Frusterated!!!!!

My 14 yr old son has been sick for 27 days now!  It all started when he developed what the doctor said was swimmer ear.  He had wax buildup in his ear and it ended up laying on his eardrum causing hearing loss.  After several attempts at syringing it out by 3 different doctors it finally became dislogged.  About 2 days before it was removed he developed a cough, then about 4 or 5 days later he broke out into hives.  Not long after that he developed mucus buildup in his throat and would gag to the point of vomiting.  The doctor ran blood tests and did a chest xray and both came back negative.  She said he had a viral infection that would have to run it's course.  So now we are 27 days into this "viral infection" and he is still sick!  He refuses to eat because he says it makes the mucus worse!  Could this be allergies and not a viral infection.  The hives come and go!  It seems like if there are no hives he has the mucus, if there is mucus there are no hives!!!

Please help!

[Dr Rajput]

Hi, welcome to the forum, it quite difficult to come to a particular diagnosis in his case and hence needs thorough evaluation. I could help you with the possibilities of hives. The first thing to be ruled out is Drug eruption, and whether he has taken any drug recently as it involves 75% of cases. Few of the drugs are known to cause such hives all over the body. This can be seen within 2 weeks of exposure esp. after second dose due to sensitization. The most commonly prescribed medications (eg, antibiotics, sulfa) are implicated often.

If not drug, other allergens should be identified like certain food (fish, mushrooms etc.), pets etc. Once the factor is identified then further exposure to the allergen should be avoided. In such cases antihistaminic and steroids against prescription are quite effective.

Other possibilities needed to be ruled out are viral exanthem, Mycoplasma pneumoniae - serological test and chest radiography is important to rule out and should be treated with appropriate antibiotic, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (it is tick borne disease and needs serological test for diagnosis), infectious mononucleosis, scarlet fever; as a result of streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis, Kawasaki disease etc. Hence, he needs to undergo serological tests for few common causes. I suggest you to consult physician for detailed evaluation. Take care and regards.

[heather12451]

My appologies for not replying sooner.   We have been in and out of the ER and other doctors offices.  My son went to see the ENT doctor and he said that his sinuses were fine but did notice some wax that was still in his ear and wanted to remove it.  I have to back tract just for a moment!  One of the doctors that we seen to try to remove the ear wax a month ago ended up cutting my sons ear while using the "scoop".  When the ENT doctor removed some wax just the other day there was a low grade baterial infection there. Now this infection has been in there for over a MONTH!   Apparently, he said this infection was most likely caused by "the cut".  He said that this had nothing to do with the "lump" in the throat that my son feels.  Since I last posted on this site, he has developed pretty bad heartburn.  The ENT said that the throat issue is probably due to the reflux.  Here's my new question....  Could this infection have caused the hives and the mucus problem in the throat and could this infection have gotten in the stomach and caused the hearburn?