Your Name: Vazquez
Your Email:
Subject: dust mites and hives
Message: Dr. Chambers I am a fan of your radio station on KFWB 980. I listen to you every saturday morning on my way to work. I know that you have given very good advise to many fortunate people that you have talked to. You seem like a very honest and proffessional dr. that will always try to give 110% realistic answers to people that seek your advicde. I have a 15 year old boy that constatly gets hives (realy big and stretched hives) when he was a small boy about 7 years old, we notece that he was alway scratching himself every where in the body. This was a concern to my wife and I so we took him to his pediatritian. The pediatritian send us to the hospital lab where he had some blood work done. They told my wife and I that the test could take about 2 or 3 days to get the results from the blood. When we were call about the second day, the nurse explained to us that my son Mark's blood test came back possitive for dust mites. She told us about the things that we can do at home to help out my son to ge releif and cofort and control the hives in case they came back. The nurse told us to clean my son's room at least twice a week with with a special vaccum cleaner she also mentioned to use a non scented detergent to wash his clothes and other tips that will help with the situation. The doctor prescribed my son a pill called Loratadine which is an antihstamine. My son has been on that pill for over 7 years. There has been some days where he gets dizzy , or has pain in his body, also he sometimes doesn't get good night rest. Previous to that pill we have tried many differnt over the counter medicines like ointments for rashes and liquid antihstamine but none of them work for him. The only one that is a little conforting to my son is the Loratadine. I'm very concern about any side effects and if it is also co-dependant. If he doesn't drink that pill the hives will get worst and all of his body will be filled with those terrible itchy hives and it will be hard for him to go through that painfull stage. For my wife and I, this will be a moment of desperation because there is a little or nothing we can do to help him. He sometimes askes me if he ever is going to live a day without hives, the only thing I can tell him to comfort him is that one day not so distant he will get his whish and he will be ok. His statement always brig tears to my eyes. I know there are worst cases than the one my son has. Please help us in any proffessional way that you can by giving us advise into what we can do to help him out. I understand that you are a very bussy person due to the volume of e-mails you personaly have to unswer and a busy scheduled that you have to follow every day
My family and I thank you in advance for your understanding and time. I hope to hear from you.
Best regard
The Vazquez Family
MY REPLY:
Marco,
Apologies for the delay in responding. Sorry to hear your son is suffering so much. Here’s a few things to keep in mind:
- Generally with chronic hives we never find a specific cause.
- The problem is your son’s body, his immune system, is over reacting to stuff around him. Unfortunately we usually can’t figure out what stuff.
- Important to check if any medicines he takes e.g. Advil, herbal supplements or vitamin supplements are making him flare up. You’d know this by his hives worsening within an hour after taking the pills.
- Don’t forget soaps can also make him worse. Best soap/shower gel is anything that’s hypoallergenic. I like Aveeno – it’s inexpensive and you can find it in your local supermarket.
- Also remember stress, anxiety can make hives worse. Help him with his stress and you’ll help him with his hives.
- Loratadine, commonly sold as Claritin, is an excellent anti-histamine. It is not addictive so your son will not become co-dependent. It might be worthwhile trying other similar medicines to Loratadine like Zyrtec or Allegra to see if your son will respond better.
- Unclear from your email why your son is not sleeping well at night. It because of itch? If it is, try one of the older anti-histamines like Atarax. The most common side effect of this med is sleepiness so it’s good at night but bad for daytime use.
- Singulair is a medicine sometimes used in chronic hives. Your family doc would prescribe it.
- There are specialized meds in chronic hives like Xolair but I wouldn’t advise this unless you see an allergist, that’s a doctor who specializes in allergies, first.
Seems to me your son’s hives is really a problem for him and your family. I think it’s quite reasonable to ask your family doctor for a referral to an allergist. Hives would be her area of expertise. She’ll help with the more specialized meds and maybe even arrange for special anti-allergy shots against dust mites
Hope this helps.
Sincerely, Dr. Joe
