pediatrician is stumped

fanofanne

so i wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about a couple of pimple-like bumps on ds.  these bumps started to grow and almost look like insect bites, which then my son started to itch.  i called the dr, and their response was "keep an eye on it, and if they get worse, or start to spread, give us a call."  sure enough, on my way home from work, my mom called (she watches ds and dd) and said that she found a couple more bumps on ds.  i called the dr and made an appt for later that day.  the dr didn't know what they were, he guessed they might be blocked sweat glands/ducts, or maybe insects bites.  he prescribed him some anti-bacterial cream and sent us home.  the last few days, ds has been itching these bumps, and it looked like they might be getting better.  until yesterday.  i found about three new pimple-like bumps which is how the ones he has now started.  anyone have any idea/guesses as to what these might be???? we have an appt with the dermatologist today so hopefully he'll have some answers.  they bumps that start off small, almost like little pimples, and then grow to be very red and insect-bite like and he's had them for about a week and half.  help!

ec0983

where are the bumps located on his body?  i have celiac disease, and while i never had the skin manifestation of it, i have heard that it is not uncommon for children with celiac to have a skin rash like the one you're describing from exposure to gluten.  it most commonly (from what i've read) occurs on their arms, usually near/around their elbows, although it doesn't have to.  hopefully the dermatologist has some insight for you, but that's where my mind first jumped.  

fanofanne

ec0983 said:

where are the bumps located on his body?  i have celiac disease, and while i never had the skin manifestation of it, i have heard that it is not uncommon for children with celiac to have a skin rash like the one you're describing from exposure to gluten.  it most commonly (from what i've read) occurs on their arms, usually near/around their elbows, although it doesn't have to.  hopefully the dermatologist has some insight for you, but that's where my mind first jumped.  

he has a few on his face/under his chin, a couple on his ear, one on his hand and one on his foot.  they're all over in random places.  thanks for the input, i'll definitely be asking about that today.

fanofanne

janniep said:

ec0983 said:

where are the bumps located on his body?  i have celiac disease, and while i never had the skin manifestation of it, i have heard that it is not uncommon for children with celiac to have a skin rash like the one you're describing from exposure to gluten.  it most commonly (from what i've read) occurs on their arms, usually near/around their elbows, although it doesn't have to.  hopefully the dermatologist has some insight for you, but that's where my mind first jumped.  

he has a few on his face/under his chin, a couple on his ear, one on his hand and one on his foot.  they're all over in random places.  thanks for the input, i'll definitely be asking about that today.

these bumps seemed to appear out of nowhere...do you know if the skin manifestation of celiac's disease appears out of the blue?

ec0983

i'm guessing it can.  my symptoms didn't become severe until i was 15.  knowing what we know now, my parents and i are thinking a few of the things (joint pain, hair loss, stomach upsets) i experienced as a kid were related to the celiac, but we just didn't know.  often the disease is asymptomatic until the body experiences some sort of extreme stress or trauma- like when i had my appendix out at 15.  other times, it just sort of shows up.  every case is different.  i would definitely ask your doctor, they can do a simple blood test to check for it.

jillomw

Hives?

fanofanne

the dr said it didn't look like allergies/hives b/c that's what my mom thought.  then i thought fleas too, but since dh, dd, nor i have them, i ruled that out.  if they're feasting on my just my son i guess that would make sense.  if that's it, imma kick some flea a$$

fanofanne

Leftie22 said:

My son has a different kind of eczema (nummular or coin-shaped) instead of the kind most people get (the kind that shows up in creases.) He gets a small red spot, then it eventually turns into a larger red circle. When it's healing, the inside heals first, so they almost look like craters - a red ring with healthy skin in the middle. It's very itchy, and he scratches like crazy. We have a cortisone cream that helps. Could that be it? Our pedi said this kind is much more rare, so maybe your pedi hasn't seen it before?

ooohhhhh...maybe...i will def ask the dermatologist about this one.  my dd had eczema so hmm... thanks.

smileybabyboy

DS has eczema and it's also not in his creases but it is a bunch of little red bumps all over his legs and arms. His thighs are the worst.  Pedi said to ditch the Dreft and get a free and clear detergent and try to take out allergy causing foods, but he still has it  =/  

GrantHenson

Has your baby been in a pool recently?

lana22

i'd guess eczema or scabies.

stham

Our little ones friend and another one at daycare have similar bumps in the same area and they have been diagnosed with hand foot and mouth disease.

dufferoo

Another vote for the possibility of fleas. Flea bites can be anywhere but have a tendency to congregate on feet and ankles. We had a flea issue for awhile and they bit the heck out of my daughter and I, but left my husband and son alone.

fanofanne

so we took ds to the dermatologist yesterday and she believes that they're some kind of insect bites...since they are scattered and he itches most of them.  so weird b/c we just had our carpet steamed, and they appeared that very day.  ughhhh.  but, glad they're insect bites and not anything more worrisome.  

thatgirlnicki

OK - don't want to be the one to say it, but keep an eye out for bed bugs.  Some people don't react to the bites.  It's probably not bed bugs, but you should look up how to monitor for it (especially if your son is in daycare because he could have gotten them there).  Also, the have nothing to do with cleanliness (people pick them up everywhere - hotels, movie theaters, etc.).   Bites tend to be on arms, legs, etc.  They have been fighting them at my workplace (residential treatment facility) for a year so I know more than I want to.  

fanofanne

thatgirlnicki said:

OK - don't want to be the one to say it, but keep an eye out for bed bugs.  Some people don't react to the bites.  It's probably not bed bugs, but you should look up how to monitor for it (especially if your son is in daycare because he could have gotten them there).  Also, the have nothing to do with cleanliness (people pick them up everywhere - hotels, movie theaters, etc.).   Bites tend to be on arms, legs, etc.  They have been fighting them at my workplace (residential treatment facility) for a year so I know more than I want to.  

fanofanne

thatgirlnicki said:

OK - don't want to be the one to say it, but keep an eye out for bed bugs.  Some people don't react to the bites.  It's probably not bed bugs, but you should look up how to monitor for it (especially if your son is in daycare because he could have gotten them there).  Also, the have nothing to do with cleanliness (people pick them up everywhere - hotels, movie theaters, etc.).   Bites tend to be on arms, legs, etc.  They have been fighting them at my workplace (residential treatment facility) for a year so I know more than I want to.  

oops...bed bugs did cross my mind and i asked the dermo about it, but she said it didn't look like bed bug bites b/c i guess they bite in a pattern?  thanks tho...i did look it up too...*shudder*

fanofanne

Nicb13 said:

Good news OP Hopefully that's all it is. We literally had never even seen one flea in our house the whole time we lived there but apparently they were hiding until DS came around!

thanks!  yah...they're sneaky little buggers.

ec0983

glad to hear!  hopefully you can find the little stinkers and get rid of them!

ktpaladino

Even though the doc said it doesn't look like allergies, I would take a trip to an allergist to have allergies ruled out. My son had very similar sounding bumps, although they never seemed to itch him. He had the skin prick tests done on his back at the allergist, and sure enough, we found a nut allergy. The bumps will still pop up in random spots on his body if I'm not careful about reading ingredient lists. Our (former) pediatrician told us it was definitely a bug bite of some sort. Well, it wasn't.

fanofanne

ktpaladino said:

Even though the doc said it doesn't look like allergies, I would take a trip to an allergist to have allergies ruled out. My son had very similar sounding bumps, although they never seemed to itch him. He had the skin prick tests done on his back at the allergist, and sure enough, we found a nut allergy. The bumps will still pop up in random spots on his body if I'm not careful about reading ingredient lists. Our (former) pediatrician told us it was definitely a bug bite of some sort. Well, it wasn't.

hm...allergies was my mom's first guess.  if the bumps/rashes don't go away soon i'll definitely look into that.  thanks!

fusionbride

janniep said:

so we took ds to the dermatologist yesterday and she believes that they're some kind of insect bites...since they are scattered and he itches most of them.  so weird b/c we just had our carpet steamed, and they appeared that very day.  ughhhh.  but, glad they're insect bites and not anything more worrisome.  

maybe the steamcleaning dislodged the fleas and they went looking for new places to be, and LO's bed looked as good as any. Do you have a pet?

We had a random flea infestation this last summer when I was pregnant-- they only bit our dog who turned out to be allergic to fleas and got hives!  We ended up vacuuming twice a day for a few days, insect bombing our house and putting the dog on a new anti-parasite medicine.

 

jewelsdvm

Do you have pets? Fleas don't live off people, or in people's beds, and they won't bite people unless there's an active host (cat or dog) in the household.