This may come as a shock, considering my well-documented love for true-crime documentaries, but I am not a fan of mysteries. When it comes to the crime shows, I am not particularly interested in the mystery aspect; I just like to be told how they figured it all out. Don’t even get me started on Unsolved Mysteries — I get anxious just thinking about that program.
I am even more adverse to mysteries in real life, and especially with regard to my child. Is there anything more maddening than having a problem and not knowing that’s causing it?!
Unfortunately, we’ve got a real head-scratcher going on over here with Bubba’s skin. The saga started a few weeks ago when he developed a splotchy red rash on his back, chest, and arms. It didn’t seem to be bothering him and the doctor said not to worry about it when I called to inquire, so I did what any fantastic mother would do: ignored it.
A few days after that brilliant plan, the mottled skin morphed into a mass of hives and a swollen face, necessitating a trip to Urgent Care and a cycle of steroids that made him act like a maniac but cleared things up for the most part.
The reprieve produced by the ‘roids proved to be short-lived, though, and we were back in the doctor’s office yet again the following week. This time, the doctor agreed that something was amiss (duh) and that whatever poor Bubba was experiencing was not just a funky fluke of some sort. She gave me a referral for an allergy specialist and I made the first available appointment, which was two weeks in the future (because a toddler’s hives are apparently not cause for more immediate concern, I suppose?!).
As we waited for the appointment day to finally arrive, Bubba’s symptoms ebbed and flowed. Some days he looked a lot better, and others he looked like a sad little tomato. And to make matters worse, the problem was no longer just cosmetic: the itchiness set in and nothing we did seemed to make it better. He was guzzling Benadryl and marinading in cortisone cream, but he was still scratching like crazy and screaming all night long — 1am “please fall asleep” cruises in the car have become the norm around here
And the appointment with the allergist was still a week away!
Yesterday, I reached my breaking point. An hour after dropping Bubba off at daycare, at which point he had a few rashy spots but overall looked OK, the daycare owner called me. While Bubba screamed his head off in the background, she informed me that his rash had spread big-time and that I needed to take him to the doctor immediately. I ran over to retrieve the pathetic lad and then made an impassioned plea to the receptionist at the allergist’s office: see my son TODAY! He cannot wait until next week! More importantly, I cannot wait until next week because this kid can’t sleep, and guess who has to deal with that all night?!
Luckily, they agreed to see him — which made me feel like the worst mom ever for not just insisting on an earlier appointment back when I made the initial call — so TFW took him right over (I have very limited time off work and these things are tricky for me; cue more worst-mom-ever guilty feelings). I was sad that Bubba was so uncomfortable, but I was quite happy that we were finally going to get some answers! Surely the allergist would be able to sort out the problem and provide us with some solutions!
After a two-hour appointment and some reportedly very unpleasant skin testing (I am kind of glad to have missed that; I probably would have cried right along with the kid), the doctor had precisely ZERO answers.
The testing didn’t show any reactions, but apparently it’s only 30% accurate, so we can’t actually conclude anything from that (so what was the point?!). The doctor was not willing to wager a guess even as to whether the allergy appeared to be from something he was ingesting or from something topical — he made a couple suggestions for both types of allergies (avoid flaxseed since that’s a common hive-causing allergen; try different laundry detergent and buy 50 different expensive soaps and lotions) and prescribed yet another antihistamine to help with the symptoms.
Now, is it just me, or does that seem COMPLETELY UNHELPFUL!? First of all, if we eliminate flaxseed and also make all these soap and lotion changes, how will we know what change made the difference (assuming his rash does indeed improve)? Second, what are we supposed to do with the antihistamine — just give it to Bubba forever? What happens when we stop it?
And what if none of this works and he remains an itchy, red mess and I go bankrupt because I bought so much freakin Cetaphil?
Send help. And Cetaphil.
at least his shades match his rash
The Baby Is Fine 
2nd opinion time?????
OK. I’ve been where you are. 😦 This guy is amazing, but no insurance was accepted when we saw him with E. Perhaps that has changed. I billed insurance myself and received a small portion in return, but it did not matter. I had answers!!!
Green Alan R MD
1809 Verdugo Blvd Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 790-5233
It is worth a try.
Questions: diet changes (duh!), contact dermatitis??
😦
WORST SCIENTIST EVER. You are only supposed to manipulate one variable at a time in ANY experiment–unfortunately the only way to figure out what is wrong with Bubz is to remove one potential allergen from his life at a time. Who is this quack doctor?!
To say this sucks is quite the understatement of the century. I finally took my son in the allergist in January, February maybe? My situation isn’t yours, but we have an action plan now, and an emergency plan if needed. We did the skin test and found that he reacted to the sugar water, so we did the blood test, because we knew he was getting hives, and we didn’t know the best way to handle the hives, I’m one to get hives due to my thyroid, so there’s that. So, you may want to get a blood test, which found us, found nothing also, but I didn’t feel we needed to dig deeper at that time. His hives were hit or miss, and I couldn’t tie them to food/contact, with any type of pattern. We have children’s zyrtec (I think) in case he develops hives for no reason and we need to give him an antihistime, at which point we would do more blood testing or see a dermatologist, depending on the frequency/pattern/type of hives. Good luck!
I am so sorry. I really hope you can find a professional that can help. And I hope Bubba gets better.
My friend’s daughter just had a weird experience. After two weeks they figured out it was not allergies but a particularly bad GI virus – hives and unpleasant stomach stuff. Now it’s as gone as if it had never been there. Hives are always strange. I broke out in full body ones from penicillin once. It was really, really scary. Hoping for the BEST for Bubba.
That has to be SOOOO frustrating. I’m sorry you don’t have any answers!!! Here’s hoping you get some soon.
Very frustrating. I have children who randomly break out but not to the extent that your little guy has. I took the oldest to the allergist and they ran all the tests. She has no actual allergies. However, the dr. informed me that allergies and sensitivities are essentially the same thing, only allergies have a genetic component and can actually be treated with shots in extreme cases. Sensitivities cannot. The symptoms are treated exactly the same way as allergies, but there is nothing they can really do. My kids have sensitivities, as do I. And it sucks. Maybe it’s time to try an elimination diet? See what happens with individual foods? I know that Soy, wheat, dairy, nuts and eggs are the biggies. Also, you could try to keep track of what allergens are high and see if if correlates with the rash getting worse. You can usually find that on The Weather Channel and sometimes local weather sites. I’m sorry you aren’t getting much help. Watching your babies suffer and suffering yourself is just awful.