Folate rash?

[Guest guest]

Haven't posted in awhile but have continued to read post. Today I have a

question which I am hoping the group may have some experience with. Our son,

dakota, hm w dor on 2.11.09. Came down with some random staph infection on his

elbow, antibiotics for 10 days, cleared mostly, caught flu, more antibiotics for

3 days, miserable for ten days. Spasms increased significantly, went to gi doc.

Folate level was 3, given supplements, given hyoscyamine for spasms. Flu and

staph relieved but his elbow is still red. All the over the counter cold

remedies caused constipation, gave colace for 3 days. Flu has resolved for

almost 15 days now. Finally the issue....he has developed a severe rash which

appears randomly and disappears randomly. His ears, face, neck, shoulders and

groin predominantly. The spasms have been quite debilitating over the weekend,

along with severe abdominal pain and at least one episode of bloody diarrhea,

forced myself into bathroom so I could see against his modest wishes. I have

stopped all medication thinking allergic reaction. The only medicine he was

taking when all this began was folic acid, nexium and the hyoscyamine for his

spasms. I am giving him benadryl sparingly to treat the rash. He is exhausted

and frankly so are we. I know we r not doctors but his gi called and want to

scope him, his last barium swallow showed " no problems mechanically done feb. 16

of this year. So, can replacing folate increase b12 levels creating

hyper-peristalysis resulting in all the above mentioned issues? Given that this

kid is use to operating on low folate. Again I have stopped all medication and

will add them back one at the thime and check for reaction. And secondly, does

he need a scope now? I was really hoping to avoid any invasive procedure, doc

thinks he may need dilation. This frankly scares the crap out of me. By the way,

barium swallow show a 2 minute delay which is also what showed when we post op

at cleveland, they felt this was within normal range. Apologies for the

dissertation, grasping here...angela

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

[Guest guest]

wrote:

>

> ..., more antibiotics for 3 days, miserable for ten days. Spasms

> increased significantly, went to gi doc. Folate level was 3, given

> supplements, given hyoscyamine for spasms. ... All the over the

> counter cold remedies caused constipation, gave colace for 3 days.

> ...he has developed a severe rash which appears randomly and

> disappears randomly.... severe abdominal pain and at least one episode

> of bloody diarrhea... So, can replacing folate increase b12 levels

> creating hyper-peristalysis resulting in all the above mentioned

> issues? ...

>

A lot is going on here so it sorting it all out could be difficult.

There are thousands of kinds of microbes that inhabit the gut. Taking

antibiotics will change the ratios of them. The ratios can bounce around

for some time after treatment. In that time GI upset can happen. One

possible symptom of low folate is diarrhea. While our diet is fortified

with folate and many take folate supplements and side effects are rare,

one possible side effect also is diarrhea, but because this is rare

jumping to the conclusion that it is the cause may be unwise. B12 is

also very unlikely to cause problems. If the B12 did increase activity

in a dysfunctional esophagus it could explain the spasms. That is a bit

of a jump though without much to prove it. I don't see that explaining

the other problems as the dysfunction should be limited to the

esophagus, so peristalsis should be functional elsewhere even if

increased in those other areas.

Hyoscyamine is another story. It decrease motility so any increase in

peristalsis due to B12 may be more than countered by the hyoscyamine. If

you look at the side effects for hyoscyamine you will find constipation,

and under the " If you experience any of the following symptoms, call

your doctor immediately " you will find, diarrhea and skin rash.

See:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000811/

notan