Antibiotic overuse or Immune Disorder in 20 month old- Frightened, please help - Immune Disorders Message Board

Sofiasmom · 06-10-2004, 06:53 PM

Hi, my name is Dianna. I am mom to a beautiful 20 month old little girl, Sofia. Sofia has been on eleven antibiotics since January. At first, she had ear infections that responded very well to antibiotics. Over the past three months, she's had a horrible sinus infection that would not go away. I feel horrible that I did not ditch the Ped that she had, but I sincerely believed him when he told me that an ENT would be too aggressive. Her new Ped sent us straight to an ENT who removed her adenoids and placed tubes in her ears this Tuesday. He found that she had a horrible case of thrush in the very back of her mouth and on her tonsils. He also said that her adenoids were HUGE and he cleaned a lot of "nasty" stuff from her. The ENT has stated that he thinks that she may have an immune disorder. However, the new Ped says that she thinks that Sofia is just suffering from antibiotic overuse since she only had one cold for all of her first year (I breastfed for two months only). She has assured me that she will refer us to an immunologist if Sofia gets any type of serious infection for the next month. I am frightened to think that my precious little girl may have a lifelong disease. Any advice that you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Dianna

P.S.- I have been searching the internet since Tuesday to find a message board on immune disorders, and this is the first active one that I have found. Are there any active message boards that geared towards children with immune disorders. Once again, I sincerely thank anyone who can help.

catbirdpondlady · 06-11-2004, 07:49 AM

Hi Dianna, and welcome. I am glad that you found us! I know this is a very scarey thing for you. Good for you for finding a new pediatrician! And getting her to an ENT!
Antibiotic overuse, especially in children, can be a real problem....and thrush is a common response to some antibiotics in particular. Ear and sinus infections are pretty common in children that have allergies, especially (family history of allergies or asthma?). There are some pretty easy ways to help that problem.....multiple meds available. But, don't jump the gun. Give your little lady some time to recover from all that she has had done lately.....and time to rebuild her immune system from the strains of the infections and the antibiotics.
As for the immune deficiency problem your best bet is to follow the doc's advice. If she gets another major infection soon, then have her tested. I know it is hard to wait, but she needs to have all of the antibiotics, etc. out of her system for a while to really see what is going on.
A very informative place for information on immune deficiencies is the Immune Deficiency Foundation. I think if you type that into your search engine you can pull it up. Take a deep breath and think positive.
I'm "running away from home" for a month, but I will check out your posts when I get back.
Hugs to you, Penny

Sofiasmom · 06-11-2004, 09:45 AM

Penny, thank you so very much for your fast reply. Yes, we do have a family history of allergies and sinusitis. Reading your post has confirmed my thoughts that her problems may be allergy related. I am definitely going to make her an appointment with a Ped. allergist (all of the ones for our insurance are also immunologist so that's a huge plus) after I write this post. Since it will probably take a month to be seen, I will just cancel if she's doing well. We live in New Orleans, which is notorious for mold and allergies. Sofia has been on Zyrtec since February, though it hasn't really helped. I must say though, yesterday, she had clear, runny nose, and after I gave her the Zyrtec it cleared up. I am going to really try to take your advice and "take a deep breath" and think positively." I was a paranoid mess Sofia's first year because she had a pretty severe case of reflux (hmmm.... another sign of allergies), and I know I missed out on a lot of joy. I don't want to do that again.

Have an awesome time on your get away- a whole month, lucky you. Where are you going? I will definitely post again and let you know how Sofia does. Thanks again for your post, it has really given me a lot of encouragement.

Dianna

kellykay · 06-11-2004, 11:10 AM

hi there.. do you have any idea as to what immune disease the doctor thinks this is... sometimes it is easier for us to find particular messages boards.. i am going to see an immuneologist soon myself and sinus problems are one of the key symptoms...

wendyk33 · 06-11-2004, 03:52 PM

Hi there. 2 of my children have immune dificiencies. They have deficiencies in their complement system, C4 complement deficiency. One of them presented with Kawasaki disease at 16 months and is now 2 1/2. The other was much like your son, many sinus, ear and lung infections. He also developed asthma. He is now 13 and we just found out about his deficiency last month. There are many types of immune deficiencies out there and many sinus infection is one of the signs. It only takes a blood test and it is better to know than to wonder. I am very glad that I know what is going on because then the drs could immunize my children against diseases that they are at increased risk of getting and also we know when they present with a fever or other sign of illness that we have to get them to the dr ASAP so we can prevent a severe infection. My 13 yr old had a cold this winter, before we knew about his deficiency and within 2 days the one side of his face swelled up and he developed a severe sinus infection. Now we can try to prevent that with early intervention.

Take care and I hope your daughter is well, whatever you decide to do with the testing.

Wendy