Rash on upper body

[3boysmom]

Well, we just returned from the doctor. 72 hour strep test will be back on Monday. He has been on Augmentine XR 1000 twice a day and then we cut the pill in half to see if he can maintain on a lower dose without odd things returning. about 42 hours later ds10 has a rash on upper body. Today dr. said it is not an allergic reaction, not Steven's disease, but looks like a scarlentina (spelling) rash. Doctor asked him how long he had it and when he said 2 or 3 days...middle son says to the doctor, "hey, that's as long as I have had this headache!!!!" "What? Headache? You never told me?" "It's from all that reading of books that you have been making me do this summer...." So strep tests for ds10 and 9 year old brother....not the 7 year old brother though...

 

The 9 year old is the brother that got HSP from asymtomatic strep and the one when we cultured the whole family came back positive for strep.

 

1. was the lower dose too low to keep strep away?

2. if he can get strep on this med then will it be the correct med for prophalctic long term use?

3. Could he be strep free and his body be responding to his brother's strep (if it indeed is positive)? his titers are still 1000 too high

4. Scarlentina comes from other illnesses....so what next?

5. Why does all of this have to be so difficult? (don't answer this one!!! )

 

 

 

Thanks in advance! P.S. He is doing great on this medicine, so I really don't want to change........ Linda

[justinekno]

I'm glad you took him to the dr. I'm sorry I can't answer your questions - we are still trying to figure out what our rash is! Last night after one dose of Biaxin my son shows me a small red pimple like bump on his arm next to the faint rash. I was thinking of stopping the Biaxin for a few days to see if the whole rash went away but then this morning the pimple like bump was gone. I am continuing the Biaxin (we seem to be seeing improvement w/ PANDAS symptoms) and see how the rash is on Monday. I'll call the dr if it's still there. I'm interested to hear how your sons' strep tests turns out.

 

Well, we just returned from the doctor. 72 hour strep test will be back on Monday. He has been on Augmentine XR 1000 twice a day and then we cut the pill in half to see if he can maintain on a lower dose without odd things returning. about 42 hours later ds10 has a rash on upper body. Today dr. said it is not an allergic reaction, not Steven's disease, but looks like a scarlentina (spelling) rash. Doctor asked him how long he had it and when he said 2 or 3 days...middle son says to the doctor, "hey, that's as long as I have had this headache!!!!" "What? Headache? You never told me?" "It's from all that reading of books that you have been making me do this summer...." So strep tests for ds10 and 9 year old brother....not the 7 year old brother though...

 

The 9 year old is the brother that got HSP from asymtomatic strep and the one when we cultured the whole family came back positive for strep.

 

1. was the lower dose too low to keep strep away?

2. if he can get strep on this med then will it be the correct med for prophalctic long term use?

3. Could he be strep free and his body be responding to his brother's strep (if it indeed is positive)? his titers are still 1000 too high

4. Scarlentina comes from other illnesses....so what next?

5. Why does all of this have to be so difficult? (don't answer this one!!! )

 

 

 

Thanks in advance! P.S. He is doing great on this medicine, so I really don't want to change........ Linda

[norcalmom]

I'm glad you went. The good news is, even if it is strep, his pandas behaviors are improving. I don't know if you can get the rash with out the actual infection, but it seems possible, seems like the rash is an immune response - like when you have an allergy. I know my son gets pandas symtoms when others around him are sick...so why not a rash?

 

keep us posted on the strep test results.

[3boysmom]

Still waiting for strep test results, but know that it should not be until Monday. In response to "norcalmom" you got me thinking and remembering how PANDAS symptoms got very bad for ds10 before we even knew about PANDAS. He began the face tics and tourretts type movements. I didn't feel well and he had a headache. Strep test for both of us and I was positive for strep, but he was negative. If behavior symptoms are a reaction to strep exposure than maybe scarlentina strep rash can be...??? If I had any money left from all these doctor expenses...I would bet that brother's test is positive and ds10 test is negative... Any takers?

 

Post the answer when I know.

Linda

Edited June 19, 2010 by 3boysmom

[PANDAS_Denmark]

Still waiting for strep test results, but know that it should not be until Monday. In response to "norcalmom" you got me thinking and remembering how PANDAS symptoms got very bad for ds10 before we even knew about PANDAS. He began the face tics and tourretts type movements. I didn't feel well and he had a headache. Strep test for both of us and I was positive for strep, but he was negative. If behavior symptoms are a reaction to strep exposure than maybe scarlentina strep rash can be...??? If I had any money left from all these doctor expenses...I would bet that brother's test is positive and ds10 test is negative... Any takers?

 

Post the answer when I know.

Linda

 

Linda,

For what ever it is worth, I want to let you know, that my 9year old PANDASson gets scarlatini form rash every time he is exposed to strep.

At those times it has been possible to confirm the strep in relatives and/or friends, but not allways in my son.

This has been the case even though my son is treated prophylactically with Azithromycin.

The last 6 month I have been able to give my son more penicllin, when to a certain degree knowing for sure, that he has been exposed to strep and starting to see a reaction in him : Scarlatini form rash, headache, seeing floaters, complaining that his throat hurts, beginning to tic (often blinking his eyes is the first tic), frequent urination, beginning OCDsymptoms, lack of concentration, inverted letters and numbers when writing, separation anxiety ... etc.

My experience is, that giving him more penicillin certainly makes a difference. It has been possible to avoid some of the PANDASexacerbations, that I know for sure, that he would have had otherwise - and the PANDASexacerbations, that was unavoidable (often it seems because I waited to long to increase the penicillin !?) has been much much shorter and less severe, than it has been the case in the 4 years before.

Wishing you ALL the best !

[3boysmom]

Test results for both kids were negative for strep. Still I wonder if someone else in our family may have exposed him to strep. I was thinking the exact same thing that you were (PANDAS_Denmark). I was sitting here contemplating raising his dose of antibiotics to see if the rash goes away. He has had PANDAS symptoms increase in the past when he was around strep but he tested negative, however that was before he was on antibiotics and before we knew what PANDAS was. I guess that I thought the antibiotics would not only keep him strep free but protect him from strep reaction to others.

 

On the other hand...could just be some non related goofy kid thing. If I increase the antibiotics for a few days and it goes away....then if it happens again and I do the same thing...may help me to establish a pattern and help us be aware of how to handle this when/if it happens again.