OT - sorta (long)

So I have been having a rough few weeks....the top most issue beng illness at home. My daughter and I both came down with strep throat. She, of course, recovered nearly instantly and I can still barely swallow. Good for losing weight but not much else :(

First round of meds I took made me so sick, and I still had a fever after 5 days....took me back to the doctor for a new perscription. Drug #2 seems to be better, although I would really really like to be back to 100% now, especially in this heat.

Anyways, I took my 8 yr old daughter to the splash park. She was on the last day of her meds and there was an issue about allergy at first but the doctor was sure she wasn't allergic because it wasn't in her file....I thought we had established when she was a baby not to give her penicillin or related drugs since I am allergic and so is her brother....as a "just in case" measure.

So when we got home from the splash park, she was COVERED in a rash.  Very similar to hives, but smaller. Maybe because she is smaller?? I gave her benedryl, called the TeleHealth line and promised to take her to the doctor next day.

She woke up-rash was gone. I figured maybe she had just gotten into something at the splash park.

Next day, we went again and I made sure she did not play in the grass....and same thing....when we got home she was covered. This time, worse.

Did some research, called the doctor, etc etc.....and it turns out it maybe be some sort of phototoxicity....not from the antibiotics...but from NSAIDs!!!!! I was giving her tylenol for the fever but the doctor said to switch to Children's Advil; it was better.

Seems to me, this should be common knowledge??? Or at the very least, someone should have told me with the number of health professionals I spoke to over the past week.....

Does everyone know about this besides me? Is this common?? Why didn't I know??

 

while it's a "known" reaction, its not entirely a common one. Most people don't react that way. Glad you figured out what it was, anyway, and that it's not serious.

Thanks Monica :)

 there is photoxity for alot of meds..like my diuretics makes my skin sensitive to the sun..ask a pharma but NSAIDS are advil not tylenol..never heard of either causing photoxity?? pharmacists are best for that info not the doctors
does the splash pad use chlorine or bromine or some other sanitizer??
is it possible just a heat rash?

 i know some antibiotics may be affected by the sun too..pharmacists again are the best for this info

for your throat..try sucking on some zinc lozenges- jus****ch the sugar content..usually sugarfree but u never know..
me and my daughter had strep too and it sucks soooo bad..apparently it can cause secondary infections too

good luck and hope u feel better soon

interesting, i want to have a discussion with a pharmacist about the absortion of anitbiotics in gastric bypass patients- i have found it different since surgery and i wonder if we need diff drugs or diff forms or diff dosages for it to be effective..I have some pharma friends and i am going to pose this question to them and see what they say..Im curious..

I thought tylenol was not an NSAID - that's why we can take it after surgery - Advil, motrin are NSAIDS, right?  Either way, I sure hope you're all feeling well soon.

Tylenol is not an NSAID. I started giving her tylenol but her pediatrician told me to switch her to Advil because it worked better...so I did.

I have a 7 year old son and he has some environmental allergies, peanut allergy and although he hasn't been formally diagnosed with a penicillin allergy he had a reaction to amoxicillin so we don't give it to him anymore.  Anytime he plays in the sprinkler, splash pad, kiddie pool or with the hose he breaks out in hives all over.  It's from the cold water and they tend to disappear very quickly once he's warmed up.  I give him a bit of benedryl if it's especially bothering him but it sounds like it's the same thing your daughter is going through.  Now to avoid a reaction, I give him a half a dose of children's claritan before the water games.  It seems to work well.  I am hoping he grows out of it as he gets older because the poor kid is covered in rashy redness when he's playing.  I was really starting to wonder if he was allergic to something in the garden hose until it happened when he was swimming at a beach.  Best of luck to you.  Try not to worry too much. :)  Hope you feel better soon!  I had strep throat last week and it knocked  me on my ass.  Lots of popsicles and ice water.  Gargle some salty water a few times a day.  It helps to clear all the yuckies from the back of your throat.

Thanks Trudy....between having to pick her up early from Brownie camp for dehydration and heatstroke, then just the fact of her being sick, then the possible allergy to the meds, risk of Scarlet Fever after strep and fearing a reaction to something in the water.....its been a rough 2 weeks!!!

Today the rash showed up again when we were outside, no water...just sun. Everywhere her bathing suit was covering was rash free! It was gone within about an hour or so being inside.

I guess I am just upset that I didnt know about any sensitivity to the sun from NSAIDs. I knew it was possible from certain anti-biotics, but amoxil is apparently NOT one of them....I spoke to three pharmacists, her pediatrician, the emergency doctor at the hospital, the telehealth nurse and my own family doctor and out of all of them, not one mentioned that it was a possibility.

This frightens me a bit for after my surgery....I guess it just shows you can never do too much research huh?

Medical professionals are trained to see horses, not zebras, as the saying goes. Photosensitivity to NSAIDs is not unheard of, but it is VERY rare for ibuprofen in particular. Wearing lots of UVA/UVB sunscreen and applying it regularly while outside will help. Talk to the pharmacist about switching back to the tylenol - in my experience, pharmacists always know waaaaay more about any drug than most doctors.