We had a real fright on Friday with our youngest daughter, Amalie, who has just turned one.
My husband brought her upstairs first thing in the morning, saying in an anxious voice, “Kare, can you look at this?”
Amalie was covered in gigantic hives (sometimes referred to as wheels or a nettle sting rash – raised, white, itchy bumps on the skin). They were all over her back, stomach and arms. They were all joining together and some were as big as my palm so it looked really frightening.
I have had lots of hives in the past so at least I realised what it was. And I know they are often caused by an ALLERGY to something. This is pretty scary the first time it happens as you have no idea if it will worsen – and we also had absolutely no idea what she was reacting to.
I had a similar episode when I was travelling on my honeymoon and we had just arrived in New Zealand. I think it must have been from a washing powder that we had recently used in South America.
I stripped off and showered immediately but by that point my whole body was covered in what looked like a gigantic white blister. Both myself and my new husband feared I had contracted something tropical and awful. It’s not a good look for your honeymoon, either.
Thank goodness they disappeared and were never to been seen again – well, that severe, anyway. I often have small patches of hives after reacting to soaps, toiletries, washing powders and possibly sulphites. It has been so much better since I was diagnosed with coeliac disease and lactose intolerance, though, and have been gluten and lactose free.
So at least this gave me some peace of mind with little Amalie – I knew they could disappear. First, we stripped her then I put her in the shower with me. The hives slowly started to disappear so I thought maybe it was from the PJs she had been wearing as she hadn’t worn them before.
We took her into nursery as normal – alerting them to what had happened. She was fine all morning but at 2pm, they called us. Again, she had hives all over her body. This time they reported they were all over her arms, legs, stomach and back and were starting to appear on her face. They were really concerned and worried they were just going to get worse and worse. I collected her and managed to get a last-minute doctor’s appointment.
At home, she was screaming, throwing herself around, back arching and clawing at the skin on her neck and face. At this point she had hives covering nearly the whole of her back and all over her forehead, too.
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A few days before this happened, pin-prick spots had appeared all over her chin and cheeks and her cheeks also went bright red and rough. I had just put this down to a bit of eczema and dribble rash (she is referred to as ‘Dribbler’ by one of my friends and produces saliva by the gallon).
We set off to the GP with most of her back covered in hives. By the time we got there, of course, there was only the smallest one ever remaining on her side. Otherwise they had all disappeared. Typical.
I showed the GP some pictures I’d taken earlier (knowing this would probably be the case and that I would just look like some neurotic mother). She confirmed they were hives and that the only thing we could do was to use some Piriton (antihistamine) and that if we noticed any swelling of her throat and/or mouth or breathing difficulties, to call 999 (see our anaphylaxis leaflet for more information of a severe allergic reaction).
We gave her 2.5ml Piriton straight away, but as soon as we got home and put her in the bath, her back was covered again.
She had difficulties sleeping at first so we got her up and, again, she was covered in them. She eventually slept and woke up in good spirits. She only had a few little hives on her legs, but during the day again she developed massive patches of them all over her. Just coming and going. This has been going on for days.
Now the question is – what is causing it? I know hives can also be triggered by heat and cold, medications or an infection.
My other daughter has coeliac disease but this experience has given me a very small taste of what it must be like to have a child with a food allergy or other allergy. It’s so scary and frustrating when you have absolutely no idea what is causing it.
In our case, we have not changed our washing powder or anything else like that, she has not eaten any different types of food. It is very confusing. So maybe it is just due to an infection? Or she has suddenly become allergic to something?
I would definitely welcome other people’s experiences of anything like this. And I’ll keep you posted on our little Amalie.
By Karen Woodford – a rather anxious mother of 2