Antibiotic ingredient/Vision question

[powerofprayer]

My dd (4yo) has a UTI and the prescribed anitbiotic has phenylalanine in it. Even though her tic has been very minor to non existent over the last month and a half, I am worried this will cause something to flare up. Those of you that are pretty knowledgable in the bio chemistry field, what do you think? Am I worried over nothing? I should tell you, she's been on the antibiotic twice a day since last Friday and I have not noticed any increase.

The other point i wanted feedback on is her eyesight. I was going to ask for an opthamology referral since i noticed that she rubs her eyes alot now. Sometimes I'll notice a blinking tic right after rubbing, but mostly this last month, I've only noticed excessive rubbing. Usually her right eye it seems. But before i coud request a referral her pediatrician said she WANTED her to see a specialist b/c her little eye test with the chart showed 20/30 and 20/40 vision. She said they like to refer at 20/40. So could this rubbing and the decreased vision be a result or cause of the blinking tic that started in the spring? I thought maybe the rubbing was possibly allergies (no testing done yet) but now that i hear her vision isn't perfect maybe she's just been straining her eyes. What do you think?

Unfortunately i'll have to wait until oct 19 to get her in to see the opthamologist. In the meantime i worry that if there is an issue, it'll just get worse. Anyone else out there with a child who did the tight blinking and who also has poor vision?

 

Thanks for all the input!

 

Nadine

[faith]

Hi Nadine,

re the eye rubbing, mys sone does that from timet to time, (not with a closed fist, but with his fingertips and rubs downward). I have seen that over the years and he has had bouts with eye blinking. I'm not completely sure if it has anything to do with allergies, but that is always a possibility. I have experimented with eye allergy relief drops, but didn't note any obvious improvement. He has not blinked for most of the summer, but am noticing that going on right now (along with some rubbing) and hoping it will pass. ... So far his vision seems fine, and we have had about three full pediatric opthomology exams since 4 years old and everything checked out normal. (he is eight now). Last exam was two years ago, I believe. I have the same worries, but so far so good. Don't know if this helps, just letting you know our experience.

P.S. last semester the teacher told me he was pulling on his eyelashes and sometimes I see him doing that, not sure if it's tic related, probably more like a compulsion.

 

 

Faith

[trubiano]

My son was on Bicillin LA and started rubbing his eyes after about 4 injections. When I asked him why he said his eyes were fuzzy. After I read about the Bicillan I saw that some of its side effects were blurry vision and blindness. Has your child been on the same antibiotic long? It might be worth calling your pharmacy and checking if it could be a side effect. I called me PED and was told to see an eye doc because it was not a symptom. It wasn't unitl I went to Border's and looked it up in a PDR that I found out on my own that it could be his antibiotic.

[powerofprayer]

Thank you Faith and Trubiano for your replies. To answer your question Tribiano, this current antibiotic for the UTI she has just been on for a week. We only have about 4 days to go with it. Plus her excessive eye rubbing has been going on much longer.....I'd say about a month at least. It seems like when the tight tight blinking tic subsided, the rubbing started. I do not believe the rubbing is a tic or a compulsion in her case.

Faith...my dd blinking tic also seems to slowly get better during the summer. If i do happen to see one, it's just that......maybe one or two at a time. Not one every 10 seconds like in the beginning. It just has me wondering if the blinking tic somehow caused some irritation that makes her want to rub or what? Or was she blinking b/c they were already irritated or her vision was poor? I am real curious as to what the opthamologist has to say.