Clarith making it worse?

[greeneyes48072]

As I posted last week, my son had an allergic reaction to the Bactrim and was switched to the Clarith. His tics have gotten worse again and seem to be back up to almost 100%. He is currently on 4mg of methylprednisolone and the clarith-250mg. I don't know if the steroid has lost it's effectiveness just due to time, if there is an interaction between the steroid and the clarith or if it is the clarith alone causing the increase in tics. The Dr wants to stay the course for 4 more days and see if there are any changes either way. I'm wondering if we should try keflex instead of the clarith or even azith (I read that either can increase side effects if taken while on a steroid-which again makes me wonder about the possibility of an interaction causing the tics). Does anyone have any thoughts? or any feelings on keflex? Thanks so much!

[greeneyes48072]

My son is allergic to Rosephin, which I see is related to Keflex. Outstanding, we are left with almost no options as far as the antibiotic goes...

[lss]

Greeneyes,

 

My son is allergic to Penicillin and the doctor initally gave him cefdinir (which I believe is the same as clarith) and his tics also got worse. Dr. swithced him to zithromicin and it worked much better.

 

Linda

[peglem]

Greeneyes,

 

My son is allergic to Penicillin and the doctor initally gave him cefdinir (which I believe is the same as clarith) and his tics also got worse. Dr. swithced him to zithromicin and it worked much better.

 

Linda

 

cefdinir is the same as omnicef.

[greeneyes48072]

He lost the ability to speak today. It lasted most the afternoon. We had to take him to the ER just in case. They looked at us like we were crazy, yet again. His regular peds dr called and told the ER he feels it is just a flare up of his symptoms. Told us to still stay the course with the steroid and clarith until friday. I plan to ask him to stop the steroid, stop the clarith and give him a full dose of azith for maybe 10 days, with that being the only thing he is on, and see what happens. I'm thinking it may be time for us to drive out to Chicago...

[amy s]

He lost the ability to speak today. It lasted most the afternoon. We had to take him to the ER just in case. They looked at us like we were crazy, yet again. His regular peds dr called and told the ER he feels it is just a flare up of his symptoms. Told us to still stay the course with the steroid and clarith until friday. I plan to ask him to stop the steroid, stop the clarith and give him a full dose of azith for maybe 10 days, with that being the only thing he is on, and see what happens. I'm thinking it may be time for us to drive out to Chicago...

 

 

When you say he lost the ability to speak, what do you mean? Was it an OCD thing where he thought if he speaks something might happen or something like that? Perhaps you don't know what was going through his head on this yet. There were so many things my child did that were bizarre and I never knew 'why'. Is he able to speak now? This must have been terrifying.

 

(hugs) I vote for getting in touch with Dr. K soon too. Have you done a phone consult with him? I don't know where you are but maybe it is just better to go for an appointment, for you. Have you sent him an email?

[greeneyes48072]

It's not that he was scared to speak. He would try and couldn't. He could breath no problem, just couldn't get his vocal cords to work. Seems to be tic related, because he also has a bunch of facial tics he didn't have before either. I would say that Chicago is about a 4.5 hour drive from here...and yeah, I lost it at work (he was at school). Even made my boss cry. Once we got to the ER he could talk on and off, then the problem faded, but the new facial tics remain. I did send an email before this to Dr K, but I don't think I included enough of his histroy since his response didn't really answer my question about the clarith. I plan to kind of start over at go, stop the steroid, stop the clarith and put him on a full dose of azith and see if there is any change. I will also see what my local dr thinks of us making a trip to chicago, or if he would rather do a phone consult himself-dr to dr...

[amy s]

It's not that he was scared to speak. He would try and couldn't. He could breath no problem, just couldn't get his vocal cords to work. Seems to be tic related, because he also has a bunch of facial tics he didn't have before either. I would say that Chicago is about a 4.5 hour drive from here...and yeah, I lost it at work (he was at school). Even made my boss cry. Once we got to the ER he could talk on and off, then the problem faded, but the new facial tics remain. I did send an email before this to Dr K, but I don't think I included enough of his histroy since his response didn't really answer my question about the clarith. I plan to kind of start over at go, stop the steroid, stop the clarith and put him on a full dose of azith and see if there is any change. I will also see what my local dr thinks of us making a trip to chicago, or if he would rather do a phone consult himself-dr to dr...

 

Well, I wish you the best. I've heard on here that some kids with a tic disorder get worse on steroids. I'm pretty sure Chemar has said that several times. When my dd did a steroid burst she didn't have COMPLETE relief of symptoms but enough of a difference that we could tell that the IVIg would be effective for her. I feel bad for your son, I wonder what was going through his head when he was trying to talk and couldn't. Hang in there greeneyes-

[greeneyes48072]

Thank you so much for your input and help. The steroid burst actually did work (85% reduction) when we did it over the holiday. We were just trying to achieve a longer lasting effect by keeping him on a low dose once a day for a couple weeks. Worked great the first week. He also seems to have a cold, so that may be part of it too. Thanks again!