remember back when my 6yo (4 at the time) had hives for 6 months. It started after being sick (prob had strep looking back) and did not end until 6 months later when he got strep and I gave an antibiotic. But at the same time as the antibiotic he started the gluten/casein free diet, so I can't say for sure what put an end to the hives for him.

[Kayanne]

Yes, my son had hives with strep. He was about 15 mos old, and it was his only symptom. His pediatrician looked in his throat, said it looks a little red, it's probably not strep..let's test it anyway. It was positive.

[AmySLP]

YES-my daughter had huge welt like hives that eventually covered every inch of her body over 3-4 days. After a second MD visit I insisted the doctor swab her for strep & she was positive. It was her only symptom!

[heatherdawn]

My daughter gets hives from the Azith.

[MIAS_MOM]

just a note from my medical view, Hives are generally raised whelps above the skin from an allergic reaction, a rash is more level and bumpy and can have a formation or not, and is caused by viral infections. We have had the "strep rash" several times, but it sounds more like an allergic reaction that your are describing. Good Luck!

[pixiesmommy]

Before she was on abx, Pixie would get hives on her neck periodically- I do not know if they were related to strep or not, but probably, since I have not seen them since she has had IVIG and been on abx.

[Stephanie2]

Since this post was resurrected, I will comment that his strep is gone but I have not "provoked" him to see if the hives are gone yet. He did react to a dog 3 days before the negative throat culture so we will see. I am really hoping I can add eggs back to his diet.

[momcap]

Interesting post! I took DS7 to a pediatric rheumatologist today and we discussed this very thing. I showed him pics of DS's knees and elbow, very swollen. He said it looked more like an allergic reaction rather than arthritis. He said it looked like giant hives, although he's never seen hives exactly like that. He wants a full allergy work up.

 

Last December my younger 2 boys had scarlet fever. Then DS woke up with his face severely swollen and we had a trip to the E.R. While waiting in the ER he got the scarlet fever rash over his entire body. I could literally watch it growing. I asked the doc if he could be allergic to strep and she said that it wasn't strep, it was an allergic rash. I insisted it was scarlet fever, just like the other boys, but his swab was negative. He continued to complain of a sore throat for a full month and we somehow survived his worst exacerbation ever before he finally got a fever and swabbed positive for strep. Is it possible to be allergic to strep? According to the doc today, no. But I'm wondering.

 

DS also tested severely sensitive to eggs, but we cut all eggs and egg products for 6 months with no difference at all, so we gave up.

[Stephanie2]

I don't think the issue is that the kids are "allergic" to strep, but that the strep is making them hypersensitive to the environment. The only reason I say that is that my son was actually reacting to eggs, nuts, dogs...things that are commen allergens but that he had never been allergic to before.

 

Our ped said that she agrees that kids get hives with strep, I guess she has seen it before.