petechiea

[hannahph]

hi everyone, my daughter is six and often develops petechaie(I can never spell this- small broken blood vessels) They develop all over her body ususally when she is sick or even from crying hard. They sometimes pop up just from her scratching herself too hard. Our pediastrician consulted with a hematologist just to make sure this was not a big deal(they did do blood counts the first few times this happened)The doctor explained it was just due to the fact that kids with DS have more fragile immune systems. I was wondering if anyone has experienced this. I know several children with DS and so far none of them have had this happen. The Dr. says not to worry about it but its still in the back of my mind.... Thanks everyone

[gabe]

My Gabe, too, develops this everytime he is sick or sometimes he even gets it around his diaper if he sweats or his pants rub to hard around his waist. I too had to the Leukemia scare many times. He is now 3 and I have learned to tell ER doctors and other doctors that are unfamiliar with this common rash that he is either getting a cold or has probably had a cold. Every time his immune system gets low he too will get this. I still worry at times, but not as much, because ped tells us the same thing, just be aware of what the rash typically looks like. Goodluck!

[Deborah]

Jennifer has this as well. It only happens though when she is really upset and crying hard. Which now is when she gets blood work done.

[DereksMom]

Derek as well gets petechiea from crying or scratching, especially in the head and neck region. It seems to be worse since he has had leukemia.

Hugs

Allison

[steffipoo]

Well add us to the list to calm your fears. My daughter Olivia also still gets it when she is really sick usually with pneumonia and also if she gets a painful IV shot etc. It was worse when she was an infant but then again she was constantly sick as an infant and really healthy now. She really got em on her back chest and around her eyes. We did the testing as well and scared me to death but she's fine.... hope that helps steff

[momofrussell]

VERY ironic this post is here... VERY ironic.

Russell has had petechiea for a few years now. We first noticed it when he was sick once.. did the blood work and all was well except for a bit of elevation in his red blood cells... this was back in 2003. We have noticed more and more that Russell gets petechiea even when he is NOT sick and not just do to coughing or crying... he has it right now actually and is not sick. When Russell gets it he gets in on his stomach and chest, and back and sometimes his legs... never from a rash or from scratching... he doesn't scratch.

We went to the cardio for a check up and she said we needed to see a hemo... so I called our Ped today and I have to go pick Russell up in a bit and take him to the Ped and then off to the hemo more then likely.

Russell suffered from low platelets when he was born. He had to random donor transfusions which he did not respond to. Then they had to take mine instead because they thought we had some platelet issues... and he accepted mine no prob. So with that in our history and Russell getting it all the time, we are off to the doc today for it.

Another thing is that if your child is getting petechiea OTHER then when they are coughing, sick, or trauma related like that, it would be good to see a doc. Petechiea is something not to mess with and could be a cause of spleen probs or other more serious things. I am not tryhing to scare ya, just letting you know....

Allison... petechiea and lukemia go hand and hand usually... Sorry you have been through all of that. Hugs to you and your son!

A.

[angela2]

My 6 year old son (non ds) gets this when he coughs a lot or vomits. He usually gets the little dots on his face and neck. I think it's because he has fair skin. The dots fade after a few days.

[hannahph]

Thanks to all who replied, I feel better knowing it isn't all that unusual. I do still worry a bit, and I don't mess around with it(like if there seems to be no reason for it). In fact it's on my daughters IEP at school that we need to be called if it appears. She does seem to get them when her resistance is down, which is quite often due to chronic sinus infections, but that's a whole new topic! I appreciate all the replies, thanks Heather
Adrienne, I am interested to know what the DR. Said about this with your son... Keep us posted if you can.

[hannahph]

Allison, it sounds like your little guy has been through an awful lot. Keep smiling! - Heather

[momofrussell]

OK... we went to the doc today. This is what he said... even though Russell has had platelet probs at birth, if there is NO apparent bruising or wierd bleeding issues, more then likely it IS due to strain on the body.. like coughing, ect.... and since it is happening when Russelll is NOT sick or crying lots... we think the reason why it is frequent is due to the fact he hyperextends his hands (while flapping them) and legs and kinda does that weird sensory thing... (it's hard to explain). Some kids w/DS do this and Autistic kids do it... I see it more in Autistic kids and Russell is also Autistic... so the stiffening of the body might produce the petechiea more then the normal when sick, ect...

We are going to have blood work done again though JUST to make sure.... never can be too sure. But he said if it comes back ok then it should be ok in the future. I know to look for bruising, excessive bleeding, lethargy and other things anyway.

They also asked if anyone else had bleeding issues in the family. I told them I did when having surgery on my knee once... I did not clot like I normally should and broke lots of blood vessels from it. I did not clot even after a week of surgery, so when they drained my knee thinking it was just excess fluid on the knee, it was actually blood. I had to go see a hemo doc but all was ok. I am sure it's not our case, but in some instances the doc says there could be a VERY VERY small clotting factor problem in a family, like with Russell and I for instance, and it does NOT show on tests.... but really don't think it's the case... but since we have had platelet issues in the past, it is just good to make sure.

A.

[hannahph]

Hi Adrienne, thank for the update. I am glad everything appears ok. I also appreciate that I can put this issue behind me a little better now. I will not worry quite so much, about this at least, plenty of other stuff to worry about! Thanks, Heather