Very very itchy toddler!

[belfie]

My DS has eczema & food allergies, both of which we're well used to. He's also been diagnosed with dermotographia (which I have - no biggie just can mean he gets itchy pretty easily), & also gets some hay fever. You get the picture... Itchy allergy child. But last night AFTER a dose of zyrtec & his normal creams (his eczema is a bit flared up atm), he woke up howling & scratching. Crazy "rip-his-skin-off-if-he-could" scratching . Managed to calm him, put animine on him (like calamine but more soothing, change pj's & back to bed. 30 mins later... Yelling again, still scratching & itching. Tried a bath (at midnight!!!!) and DH went to late night pharmacy who said we could give phenergan too. Still took another 45 mins to get him off. This is a boy who sleeps 12 hrs like clockwork, but he was up again (5hrs later) this morning, and still scratching a bit.

We're off to the dr this morning but just keen to get ideas cos I'm mystified! Also there was virtually no visible rash (prolly cos was already on the zyrtect) but eventually some areas became a bit red due to persistent scratching. Thank goodness I'd cut his nails insanely short (as per usual) yesterday morning. Possible theories... Seasonal (related to hayfever)... Viral (he's a bit snotty)... Allergy (he was at FDC yesterday)... Heat rash (too persistent?)... Daycare sunscreen....?... I don't think it's anything like a measles or chickenpox as there's no rash. Oh and it's his birthday this weekend and we're meant to be having a combined 1 & 3 yo party... .

Oh and scratching was back, head, tummy, bottom, legs & near groin.

Any ideas, suggestions gratefully received.

TIA!

[MrsFabuloso]

Was he in the sand pit/dirt/grass/garden at FDC? My kids get a bit of exzema and always get flare ups after being in sand/grass/dirt. Did he eat something he shouldn't have, or something different? Did you ask his FDC person? Maybe they will have a bit of insight. I hopehe's better today. It is horrible watching them itch like a madman and not being able to fix it.

[Esme]

I suffer sometimes from something called 'pruritis'. For me it usually starts after a shower, but for other people it can start after swimming, sweating or skin getting wet. It causes the most insane *****ling itch without any other symptoms. Scratching it makes it worse. For me it helps if I wear tight warm clothes and firmly dab as opposed to rubbing or scratching. Not sure if this helps but I thought I put it out there. Nothing worse than bad itch in my opinion. I hope you find some relief for him soon

[Yael]

I have severe eczema and also rip big patches of my skin off (or wake up biting my hands in my sleep)

I really feel for young kids with it (I never had it as a child), because it is depressing, upsetting & frustrating enough as an adult and I have the knowledge of what is going on and should be able to handle my emotions.

I just wanted to say my DD gets hayfever, and I found that aerius was better the zyrtec. I also just started on a prescription nasal spray called "avamys" - not sure if it is suitable for toddlers, but I have been using it for 3 days and have found it great and reducing the itchiness.

Good luck, it's really hard.

[belfie]

Thanks, am waiting at dr's now. I think it might have been pruritis too (looked most likely with dr google!). I shall also ask about best antihistamine for future use. I also left a message for my daycarer to call me so I can discuss with her.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't food cos he's always had a classic outbreak of hives with that (from egg anyway, the treenut reaction we don't know)... But seasonal stuff is definitely a possibility. I think I also need to cull some pj's. He was in some with a bit of polyester... Where I normally stick to all cotton.
It's a horrible thing alright.

[Esme]

Hi Belfie, how did you go? I forgot to say that the form of pruritis I get is called 'aquagenic' as there are different types. For me it mainly flares up when the season changes from hot to cold or vice versa.. Hope you got some answers...

[belfie]

Thanks Esme, and yup doc was quite useful.

She basically said to ignore the fact it wasn't visible and consider it an allergy rash, and yes, CSI on the cause is virtually impossible, but it's unlikely to be food given it was 3 hours after he'd gone to bed. She said sometimes they get a mild allergic reaction to a virus which can result in a rash... and obviously it's still an allergy. She suggested if there's a next time we give more phenergan (DH gave minimum dose) and if that doesn't work, Predmix. I've just re-dosed him with both zyrtec and phenergan cos he is SO short on sleep (and more than a bit insane with it!) and a bit itchy still. She didn't recommend a particular antihistamine over another but said it might be worth trying the others cos different people seem to respond better to different ones. But my DS always had odd but discrete episodes of itching this badly... then we don't get one for ages. So I don't know that there's a lot of point switching.

She also said that sometimes a bit of panadol doesn't hurt too. So basically dose him to the eyeballs! The phenergan can make them a bit irritable... but geesh I don't think it would do more than only 6 hrs sleep and a horrible itch would! I have fingers crossed that he's going to nap today (his nap is on the way out, but boy does he need it today...) and DD is asleep... so maybe I'll get a nanna nap too! I so.want.some.caffeine right now... but I'm trying to hold off in case I get a chance to sleep lol.

Thanks again everyone, much appreciated.

[~Kim~]

oh poor little guy!!
Hope you do get a nap belfie.

[Esme]

Hope you all get some sleep! Good to know what it is and what you can do about it.

[Just Me]

Hope you get some answers from the doctor.

Have you ever tried giving him aloe vera juice? Not the sugary drink from the supermarket but a pure juice you can buy from the chemist and you give them a dose of 5ml for it every day. My DS has shocking ezcema but we found the aloe vera juice works exceptionally well. I know different things seem to work for different people but it is worth a shot. It does something to the digestive system as well so it might help with food allergies.

Good luck