Rachel started with an itchy rash on her hands and feet, we were told by the GP it was hand foot and mouth ( a self limiting virus) and given some Piriton to help with the itches.
She eventually scratched it so much that she took some of the skin off the back of her hand and the Piriton never seemed to help. A week later the rash has spread behind her knees, under her arms , on her legs and the inside of her elbow. I took her back to the GP surgery and saw another Dr who told me it WAS Hand foot and mouth and basically I was over reacting and it would be better in a few days. ( she never had the blisters typical of HFM and it is not supposed to itch - she itched a LOT, she also never had any mouth ulcers)
That night she woke up at about 11pm screaming the most blood curdling scream I have ever heard, I ran into her room, heart pounding and she said that something crawled on her. She was burning hot and in tears. ( I am still not sure if there was something or if she imagined it due to the temperture) I gave her some Calpol and she came to bed with Caleb and I ( Gavin was of course away at the time - Murphys law) she scratched and cried all night it was horrible. At about 2am i put the light on to give her some more Piriton and she was covered from head to toe in a hot red rash. I was almost in tears, no idea what to do or how to help her. Needless to say we had no sleep that night.I took her to the GP early the next day, I saw another Dr who said it was a viral reaction and just to carry on with the Piriton. I got home and called my sister as I had no idea how to cope all day with Rachel crying and scratching and Caleb. It was 11am and i had not even had breakfast or dinner the night before. Lucky for me Jenni was on school holidays and had no plans for the day so I went to her house and she helped me with the kids. We had to put socks on Rachel's hands to stop her scratching her skin off.
We took photos and emailed my dad and spoke to him on Skype and he said it was an urticarial rash and that we need to try find the cause ( urticaria is like hives - an allergic reaction to something)
I stayed there that night and we played musical beds, Jenni was with Rachel until she was screaming for me, then Jenni went to Caleb and i held Rachel and tried to stop her scratching, until Caleb needed milk and we would swap. Rachel screamed and beg me all night to help her, it was horrible. So that was out second night with no sleep.
The next day we went back to the GP and saw ANOTHER Dr but he was actually very nice, he was excellent with Rachel and decided to refer us to the paediatric team at Watford general. I was really greatful to have Jenni with me, coping at the hospital for hours alone with 2 kids would have been really hard. We saw the SHO who called the registrar who called the consultant who refer us to the dermatologist. By this time it was 2:30pm we had had nothing to eat and Rachel was besides herself.
You could not see the original rash under the bright red blotches and the Dermatologist was not sure what the first rash was but she gave us 2 new antihistamines to try since the Piriton was not working to stop the itches.
Finally that night Rachel slept and the next day the urticaria was gone, but she was covered in scratches all over herself from scratching.
So the urticaria was gone and we are not sure what caused it, the Dermatologist said that it could be a reaction to a virus or to any number of other things. I still think it is related to the first rash. She still gets these red itchy bumps that move to different areas on her body.
Later... when one looks good the other doesn't!
