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Hell Dr Andrew. My Son Has Had A Weak Immune
Hell Dr Andrew. My son has had a weak immune system since he was born. He has battled asthma and allergies since birth. He is now 13 and we thought he was growing out of his health issues, only needing to administer breathing treatments periodically and he keeps a rescue inhaler in his backpack for school. He was diagnosed with GERD in the second grade and he takes over the counter medications to control his acid stomach. When he was in the second grade, he was also hospitalized for a sever asthma attack with his oxygen bottoming out at 72%. We almost lost him. A few years later he was diagnosed with pneumonia after a simple hayfever episode turned to a cold, then settled in his lungs. We live in Fort Worth, Texas and the weather changes suddenly, as you may know. He went to an Allergist when he was little too. He tested positive for 22 out of 24 allergens tested, with 80% producing severe reactions. Every time he gets sick, it is a long haul to recover with the simple cold taking on a sever sinus infection or massive sore throat with severe throat pain. He is on an antihistamine daily (Claritin or Zyrtec in the morning and Benadryl at night).
So, now we are on the back end of another bout of a cold turned to pneumonia. We took him into his PCP a few days before Thanksgiving and the doctor only prescribed Bromfed. It didn't help. My son's cough was so sever and his temperature was high. He went to school Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving and he hasn't been back to school since. My son has had the same PCP since birth, so he knows his history. The PCP started him on Amoxicillin the Friday after Thanksgiving (Dec 4th) and more cough/decongestant syrup. The next week, my son was worse so I called the doctor, and his staff called in Cefdinir to the pharmacy (Dec 9th). We picked it up and started him on it that evening. My son was immediately feeling worse on the Cefdinir and the side effects were horrible. We continued to give it to him over that weekend and by Monday, my son's stomach and intestinal pain were severe and his breathing was worse (Dec 7th). He was vomiting wildly and the diarrhea was severe. He also had headaches, body aches, and he couldn't hold any food down. He was and still is white as a sheet. I called the Doctor and said the Cefdinir is not working and my son is very sick. I expressed my concerns to him. The doctor said to keep giving him the Cefdinir and that he probably just had a stomach virus, although he did not have those symptoms until he started the Cefdinir. I took him into the doctor the next day demanding that they run a blood test and take chest xrays because his breathing treatments weren't working and his oxygen was in the low 90's. We've have a pulse oxymeter at home since he was a small child and I had been monitoring his heart rate and oxygen closely for those 2 weeks since Thanksgiving. The blood tests confirmed a severe bacterial infection and the chest x rays confirmed pneumonia. I was livid. I asked the doctor about the Cefdinir and he said to finish the round of antibiotics. My intuition said it wasn't helping and it was making my son sick. The doctor asked if I wanted my son to have a shot of Rocephin and I said "yes, anything you can do as fast as you can!" I felt like my son was dying again. So on Thursday, they gave him the Rocephin shots, one in each leg. His breathing started to improve on the third day and the coughing also improved, but the diarrhea did not. My son had lost 13 pounds in those 2 weeks and I stopped the Cefdinir the next day, on Friday. My son is still very ill with intestinal pain, nausea, cramping, headaches, and sever diarrhea. It has been going on since December 9th. The doctor still insists that it is a stomach bug and it will pass. After my own research, I believe that my son has a severe complication from the use of Cefdinir. I don't know how to convince his doctor. My son can only stay awake for about 6-8 hours of the day. I feel hopeless and I don't think my son will last if this continues. Do you have any advice for me?
So, now we are on the back end of another bout of a cold turned to pneumonia. We took him into his PCP a few days before Thanksgiving and the doctor only prescribed Bromfed. It didn't help. My son's cough was so sever and his temperature was high. He went to school Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving and he hasn't been back to school since. My son has had the same PCP since birth, so he knows his history. The PCP started him on Amoxicillin the Friday after Thanksgiving (Dec 4th) and more cough/decongestant syrup. The next week, my son was worse so I called the doctor, and his staff called in Cefdinir to the pharmacy (Dec 9th). We picked it up and started him on it that evening. My son was immediately feeling worse on the Cefdinir and the side effects were horrible. We continued to give it to him over that weekend and by Monday, my son's stomach and intestinal pain were severe and his breathing was worse (Dec 7th). He was vomiting wildly and the diarrhea was severe. He also had headaches, body aches, and he couldn't hold any food down. He was and still is white as a sheet. I called the Doctor and said the Cefdinir is not working and my son is very sick. I expressed my concerns to him. The doctor said to keep giving him the Cefdinir and that he probably just had a stomach virus, although he did not have those symptoms until he started the Cefdinir. I took him into the doctor the next day demanding that they run a blood test and take chest xrays because his breathing treatments weren't working and his oxygen was in the low 90's. We've have a pulse oxymeter at home since he was a small child and I had been monitoring his heart rate and oxygen closely for those 2 weeks since Thanksgiving. The blood tests confirmed a severe bacterial infection and the chest x rays confirmed pneumonia. I was livid. I asked the doctor about the Cefdinir and he said to finish the round of antibiotics. My intuition said it wasn't helping and it was making my son sick. The doctor asked if I wanted my son to have a shot of Rocephin and I said "yes, anything you can do as fast as you can!" I felt like my son was dying again. So on Thursday, they gave him the Rocephin shots, one in each leg. His breathing started to improve on the third day and the coughing also improved, but the diarrhea did not. My son had lost 13 pounds in those 2 weeks and I stopped the Cefdinir the next day, on Friday. My son is still very ill with intestinal pain, nausea, cramping, headaches, and sever diarrhea. It has been going on since December 9th. The doctor still insists that it is a stomach bug and it will pass. After my own research, I believe that my son has a severe complication from the use of Cefdinir. I don't know how to convince his doctor. My son can only stay awake for about 6-8 hours of the day. I feel hopeless and I don't think my son will last if this continues. Do you have any advice for me?
