Happiness is a Happy Gut

The need for breathing treatments finally came to an end on Sunday! It’s a relief to see Stanton breathing naturally and comfortably after his latest battle with pneumonia. 2011 has been a year full of upper respiratory issues and pneumonias for our little man. With each one, I’ve noticed that about a week after starting antibiotics, he breaks out in a rash. The rash begins around his ears and stretches down to his upper chest. Just tiny small red raised dots. With each episode, I’ve come up several possible reasons for the rash: playing in the grass; wearing a hand-me-down shirt that I’m not sure I washed; soap from his bath; etc. The last time I noticed the rash, about two weeks ago, I took him into the pediatrician and she agreed it looked like an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. With this latest illness, she put him on a different antibiotic, a non-penicillin version, called omnicef. Stanton broke out in the rash on Monday morning. This time around I finally think I’ve uncovered the mystery! Each time he is sick, he is on a combination of antibiotics, steroids and breathing treatments. Usually the steroids are only given for five days, the breathing treatments for seven or eight days, and the antibiotic is for ten days. The rash appears on or around day six…exactly 24-hours after his last steroid dose…..steroids are sometimes given to suppress allergic reactions. So, Stanton’s pattern fits! His reaction to the antibiotic is suppressed by the steroid, then surfaces once the steroid is out of his system! I must confess, I feel like a really slow Sherlock Holmes. I called and left a message for our pediatrician with this information, and am curious to see if she agrees with my “scientific” observation. I stopped giving him the antibiotic on Monday, but, as of today, Stanton’s rash has crept up his neck and around his chin. The spots on his chin seem to be a bit more splotchy. So – today I’m continuing my experiment. I gave Stanton a left over dose of steroid this morning. I hope the rash is gone by this afternoon….but if not, I’ll call the pediatrician and make an appointment. It’s nice that everyone at her office knows us by name, but I also understand that this means we frequent her business way too much!

Another unfortunate side effect of omnicef for Stanton has been his stomach. The possible side effects list that it could make your bowel movements red and more frequent. Poor Stanton reacted exactly that way! So, on Monday, when I stopped the antibiotic, I didn’t think to put him back on Miralax (his usual daily regimen). I felt that his stomach could use some time to recover. This decision completely backfired on me Tuesday. We went to our Kindermusik class and I noticed him withdraw from the group and flap. He only flaps like this when he’s about to throw-up or when he’s constipated. Since he wasn’t moaning or crying with the flapping, I guessed he was constipated and made a mental note to give him Miralax when we got home. After Kindermusik, we go straight to speech therapy. We made it into the waiting area, talked to everyone and read a book. As soon as Stanton stood up to put the book back, he started screaming. The kind of scream you hear when a child falls off the monkey bars…that I’m really hurt and something is broken cry. His face became as red as I’ve ever seen it as he doubled over and grabbed his knees. His face started sweating as he screamed and gasped for air. I got on my knees and told him to hold on to my shoulders and squeeze. He clung to me, unable to stand up straight and screamed. This went on for about ten or twelve minutes. All the staff and therapist kept coming out to make sure we were okay, shocked to see him doubled over in pain. A speech therapist brought us a wet washcloth and sat with us on the floor as I tried to just hold him and comfort him the best I could. The sweet office manager, who Stanton is always flirting with, started crying along with Stanton saying she wished she could do something for him. Stanton has been like this before – always when he’s severely constipated, and usually in the privacy of our own home, which just hasn’t happed in a long time thanks to Miralax. He finally calmed down enough for me to carry him to the car as a therapy student carried our stuff for us. I let him continue to push and squeeze me at the car until finally he pushed out a hard golf-ball size rock. Immediately he was happy and better! I changed him and got him home and yes, got a dose of Miralax down him.

So many times we’re told to follow our “gut” instinct or “go with our gut.” In Stanton I clearly see the emotional connection the gut obviously has with our body and mind. When his tummy is happy, he is happy…and so am I.

 Ginger