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possibly something more serious
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kbelle11 posted:
Hi there, I posted a few times on this board, in regards to my 4 year old daughter and her chronic ear infections. She has since had her 4th set of tubes, and still had chronic ear infections. (the tubes also came out of place in less than 3 months) She had a severe reaction to the anesthesia and we had to go back to the ER, for zofran. Literally couldn't stop vomitting. (I had two drs, tell me there is no way she should have been that sick from the amount of medication that was needed to knock her out) Before the surgery this time, it was postponed due to a Bullous Myringitis.
So now I am trying to research and see if there is something MORE happening, and the ear infections are a symptom. When my daughter was 6 weeks old she got her first ear infection and had literally had 3-4 a month (including summer months) since.
When she was an infant she had a circle of dry skin on her face, that we couldn't clear up, also a large rash around her neck. We thought she may have had a reaction to her formula, but they sent her to a dermatologist to be sure. The dermatologist said that rash is often an indicator of lupus, but they didn't want to put her through undue testing if that was the only symptom. I honestly never thought about that appointment again, until she developed a similar rash recently on the backs of her legs, and for the second day in a row, after a little afternoon exposure to the sun. ( no more than 15 minutes covered in sunblock) she came inside, spiked a fever of 103, got lethargic and itchy with a red rash on her legs and abdomen.
I started doing a little research (thinking she was having a weird reaction to the sunlight) and found that AIED is something that she may have ( due to the chronic ear infections) and that can be a sign of lupus. I don't mean to sound overly paranoid. But it was brought up when she was infant, and I have NEVER even heard of AIED until I started doing research.
She has woken up numerous times a week with gagging an vommitting, off and on for a year or so now. Doctor thought it maybe Acid Reflux, the medication seemed to be helping but recently seems to be not as effective (may be completely unrelated) I am concerned now, and know you can't diagnose without seeing a patient, but SHOULD I be concerned. I might add, that autoimmune disorders are very prominant in my side of the family ( a few cousins with ezcema, lupus, psorasis, and scaladerma.) Have you ever seen these types of things be related? did I miss something? or did her MD's ? I am not trying to be paranoid, or overdramatic, but I just have this feeling, that there is something more going on.
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Rod Moser, PA, PhD responded:
All children have immature immune systems. After age six, the vast majority of children will outgrow there tendency to get frequent ear infections. A child who gets an ear infection before they are six months old, is definately going to be a frequent flyer. Your child is four, so you have at least two more years to go. Now, that is not to say that she may have some sort of occult autoimmune disorder. I guess it is possible.

I don't know her risk factors for ear infections. Is she in preschool or day-care where she is exposed? Is she exposed to any secondary smoke? How about allergies?

I don't think there is anything inappropriate for you to seek a consultation from a specialist who can run a barrier to diagnostic tests to see if she has an underlying disorder that may make her even more susceptable.
 
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kbelle11 replied to Rod Moser, PA, PhD's response:
She does go to preschool, but has been out for summer vacation since the first week of june, and has had two ear infections since then. She is not exposed to secondary smoke, and she had a full work up of allergy testing (including food dairy and nuts) and it showed no reaction to any of the irritants. We did bring her to the peditrican today, with a full list of things that have been happening to her, and it gave him the chance to see the rash that she has first hand. He agreed with your opinion, and said that it would be worth it to run the tests to see if we are treating the symptoms of something else, rather than the actual underlying problem . WE should have results in 48 hours. Thank you for you advice and opinion.
 
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Rod Moser, PA, PhD replied to kbelle11's response:
My heart goes out to your little girl. Please let me know if they find out anything after those diagnostic tests.
 
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kbelle11 replied to Rod Moser, PA, PhD's response:
So all tests besides the CRP came back normal... The CRP was at 2.61 so the peditrician thinks it may be a cause for concern,still may be an autoimmune disorder, now we have to chronicle the symptoms to see what the next step is. She is still having random spiked fevers, daily. She has loose stools and is still complaining daily of a headache. WE stopped giving her tylenol, and started just giving her ibuprofin, and she is responding better, she has slept through the night the last three nights, with ibuprofin before bed. Which makes me think there is inflammation but we just don't know where. Peditrician said to do another full work up in 4 weeks and see if something different shows up, or to see if the CRP count is down.
 
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Rod Moser, PA, PhD replied to kbelle11's response:
Something is not right, so I hope that her pediatrician is able to find some answers, or to refer her to specialty care.

Sorry that I could not be more helpful to you...


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