I never knew this illness existed until this week. Also called Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura, this illness is both mysterious and part of our household. My six year old daughter developed little spots on her feet and ankles. To a seasoned Minnesotan, these spots looked like gnat bits. She said they were really itchy, so we gave her some medicine to treat the itchiness. Since our bugs are finally gone here in Minnesota, we were fairly certain the spots weren’t bug bites.

Then they started to spread and cover both her feet, along with dark purple spots that looked like bruising. My daughter, who never complains and has a high threshold for pain, started saying that it hurt to walk. My mommy radar went up, and I called the ER. Since it was Saturday night, and they were fairly certain they wouldn’t be able to find us the answers we needed (and she had NO fever), they told us to watch her and wait until Monday to see the pediatrician. We decided to do that.

Yesterday, they ran a bunch of tests and chest xrays. It was determined to be Anaphylactoid Purpura which can involve many different organs in the body. The most critical is the kidneys, but luckily her tests showed no blood in her kidneys yet.

The cause of the illness doesn’t seem to be understood, but apparently upper respiratory issues such as colds, infections, and even asthma can cause inflammation in the blood vessels which causes the rashes, bruises, and swelling. Antibodies in her body that are normal and healthy may have contributed to developing this illness. Other symptoms can be abdominal pain, which she did complain of periodically. We’ll watch closely for any future fevers or blood in her urine.

There doesn’t appear to be any medicine to treat this illness, except ibuprophen to reduce the pain and swelling. She is starting to feel better, and we’ll keep a close eye on her. She is not allowed to go into grandma and grandpa’s new hot tub over the holidays, which will be the worse part of all of this. The hot water can cause issues with her blood vessels, immune system, etc. I think we’ll pass….

Please don’t use this personal story blog post to diagnose or treat yourself or anyone else. Seek medical advise for any medical concerns. I would love to hear from others who have had this illness in a child.