As some of you may know from Facebook and Twitter I have a very poorly little girl at the moment. My nightmare started on Friday morning when Erin woke with a small rash. My first thought was that it was chicken pox but I quickly decided it wasn’t and I didn’t like the look of it. After a quick trip to my doctors, I returned home with a bottle of allergy medicine Piriton and the diagnosis of a possible allergic reaction to the antibiotics she has been on. Little did I know that erythema multiforme is a possible allergic reaction to amoxicillin! I had never experienced erythema multiforme in a toddler.
Erythema multiforme rash in a baby
We spent the morning quietly at home but come late afternoon the rashes appeared to be getting worse and I was getting quite worried. I contacted the doctor again and he wanted to check her out, so we headed back down to the surgery. As soon as he looked at her he was dialling the hospital and telling me to take her straight there for further treatment. This was pretty scary as I could feel a sense of urgency that had not been therefore in the morning.
Once we arrived the first doctor was unsure as to the cause of the rash and referred her onto the registra who is more experienced. We were placed in a private room to wait. The registra was dealing with another sick child and we had quite a wait, by the time she arrived, it was about 11pm. She decided to take blood and believed that it was a reaction to something. At this point, she checked Erin’s ears and both were infected, one perforated. This was a surprise as she had been on amoxicillin for a week due to this infection, and it obviously hadn’t cleared her immune system.
Having the blood tests was not nice but I have been through this lots of times with Dylan as he has been anaemic in the past. They kept a cannula in just in case it was to be needed later.
More allergy symptoms
At this point, I tried to settle Erin down to sleep but she was getting more and more distressed. Over the space of an hour, I watched my baby in horror as she began to swell. After a while, I became concerned as her face appeared to be swelling in front of me. It was dark, the hospital was quiet as most were sleeping and I carried her out of her room into the light of the nurse’s station.
Suddenly it was panic stations as the nurses saw her. The registrar was immediately bleeped and Erin was stripped and oxygen levels, blood pressure were all being checked. I started panicking at this latest intervention and wondered what was happening. They were worried that her airways would start closing due to the swelling. Thankfully more Piriton was quickly administered and her oxygen levels were still good which was a good sign.
By the morning the swelling had reduced a little but she didn’t look like MY Erin seeing a toddler with erythema multiforme is quite shocking.
Erythema multiforme treatment
The rashes were continuing to develop and it had been diagnosed as erythema multiforme. We were discharged from the hospital although she is still going in each day for IV antibiotics. On the third day, I had to go to another hospital and they were not happy with the extensive bruising being left behind by the rashes. As soon as the nurse started preparing Erin for the IV I could see that she was looking at the marks and then she started querying the marks. She started asking questions about the bruises and I explained that they are not bruises but the aftermarks of the rash. I felt worried again as I knew she was asking me safeguarding questions about life at home. Whilst I understand why this was happening it scared me as I knew these marks were from this virus.
The nurse got another dotor to come and see Erin before referring us to another consultant.
Thankfully she is sleeping at the moment which gives her some respite from the itching. I am obviously not leaving her side and will be spending another night n the floor next to the cot.
Thanks to everyone for all their messages of support, it really does mean a lot to us.
*UPDATE*
Erin was soon back to herself and we never got to the true cause of the allergic reaction. It is believed that it was a viral infection that she was fighting. Erin is now 7 and thankfully have had no recurrences of this despite being warned it could be the case. Experiencing erythema multiforme in a toddler was pretty scary.
9 Responses
Hi Emma, OMG!! Your poor baby! You must be beside yourself with worry! I hope she gets much better very quickly
xxx
Thanks, am hoping so too.
Poor little thing – sending positive thoughts your way xx
Thanks Paula. The more positivity the better
Oh gosh. My heart was in my mouth as I read this. my little girl is about the same age and is on amoxicillin this week for a viral infection left over from a cold. I cannot begin to imagine the panic and terror involved when the rash and swelling appeared – I burst into tears when I picked up Lara from nursery on Friday and she was down, itchy and screaming in pain and just hugged her and burst into tears but this is way harder for me to comprehend. Wishing you both the best to get through this awful time. Hugs.
Did you ever get a clear answer? My little girl is going through the same thing!
Hi, no we didnt. I understand that you are more prone to the viral infection if you’ve had it once. It was a horrid experince and really quite frightening. I had never heard of it before. I hope your little girl gets over it quickly.
hi,i was just reading about ur daughter after my 15 month old came out in a rash and after seeing 6 different doctors I finally got given a name for the rash,my daughters face has also swoll up and she doesn’t look like her wee self,i was just wondering how your daughter is now and roughly how long did it take for the swelling/rash to go away,my daughter also has just finished an antibiotic and I am stressed out with worry,regards Julie x
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