Catherine's ear infections started with a vengeance in November. She was constantly sick. Constantly. It was a revolving door at the doctor's office, and we were no stranger to the nurses. Finally in January, after her seventh (eighth?) straight ear infection, which started immediately after she stopped anti-biotics, we were referred for tubes. We got an appointment for mid-February, had her ear tubes inserted March 8. After finding out Catherine couldn't HEAR, we thought for sure that after the tubes, her speech would blossom.
That did not happen. So in April, when we went back to see how her tubes were doing, we expressed that Catherine continued to have poor balance, a chronic runny nose, and it was clear she was not feeling better. He suggested allergy medicine to help with the runny nose (and getting her out of daycare as it was probably a virus she just couldn't get rid of). So we put her on allergy medicine.
She still didn't seem to get better and I remember the day Christy, our daycare provider said, "There is something wrong with your daughter, Laura, you need to figure it out." From then, I went on a crusade.
I asked that we be referred for allergy testing, possibly speech and occupational therapy, and talk to a general pediatrician with Blank Children's Hospitals. So that's what we did, finding out in May that Catherine was allergic to bananas and milk. But she continued to have a chronic runny nose, sometimes made better by the allergy medicine. So we continued to give her the allergy medicine. She seemed better, but not. It was like we were in limbo, waiting for that one word to finally pop out.
Summer was tough, and it seemed as though Catherine began downhill. It was a subtle downhill spiral, but downhill, nonetheless, which led us to Friday. Picking up the kids I could tell Christy was frazzled, and she's never frazzled. She said it was a tough day with Catherine. She was very aggressive, wouldn't stay in time out, and hurt one of the other kids. We have a great relationship with Christy, but a person could only take too much. I pride myself on being able to read people pretty well, and could tell it would only be a matter of time before she finally said Catherine would need to find another place to go. It was a heart-wrenching conversation, and left me pretty upset.
So I got home, and posted on my Moms group on Facebook, which led me to look into the adverse side effects of Zyrtec (which is supposed to be better than Claritin). Here, in all their horror, are the adverse side effects that usually affect less than two percent of people taking this allergy medicine:
- Anger (inconsolable temper tantrums)
- Moodiness
- Night terrors (or increased night terrors)
- Hallucinations
- Confusion
- Drowsiness
- Loss of appetite
- Decreased urine output
- Rash
- Flushing of the face and extremities
- Stuttering
- Apraxia of speech
- Loss of speech or aural motor skills
- Loss of gross and fine motor skills (particularly in gait and hands)
- Emotional numbness (lack of empathy)
- Irrational
- Self-Harm (hitting self, banging head)
- Anxiousness
- Withdrawn
- OCD tendencies (irrational perceptions of routine)
- ADHD or Hyperactivity
- Hyperfocus
- Autistic tendencies
- Anxiety
- Tics, such as involuntary shoulder shrugging
- Craving for salt
Twenty-three fucked up side effects that less than two percent of the population might suffer from when taking this medicine.
My daughter suffered from approximately 20.
That is stunning. Looking back on these side effects and what we have been through, I have no doubt in my mind that Catherine, when shaking and screaming in her crib at 3:00 a.m., screaming for us to not leave her room, that she was hallucinating, after waking from a night terror.
So 7:30 a.m. I emailed our family practitioner, who had no idea these could be possible side effects. Today, at the University of Iowa Hospitals, I told the speech pathologist our story, and she said she had no idea the side effects. I talked to our speech pathologist from the AEA, and she had no idea these were possible side effects. The occupational therapist who evaluated Catherine today had no idea these were possible side effects.
So had this random mother, who I do not know, not commented on my random post on Facebook, how long would this have gone on? And what's even scarier: some of these effects won't go away if you take this medicine too long.
So here we are, on Day 4 of No Allergy Medicine and the difference I have seen in Catherine is remarkable. She should be studied by the medical field.
She is no longer saying "hmm hmm hmm" every two seconds. She is signing with greater ease than I have ever heard. She is saying "ba" for ball, "mo" for more, "oh" in reply to something I say to her, "ow" when she is hurt, "wow" when something fascinates her, "whoa" when caught off guard. And this is only in three days, as Saturday we only started hearing some more vocalizations from her. Sunday, her vocabulary exploded.
It seems like she understands when we talk to her, she understands time-out, us telling her "no" to something doesn't cause her to throw herself down on the ground and kick herself with her feet. She has been sleeping through the night, including sleeping while Drew is not (which has been a lot and it has been rough, let me tell you!), she has been eating a ton more, drinking a ton more water, and overall, is very happy. She has been laughing, more calm, MUCH less aggressive (although she's 2.5, so we can only expect so much), and it's like I have my little girl back.
I am relieved, but it still seems like when I tell people, it's not really that believable. But trust me, if you would have seen what we have been experiencing, and the little girl that I have had the past few days, you would be so astonished, you'd be writing a blog post about it too.
I have my little girl back. My little girlie girl with the funny saunter, the pigtails, the silly smile. You are mine, and you are beautiful, and I am so glad I finally fought for you this long. You so deserve to be happy, and our family is happier because of it.
I love you, little girl, and I am so glad we seem to finally be moving forward.
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