Penicillin allergy?

[Anonymous]

Did your kid ever have a fever?

It's common to get a rash post fever.

[Anonymous]

I am allergic to penicillin. Diagnosed as a child, somewhere between 8-12, don't really remember, but I broke out in a rash from head to toe.

DS with an ear infection given amoxicillon at around 10 months, and he turned bright red from head to toe. He literally looked sunburnt all over (it was winter!). Doc said allergic and to never have it again. He had other allergies and was tested in 3rd grade, which confirmed the penicillin allergy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi all, thanks so much for the replies. Just talked to the doctor and she saw pictures of the rash. It is not hives ie no welts moving around and not itchy. She said it does not appear to be an allergic rash and keep giving the med for now. He has no other symptoms of discomfort. She said to stop if things change after next dose. She also said penicillin allergies are misdiagnosed too quickly and can be inconvenient and costly for the patient. Just sharing this in case of interest.

Same thing happened with my son a few weeks ago and our doctor said the same thing. The rash cleared up after a couple of days and we finished the antibiotics with no other issues.

OP here, thanks for sharing. I hope the same will be the case for us. Did the original rash move to other body parts?

Yes. Day 1 the rash was on the back of his neck and by day two it popped up on his legs. I brought him back into the pediatrician at this point because I was freaking out, she examined him in person and gave us the info mentioned before. By day 3 both areas were calming and it was completely gone by day 4-ish.

[Anonymous]

Apparently people diagnosed with a penicillin allergy many decades ago may not be. The penicillin was not as pure and people may have reacted to an impurity. Elderly relative was recently tested and found not to be allergic.

[Anonymous]

Fascinating stuff. I should check to make sure if my kid is actually allergic to it. She was labeled as such 5 years ago when she was 4.

[Anonymous]

Definitely worth getting a firm answer on it. You don't want to be eliminating common antibiotics for no reason. I had questionable rash/hives to amoxicillin when I was about 6 and ever since, no doctor will prescribe me any penicillin-class drugs. It may not have even been an allergic rash but that's it; without confirmed testing from an allergist I can't get any doctor to prescribe it once I say I had a rash from it. I also have a sulfa allergy (very definitively) and it does mean that you sometimes get weird antibiotics, or ones with worse side effects, because of what the doctors have to avoid.

[Anonymous]

This thread is making me want to get allergy tested to confirm my penicillin allergy. I’ve always been told I broke out in a rash with amoxicillin as a child but now reading through this, I wonder if it was a true allergy or not.

[Anonymous]

Both of my kids broke out with a rash after having amoxicillin. We go to a large pediatric practice in the area. With kid #1 we saw someone who wasn't concerned and this kid has continued to be prescribed amoxicillin many times (very prone to ear infections, even post-tubes). Kid #2 saw someone at the same practice who was more conservative and suggested we treat it as a potential penicillin allergy until we can test. So I think it depends entirely on the provider. Luckily they were more conservative with the kid who has only needed antibiotics a handful of times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both of my kids broke out with a rash after having amoxicillin. We go to a large pediatric practice in the area. With kid #1 we saw someone who wasn't concerned and this kid has continued to be prescribed amoxicillin many times (very prone to ear infections, even post-tubes). Kid #2 saw someone at the same practice who was more conservative and suggested we treat it as a potential penicillin allergy until we can test. So I think it depends entirely on the provider. Luckily they were more conservative with the kid who has only needed antibiotics a handful of times.

You're lucky! With us, our child had a very mild reaction the first time, so no one thought much of it, but the next time she was exposed she got a pretty bad rash and her face got all swollen.