Pain In The Acid
At 11:30 pm I found myself prowling the 24 hour stores in search of the holy grail of children’s’ medication- dye free, flavor free benedryl. Only months before I had scoffed when I spied it resting on the shelf “Who would want that and be charged $1.24 extra for the privilege?” Apparently, me (insert foot in mouth).
After a weekend of endless shrieking I begged my way into a 2pm appointment, hoping to end the Mexican stand off in my home. Tessa, poised to scream at any minute, mom poised to scream at any minute - we would glare across the living room, both limp with exhaustion, neither one willing to budge on our position. Tessa’s mouth, laden with ulcers made it impossible to eat, drink, speak, sleep, suck her bink and apparently breathing was also painful. The source of the sores? We can thank my DH’s genes for that one. At first we thought it was merely a Vitamin C sensitivity, the doctor prescribed some concoction referred to as “Magic Mouth Wash” and sent us on our way.
After 3 doses of Magic Mouth Wash, I was vomiting from nerves. The screaming had me fried. Tessa was on her way to dehydration, her mouth much more swollen then when we had started the medication. At this point we deduced that citric acid was also a culprit…. EVERYTHING contains citric acid. PLAIN Pedialyte contains citric acid. Every flavored medication contains citric acid (hence the reaction to the ‘Magic Mouth Wash’ - it was made with flavored Benedryl! I broke down and purchased tylenol supositories. Inserting medication up the butt of a 2 1/2 year old was one adventure in motherhood that I would rather skip, but my child needs me damn it and I am not going to wimp out simply due to how high on the “hell no” scale it ranks.
Mercifully, she was so exhausted from 3 nights of no sleep that the supositories have not been necessary - yet. I have been eyedroppering her ice water, telling her it’s medicine that will make he feel better. I can understand her general distrust of food and liquid as 99% of what she has tried to consume since Saturday has sent her into fits of agony. Yesterday I managed to ply her with vanilla ice cream, today it was a chocolate donut. Hopefully as I swab at her mouth with Mylanta and scour the stores for the elusive dye free flavor free bendryl she will mend and these heart wrenching moments will fade back into the cloth of motherhood.
July 18th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
oh dear god! That sounds horrible for you and her! Poor baby. I hope all is well soon. Is that the first time this has happened? Did she eat a certain thing that caused it or just all the sudden get a new allergy? How are you holding up?
July 18th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
we arent sure if it is new or not. She had one other bout with mouth ulcers but they appeared to be caused by an earache/high feever and regular meds worked just fine. Lately she’s been gorging herself on fresh fruit, lots of juice and Quik chocolate milk mix - it contains ascorbic acid! Between all of those things she had a reaction. I’m doing better today. I’m taking the girls to a friends house in hopes of distracting her as well as scoruing the stores near my friends hourse for the damn benedryl we need
July 18th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Oh, you poor things! I hope she heals quickly. Just keep repeating to yourself, this will not last forever!
July 18th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Hey, have you thought about ordering it online. I know it might take a little bit to get there, but in case you can’t find any, you would at least have it for next time if it didn’t arrive in time. (Hope there won’t be a ‘next time’.)
July 18th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Poor baby. (I mean both of you.) I have the same citric acid sensitivity. The sores can last for up to a week and are incredibly uncomfortable. A numbing gel can help the pain but unfortunately it also can cause you to bite the sores because your mouth is so numb. I avoid pineapple at all costs and I’ve also found that alcohol brings on the sores sometimes too. (Not that your little one is drinking alcohol.) If she accidentally eats something acidic have her keep a peice of bread in her mouth for a minute, chew it up, and then spit it out. It can help a little. Also, chocolate pudding is quite soothing.
July 18th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Poor Tessa! And poor you. My daughter had a little bout with mouth ulcers after I’d been sick with the flu for a week, and her father fed her a diet consisting exclusively of that styrofoam puffcorn stuff. I think that’s when we discovered suppositores, too, although she didn’t mind them, and would scream I NEED A BUTT ROCKET when she was feeling really bad.
Hope this passes quickly.
July 18th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
That sounds just horrible for you and her both! Its hard to be in so much pain, but its also so hard to see your child in that much pain…
Hope it all gets better quickly for both of your sakes.
July 18th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
oh my gosh! you poor thing! wow I am so hoping she feels better soon! it sounds so heart breaking. Take care of you too! I hope everyone feels better super fast!
July 18th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Oh the poor thing (and you). I hope it gets better soon!
(((HUGS)))
July 18th, 2006 at 10:12 pm
Dear Sweet Mother of Gawd…the poor thing. Will she always have to avoid anything acidic? Hope she gets better soon….Anne
July 19th, 2006 at 12:50 am
Poor kid! Poor Mommy too! I hope that she feels better soon.
July 19th, 2006 at 1:31 am
Oh, that is too bad! And let me just say, suppositories are not as bad as they sound, from a mom’s point of view.
July 19th, 2006 at 7:10 am
Poor Tessa!
and poor Mom too! Hope she’s doing better soon.
July 19th, 2006 at 10:21 am
I can’t even imagine how this must be for you day in and day out. Yet you amaze me (in a very good way) with your ability to cope thru humor (sounds a bit like me).
July 20th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I am sooo sorry for the little lady. My little one went to the hospital for almost a week stay with respitory problems and that was bad. It is hard to see the little ones in such pain. You want to take it all way but have noway to do it. Good luck and use ear plugs.