Meltdowns and antibiotics - connected?

seeker

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 3:23 pm

DD5 is on day 8 of Duracef for strep. Last night she was restless and crying in her sleep. Today she was falling apart crying over little things. This has been a personality difficulty for a while but I haven't seen it at this level in a long time. Could it be a reaction to the antibiotics? Is there anything to do if so or do we just wait it out? I have seen this kind of behavior from coming down with strep itself but she didn't exhibit it this time, in fact she was only tested for strep because it was going around and she was more tired than usual so I figured better safe than sorry. Could strep be coming back and causing behaviors while still on the medicine? Confused. I feel like doctors don't really get this stuff, it's a mom thing.

ra_mom

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 3:41 pm

It sounds like a reaction to the strep infection more than the antibiotics. I don't even want to say the P word.
Monitor how she's doing over the next week.

seeker

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 3:57 pm

I've seen it from strep but the fact that she didn't have it before and is just coming out after 8 days of medicine is making me wonder if that could mean the medicine isn't working, or what. I know duracef is supposed to be the stronger one, because that's what they give if it comes back after amoxil (which she had about a month earlier)

amother

Taupe

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 4:09 pm

It's can be the strep relapsing or die off symptoms from the abx killing off strep or a post-infectious autoimmune reaction to strep. Either way, if your child has behavioral changes temporally associated with infections, I'd look into pandas or pans asap.

amother

Mustard

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 5:24 pm

Antibiotics often cause digestive pain. Could be a reaction to that. Some kids have these big meltdowns when they need to use the bathroom.

Tzutzie

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 5:30 pm

Very common for kids to act up when on abx. Give her acidophilus and keep an eye on her behaviours. It's most probably abx related. If it doesn't get better after a week off of abx and on strong acidophilus id get her checked out for the other stuff. But generally its abx related and it goes away.

amother

Azure

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 11:22 pm

My son is always irritable and tortured on anti biotics. On principle, we give him half of the recommended dose and only for half of the required days.
We retest him for strep ten days after the last dose. In every single case, he was healed from the strep. Obviously, his sensitive, low tone, flabby, thin little body needs less antibiotics than those medical school charts recommend.

If our doctor would know, he would strongly disagree but the proof is in the pudding. In every case, the second strep test was negative.
Medical advice is crucial but parent intuition is crucial too.

flowerpower

Mon, Aug 13 2018, 11:29 pm

My son acts out usually on day 3 of taking meds for strept. He took different meds each time so not sure it’s that. Could be a delayed reaction to his strept. Might be the same for her. Hopefully she’ll be back to normal very soon.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 12:03 am

Ask an ENT if it's time to get the tonsils out.

DD had strep pretty much non stop when she was in kindergarten, and the strongest antibiotics couldn't keep it away. She was also really cranky and moody. The doctor said that the strep was harboring in her tonsils, and the meds weren't effective there.

Once she got her tonsils out, she was like a whole new kid. Sweet and funny and totally cooperative. It felt like she had a personality transplant! Very Happy

mimom

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 6:55 am

Try giving culturelle 2× a day. Overgrowth in gut from abx can sometimes cause irritability and agressiveness. It worked like magic for my kid! I gave adult dose 20 billion cfu capsule dissolved in applesauce.

solo

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 7:52 am

amother wrote:

Why would being low tone require diff antibiotic dosing?

ra_mom

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 9:40 am

amother wrote:

OMG. Your actions are scaring me.

amother

Mauve

Tue, Aug 14 2018, 9:46 am

amother wrote:

Acting ‘on principle’ different than ‘intuition’