Help! Swollen bright red feet and hands

[ShellShell]

Please Help! My daughter is 2 1/2 years old and off and on this week she has been having a problem with her feet and hands turning bright red and swelling. When you rub on her fingers and feet these bright white whelp looking bumps appear. They will stay there for several minutes before returning to bright red again. She acts like it is painful and sometimes walks on her toes when the heals of her feet swell. I took her to the dr 2 days ago and was told that this is a normal reaction to some types of virus. He said that "certain people react to certain viruses by the veins in their hands, feet, and sometimes around their mouths over reacting. This causes them to swell and become bright red." By the time she got in to see the dr she was a lot better then she was that morning and he did not get to see the white whelp looking bumps appear. Yesterday she was fine and now this morning her hands and feet are red and swollen again and the white whelps are popping out when you rub on them. I have 6 kiddos and I have never seen anything like this before. Has anyone had any experience with something like this before or been told that viruses can affect the veins like this before? It is making me very nervous and I am not sure if I should try to get her in to see her own dr this morning or not. She could only get in to see one of the other dr in the office the other day. Her health history is that she is a triplet, preemie born at 28 weeks, whooping cough at 4 months, and was checked for possible cp because of walking issues. (Negative for CP but still has an abnormal walk.) Not sure if any of her history has anything to do with what is going on, but just in case! Please help!! Thanks!

[momof2tm]

Did you ever find an answer to what was going on with your daughter? We have the exact same symptoms, bright red feet and hands and white welts appearing when rubbed. She says it's stiff and uncomfortable. The doctor said it is an unknown allergy reaction and he put her on a small dosage of Prednisone. Please let me know if you found anything out.

Sincerely, TM of Montana
(11/28/11)