When does immunity actually build up for anything ??!!

[rockandaharderplace]

My ds is CONSTANTLY ill and he’s 7!

No underlying conditions, had bloods, eats well, has vitamins etc etc.

He isn’t getting a break. Since reception his attendance has never been better than 70%.

Constant tummy bugs, constant viruses with high temperatures, ear infections, tonsillitis , covid, etc etc etc. He’s not even getting over one thing before he gets another ?

The gp says it’s normal - the school say it’s not and they are pushing all the time about attendance. I’m so fed up of it and I don’t know what to do !!

The pattern seems to be more that I think it’s a viral trigger ? Or at the very least the temperature makes him sick ?

I just brought it up as something to consider because in my experience (admittedly secondary), such low attendance is more commonly due to mental health and school refusing. Signs include a clear pattern in the days of the week absent.

This might not be the case for your dc of course but it would be easy to ask the school for the attendance stats so you can look for a pattern

I think it’s just that he is prone to vomiting from temperature or gagging if has tonsillitis as he coughs , I suppose I could not tell school but he’s done it there sometimes so then they say he HAS to be off 48 hrs but then they don’t like the low attendance so I’m stuck unless I literally stop telling them as I do think a lot of the time it’s temperature or gagging or ear infections particularly seems to make him sick

Sometimes I feel d and v alongside viral is also as he will then drink so much so makes it looser . A could of times def was an actual stomach bug but the other times I’m not sure but they have the rule any d or v

70% attendance is not normal. My daughter had the same issue. She is 11 but from age 5 we had constant sickness when she was in school. She would miss 30% of school every term. The school were very good though as we were referred to a consultant and 4 years later she is still under the consultant as they cannot find what causes her to have such a rubbish response to even a cold. She has had 4 burst ear drums and so many trips to A&E. My daughter rarely had sickness bug it was always some sort of virus or flu. The consultant wrote to the school to explain her thoughts that she has some underlying issue with her immune system and asked if my daughter could do flexi schooling. Although this sounded great as she would only be in school 2 days a week, she got behind with work as the school were not supportive.

We took her out of school 18 months ago and since then she is hardly poorly. She sees her friends on a weekend and factetimes them every evening and they chat for hours. We are trying to emerge ourselves into the Home EDUCATION world but we have found it can be quite cliquey! She is happier and healthier than ever. The consultant said she cannot explain why her immune system struggles but it could improve with age! She was given a vaccine to boost her immune system, I think it was called Pneumococal.

We have online tutors and so much help out there.

This isn't the answer for you but I wanted to share my experience. A lot of the home ed kids we meet have left school for similar reasons. Schools are a constant breeding ground of germs. My daughter's school had the worst hand hygiene. Encouraged poorly kids to come back to school so they could get attendance certificate so my daughter never fully recovered an would get another illness.

I hope you find some answers but you could always get a second opinion from a different GP as that level of absence isn't normal but since covid, lots of children are struggling with their immune systems. Good luck!

I hear what you're saying about covid etc but if you look on the face of it, if a child is constantly ill until they are home schooled, that's a pretty good indicator that their illness was a psychosomatic indicator of their unhappiness with school - perhaps not the ear problems but certainly the extreme colds and flu.

Psychosomatic illnesses aren't faking or malingering. They are literally the body struggling to cope because of mental stress.

I'm very very glad for your dc that they are happy and well being home schooled. But it does seem to me that school must have been making them unhappy (and therefore their body couldn't cope) rather than having too many germs for their bodies to cope.

My daughter loved school and hated being off school but she was not well enough to attend. Regular chest infections, ear infections, flu, virus after virus. She was stressed near the end as she hated being ill. Hated being rushed to A&E when she couldn't breathe. She has long term damage to her right ear from the infections and scarring on her lungs so I do not agree with your comments but hear what you are saying.

What matters most is my daughter is happy and much healthier by not picking up every bug going around at school.

If he is just vomiting because of coughing/gagging he doesn't need to stay off. My ds had a phase where he was vomiting daily for no reason the GP could find, and school agreed that as it wasn't infectious vomiting he didn't need to stay off.

Proven probiotics fit for school chewable are really good. Recommended for my child who was always ill by a paediatrician. It may be worth asking the Doctor to check his IG blood levels. My dc has one IG which is low and means he picks up everything.

@WavyLines11 it's the opposite- the children who wash their hands loads are more prone to illness as they are less exposed to bugs and germs. The same is true for those who live in extremely clean homes where absolutely everything is wiped in antibac/ zoflora / whatever. Kids need bugs and germs to stay healthy (ironically).

I was like this and had to have tonsils out as a child. It didn't stop me from getting ill but certainly improved it. I also have neutropenia, or low white blood cells. Generally I am fine with it but it makes me catch colds more easily. It would show on a full blood count though so not difficult to find.

What was ds' life like in 2020 op? Getting ill frequently is common among children who 'followed the rules' and had limited social contact as it affects the immune system.

Yeah, that’s why there’s so many sick people in hospitals, all that hibiscrub and hadwashing. Pah!

that is not a criteria for surgery! it's based on how many episodes of tonsillitis he has had in a certain time period (can't remember the exact guidelines, did ent in 2012!)

if you want, you can see a paediatrician privately, they might have some ideas?

I would say keep off when too ill for school.
So only consider it d&v if its actually 2+ episodes. Or if other family member has caught it etc.
My dc vomits with a temp. Need to keep the temp low using nurofen - calpol does nothing.

Is it bacterial ear infections?
Ear infections can be from tonsils and adenoids. And both can be from allergies.
Mine also got reflux from teeth coming through.
Some vitamins have a very low amount of vit d in.
Were his bloods actually good for vitamin levels - did you get the numbers?

I dont think vomiting itself is great for ears etc.
Maybe he has fluid in there so grommets?

Personally i think most parents only do 24h after vomiting.
When i was at school there was no rule. I missed virtually no school at all by secondary.
As you can see such rules are very detrimental to a small number of kids.
For eg a friend said she has 3 kids and this was the first time one threw up 10/8/6. Vs my dc who throw up at least pnce a year and as toddlers it was maybe 6x a year.
The other kids are likely contagious too.
My youngest seems to have maybe abdominal migraines. None of us ever catch the sickness even sibling.
Like yours seemed to have several d&v lasting a week then better then worse again - it was actually a uti!

70% is very low

it's normal to have some colds every year, but it sounds like you either need to change something or need to go back to gp for further investigations.

what YOU can do

• hygiene - handwashing, using tissues properly
• diet - 'eat the rainbow', vit d3 supplement. multi vit if fussy eater
• exercise - at least one hour, preferably outside in daylight, of mad running about
• rest - a good night's sleep is so, so important

Does yours have a cause? I have it too, quite severely

if a kid is homeschooled they will almost certainly be in contact with less bugs. What are you bad the psychosomatic assumption on?

My dd has similar attendance levels. She has iGa deficiency as well as migraines with vomiting. Has the GP checked iga?

Put individual Clinell wipes in his pockets. Get him to use it before he eats at school.
Wash hands as soon as you are in the door from school.

Officially it's idiopathic, but I think it was caused by having bad glandular fever as a child. Really played havoc with my immune system from the age of about 5 until my late teens, and these days I always end up with colds dragging on for at least 3 weeks

@waterless ahh makes sense, I was curious as I don't meet many people with it
Mine is autoimmune, I helpfully kill off my own neutrophils

Just a question, not saying this is what it is, but some people's immune systems struggle if they are under chronic strain, so poor air quality, or spending time in an environment with a lot of mould spores can have an affect like that.
You see it in poor quality housing or offices with air conditioning units that aren't cleaned properly for instance.
Are his home and school places where fresh air is normal and free from mould problems?

I thought you could get bacterial infections over and over. And it was only viral infections you could build immunity to.

Criteria for referral of tonsillitis to ENT linky