My 9 year old son complained Friday about his hands itching in the early afternoon. I didn t see any redness or swelling and told him to wash them. He didn t complain anymore Friday. He Saturday morning with swollen hands and an itchy rash on his trunk and legs. He took a shower and the pharmacist from my husband s store where he works recommended benadryl 25mg and ibuprofen and to go to doctor if no improvement. After about an hour he looked much better, but within 3 1/2 hours the rash was back and it was worse. Went to urgent care and the doctor said it was a bad case of hives and most likely related to something he ingested (but pinpointing a cause food or otherwise will be difficult with no prior history of allergic reactions). He advised I make a list of everything he ate 24 hours prior to first symptoms and keep it for future reference. He prescribed prednisone for next 3 to 5 days (20 mg 2× per day) and 37.5mg of Benadryl every 6 hours until all signs of rash disappear then 10mg of Zyrtec every 12 hours for 2 to 3 days after that. He said come back if any signs of anaphylaxis. Also add 75mg of Zantac with other medications if not noticeable improvement in 24-48 hours. So far he s just been itchy and hives look really bad, but otherwise he feels ok. After first doses of benadryl and prednisone it took over 2 hours before I saw a noticeable difference in the hives, but it s still pretty ugly. The hives begin to reappear within 4 to 5 hours after the benadryl, and they are much more widespread and itchy than before when they return. He actually seems worse each time it wears off. Tonight he felt warm to the touch, and his temp was 100.0 using a temporal artery thermometer. I m concerned about waiting any longer, but since this treatment was prescribed for 3-5 days, does that mean it could actually take another day before he improves at all?