Are cold sweats a problem?

[Goldenbear]

My DS, 5, had a cold sweat last night, it is the third one in 4 months, he has also been very sweaty around the neck/head but it could not be described as cold sweats. His bedroom is not warm, he still has a summer duvet on his bed and he had summer pyjammas on. I asked him if he had a nightmare and he said, 'no'. He did not have a temperature and was not being sick. This morning he is absolutely fine. It has happened twice before in the last 4 months. The first time it happened he also projectile vomitted everywhere, it was so bad that he seemed like he was loosing consciousness at one point but he was fine in the morning. My DP thought that it was food poisioning as he had bought him a burger out and about that day but DP had had the same and was fine. The second time he had a cold sweat with wet pyjammas there were no other problems. Last night was the worst it has been as I had to change his pyjammas the conditions were the same as last night and he was not ill in any other way.

Last year he kept complaining of stomach cramps, lost about 5lbs from August to Christmas, had sweaty neck/head at night sometimes but not cold sweats. As all this was ongoing rather than a specific illness the Doctor said it was most likely childhood migraines and unlike adults stress creates pain in the stomach. He had started Reception year so she put it down to that change.

He has lost a couple of pounds again since the summer but does not have stomach problems anymore so I put the weightloss down to school. He is 2.10 stone and for his age/ height is just under the 25 percentile this has stayed pretty consistent since last year, I.e weight hovering around 25th percentile so obviously the GP said he's fine but it was the weight loss I was concerned with. He was born on the 75 percentile and stayed their until about age 4 so to me it was quite a dramatic change.

He seems fine today like I said so can anyone tell me if it is something to be worried about or whether I'm just being a fusspot.

[LadyMaryCreepyCrawley]

I'd pop him back to the GP and ask for a paediatrician referral. It doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything wrong, it should be checked out though. He could do with having a blood test, just to make sure everything is OK.

[LadyMaryCreepyCrawley]

How is he, OP?

[Goldenbear]

Hi Lady, thanks for replying. DS is fine today so it doesn't seem to be that he was sickening for something. I suppose this is why I'm in a quandary but I think you're right as it is best to be safe than sorry.

I am in the tricky position of changing GP as the one I normally go to is a pain to get to. Also, when DS had the stomach cramps the Doctor said that he had Gastronteritus but the hospital said that it wasn't that as he did not have any other symptoms. Only last week my DD (18 months) had croup, the GP gave her a tablet prescription of steroids, the pharmacist said that they were not suitable for her age and I'd have to go to the walk in centre for a new prescription. I did this and they told me to go to the children's A&E once they had seen DD as they were not happy about her breathing and wanted the steroids administered in the hospital. Needless to say I don't have much confidence left in the GP anymore so I've decided to change Doctors. I know that they are now waiting for our records so I don't know if I can make an appointment yet.

[LadyMaryCreepyCrawley]

Does he drink/wee a lot? Weight loss and night sweats can indicate diabetes in children, there's loads of things that could be causing this so it does need investigating.

[Goldenbear]

He drinks quite a bit but i wouldn't say excessively. He is always hungry and eats a lot. Last year/earlier thi year I thought about Diabetes but the GP did not think it was necessary to take a urine sample as he was not drinking or urinating excessively. After the initial diagnosis of Gastro-enteritis, she then changed that to childhood migraines. Things improved as in no stomach ache but then the first cold sweat happened.