*#%! strep is back

[peglem]

I can't believe it and I'm just sick with grief. My daughter banged her head on the edge of a table at school today and got a slight injury. The school insisted I get it checked out and send in a note clearing her to return to school...it was an over reaction, but as long as we were at the dr.s anyway, I had them do a swab (just really to reassure me that the demon strep was still gone). Her OCD has been amped a bit this week (3rd week back in school), but I was so certain that we were finished with strep, as long as we kept up the prophylaxis- which we have. It came back positive on the rapid....I cried, I'm weepy....its surreal. This can't be happening again!!!!!! We saw the nurse practitioner, and I have to say, she is very good. She's prescribed high dose zith and said if she's not doing better (with OCD) in 2 days, give a call back and she'll do Keflex on top of that. I'm quite certain that this is actually a demon taking the shape of a microbe....maybe I should be looking for an exorcist! (anybody know the insurance code to get exorcism covered by insurance? )

[greenmommy]

I am so sorry.

[T_Mom]

Peglem, what a great nurse practitioner to know! Hope and prayers for quick recovery for your dear one--

[FallingApart]

Peglem, OMG, I'm so sorry! What a horrible shocker! Has this happened before? I'm not familiar with your story to know if this has happened before. Do you have a plan of action to know how to combat this or is this the first time it has come back?

 

Please keep us posted how you handle this so we can all be educated.

[peglem]

Peglem, OMG, I'm so sorry! What a horrible shocker! Has this happened before? I'm not familiar with your story to know if this has happened before. Do you have a plan of action to know how to combat this or is this the first time it has come back?

 

Please keep us posted how you handle this so we can all be educated.

We went through 18 months of different antibiotics with it always coming back a few days after finishing a course. Did a tosillectomy...it came back. Finally got on phrophylactic penVK....it came back. Switched to prophylactic zithromax, January of 2008, and that has been working ever since....I thought we'd finally managed to get rid of it for good. Even if I could get IVIG or PEX approved through insurance, I just don't see how we could possibly get her through the procedure, and she's nearly 15 years old, so chances of that working are slim anyway. At this point, other than what the nurse practitioner is suggesting, I think prayer is my plan of action.

[thereishope]

It's actually odd you joked around with the word exorist, because I've thought that before when my son would be losing it. I also, just the other day, I have no idea where this thought came from, that if some very religious parents saw their kids go through this , they might actually think he/she is possesed.That's so weird to then read your post.

 

Hopefully, you detected it early. Maybe it was actually prayer already helping you. I mean, if she didn't do that school, you may have waited to get her swabbed. When we caught my son's third strep case, I believe we caught it rather early on. It was still a long recovery, but he didn't get as bad as the first and second time.

 

My prayers are with you guys.

[Suzan]

Oh I am so sorry. I can imagine you crying in the office because I'm sure I'd do the same thing! Thinking of you guys.....

 

Susan

[ShaesMom]

I can relate. Last week I had my dd swabbed because she was complaining of a sore throat and had a swollen neck and I just knew I was going to lose it if the results were postive. I was ready to cry just thinking about it. She came back negative on rapid & culture but the swelling is still there.

 

Glad to see despite everything you can still have a sense of humor about it. I hope she improves quickly. So, do you think you will switch abx since she had a breakthrough?

[thereishope]

Did the doctor say if your daughter had tonsillitis? As a child I had tonsillitis a lot, but never strep. That would cause the swollen glands too. If she's old enough to gargle, that would help get rid of it faster.

 

 

 

I can relate. Last week I had my dd swabbed because she was complaining of a sore throat and had a swollen neck and I just knew I was going to lose it if the results were postive. I was ready to cry just thinking about it. She came back negative on rapid & culture but the swelling is still there.

 

Glad to see despite everything you can still have a sense of humor about it. I hope she improves quickly. So, do you think you will switch abx since she had a breakthrough?

[ShaesMom]

Did the doctor say if your daughter had tonsillitis? As a child I had tonsillitis a lot, but never strep. That would cause the swollen glands too. If she's old enough to gargle, that would help get rid of it faster.

 

 

 

I can relate. Last week I had my dd swabbed because she was complaining of a sore throat and had a swollen neck and I just knew I was going to lose it if the results were postive. I was ready to cry just thinking about it. She came back negative on rapid & culture but the swelling is still there.

 

Glad to see despite everything you can still have a sense of humor about it. I hope she improves quickly. So, do you think you will switch abx since she had a breakthrough?

 

No, she said nothing about tonsillitis. How do they check for that? The swelling has just been on one side of her neck and it started out about the size of dime and is now about the size of a small baby carrot. She has also been running a low grade (<100) fever on and off. She is no longer complaining of a sore throat.

[colleenrn]

I am so sorry that your daughter has strep. What dose of Zithromax was she taking? Have you used xylitol nasal spray, gargle, and toothpaste, maybe as a little added measure to kill the strep?

 

Did your NP put her on Zithromaz 500 mg/day for the higher dose? My sister's pediatrician says that physicians routinely under medicate when a child has san active strep infection. She insists that with an active strep infection, Zithromax 500mg is needed.

 

My NP put my kids on Keflex while they were already on Zithriomax b/c they had ear infections. She said it was perfectly fine to take both at the same time.

 

Colleen

[peglem]

I am so sorry that your daughter has strep. What dose of Zithromax was she taking? Have you used xylitol nasal spray, gargle, and toothpaste, maybe as a little added measure to kill the strep?

 

Did your NP put her on Zithromaz 500 mg/day for the higher dose? My sister's pediatrician says that physicians routinely under medicate when a child has san active strep infection. She insists that with an active strep infection, Zithromax 500mg is needed.

 

My NP put my kids on Keflex while they were already on Zithriomax b/c they had ear infections. She said it was perfectly fine to take both at the same time.

 

Colleen

Her prophylactic dose was 250mg/day for 5 days, then 7days rest.

Yes, the NP put her on 500mg/day, for 5 days, and said if I don't see improvement in 2 days, call back and she'd give Keflex on top of the zith. After the 5 days of 500mg, she wants me to do 5 more of her 250mg dosage. She sees her regular ped. on October 1st- we'll have to make some decisions about her prophylaxis- also will discuss Cunningham study results. She should not be getting detectable strep while on prophylactics (that's what I think, anyway). I guess, in the final analysis, this is for the best. It was just such a shock, I thought the nightmare was over and she was on the mend.

[thereishope]

It's just by looking at the throat and feeling the glands. It's viral (not bacterial), so docs don't give antibiotics for it. With me, when I was a kid, sometimes I would get white spots on my tonsils, sometimes it would just be swollen and red. It does go away on its own. They usually tell you to take Ibrupofen if your throat hurts and gargle preferably with salt water. But salt water is a hard thing for a child to do. It tastes so bad. You can have it swollen on one side only too.

 

 

 

 

Did the doctor say if your daughter had tonsillitis? As a child I had tonsillitis a lot, but never strep. That would cause the swollen glands too. If she's old enough to gargle, that would help get rid of it faster.

 

 

 

I can relate. Last week I had my dd swabbed because she was complaining of a sore throat and had a swollen neck and I just knew I was going to lose it if the results were postive. I was ready to cry just thinking about it. She came back negative on rapid & culture but the swelling is still there.

 

Glad to see despite everything you can still have a sense of humor about it. I hope she improves quickly. So, do you think you will switch abx since she had a breakthrough?

 

No, she said nothing about tonsillitis. How do they check for that? The swelling has just been on one side of her neck and it started out about the size of dime and is now about the size of a small baby carrot. She has also been running a low grade (<100) fever on and off. She is no longer complaining of a sore throat.

[ShaesMom]

Thanks Vickie! Good info to know.

[colleenrn]

Sometimes strep is misdiagnosed as only tonsillitis due to a negative rapid strep test or negative culture and the abscence of a fever.

 

Sometimes it can be viral, but be very careful to rule out strep when you are told it is only tonsillitis.