DS (3yo) high temperature and hallucinating?

[Luisaa]

I’m quite concerned about my poor DS, he is 3 and his temperature spiked at around 1am. Calpol worked eventually but he has just woken up (I say woken up but he is so spaced out, just staring but can answer simple questions) and he was terrified about the snow getting in the bed (what snow?!). He has never done this… he seems to be awake but acting very strange. Could this be a weird side effect to the calpol? Is it an a&e job?

A and E job.

It’s more likely to be a reaction to the temp. If you can gather a few things, snacks, tablet and books to keep him entertained then do.

How high is the fever?

I would go to an and e. Better safe than sorry.

hope he is feeling better soon

If Calpol brings it down let him sleep and rest.

Waiting in a&e for hours, picking up more bugs, probably isn't going to help. I would only go there if the temp wasn't coming down.

At his age, I'd probably nip to A & E just to be on the safe side OP.

I would call 111 OP. You might be able to get an appointment and save waiting forever in A&E.

Don’t worry too much about the hallucinations. It is quite common with small children and elderly people with a fever.

my dd had a bad flu around that age and the same thing happened - it really scared me as she was talking about seeing things and had this odd spaced out look on her face.

You can't nip to A&E.

Cally 111. It is what it is there for. You might be sent to A&E or out of hours or a triage.

Hope he feels better soon

My DS was hallucinating once when he was ill, gave him calpol and nurofen, alternating every 2 hours, put him in a tepid bath and flannel all over with luke warm water, colder on head, temperature soon came down, it’s scary, he was seeing things crawling up the wall and running around, fortunately. If you cannot get temperature down by doing this, then obviously seek help.

Ah gosh, that sounds worrying for you all! What is your GP like? I would ge on the phone as soon as they open which will hopefully save a trip to A&E!

give him ibuprofen, calpol never seems to help when my children have fevers but ibuprofen seems to make a difference.
I’ve currently got 2 year that has spiked fevers continuously for days now but the doctor wasn't concerned so I wouldn't go to A & E but wait for the gp to open this morning unless they have breathing difficulties.
That being said trust your gut and phone 111

I had something similar with my daughter a few years back! It was RSV
She had a very high fever and was trying to climb up the walls and was distraught about some backpack… was scary…
just as I decided to go to A&E she started to calm down and eventually went to sleep.. she was exhausted but fine the next day

My DDs temp spiked once and she was similar. It was day time so I rang gp (before 111 existed) and he toldme to strip her to vest and nappy, alternate calpol and ibuprofen and use a tepid flannel to cool her. If temp wasn’t coming down with meds or she wasn’t drinking/wet nappies , any rash or sign of pain or a convulsion to either go hospital or 999.

id ring 111 if I was you.

I hallucinated when i had a temp with flu.
If you go to a&e, it won’t be a ‘nip’ as one person suggested. It’s already very busy. Doctors strikes are on. It’ means longer waits. Try both paracetamol and ibruprofen.

Flu or Rsv are what’s coming back on swabs atm in hospital.

Call 111. Obviously if the temp doesn’t come down or he isn’t improving A&E is there.Theres advice around Flu on Nhs Websites or social media too.

Please don’t use tepid water to try to decrease the temperature. This is no longer advised and because it cools the skin it actually makes the body think it’s cold and can send the temperature up.

https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/fever-in-children/ NHS fever advise

What is the temperature and what did it come down to on calpol?

I always used to hallucinate as a child when I had a fever. Vividly remember feeling like I was falling in a hole - terrible feeling.

I’d call 111 and stagger calpol and nurofen together. I’d be trying that rather than rushing to A&E which will be very busy.

My 3yo had this last month. They couldn’t sleep because they were uncomfy with the fever and were chatting gibberish.

temp was only coming down slightly with max doses of calpol and ibuprofen.

they were lethargic, not eating or drinking.

We went to urgent care, where they diagnosed chest and ear infection.

You should never put a child with a high temp in a tepid bath, or use cool flannels. It causes the body to overheat even more.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng143/chapter/Recommendations#antipyretic-interventions
Call 111 and get an appointment

GP appointment this morning. Call them at 8am, explain what you’ve said here. Will likely be quicker than A&E

Thanks all. Temp has come down and he seems to have rallied round a bit, so I’ll call the gp at 8am and see if I can get him checked that way. What a night! Relieved to hear that others have had similar experiences - it seems to be a common reaction to a fever, which I haven’t heard of. Thanks again for the responses.

I used to hallucinate with temperatures as a child, but it wouldn’t hurt to get him checked over.

This happened to my DS - a little older I think but still small. He was very hot. Slept with Calpol and by the morning was feeling a bit better. I put it down to the very high fever. I had to close the window so the neighbours didn’t call a priest for an exorcism!

Glad he's feeling better. Don't be surprised if you need to keep up the paracetamol for a bit ,his temp might go up again. Give ibuprofen as well and stagger with the paracetamol. Lots of fluids. It's really common to hallucinate with a temperature.

My youngest son always hallucinated like that with a fever - scared the crap out of me! It started around 2/3 years old. He’s nearly 14 now and still does it if he gets a fever, although not as bad as he used to.

try to keep the fever down and obviously get him checked out if he gets worse or the fever gets dangerously high - but the hallucinating alone wouldn’t worry me if there was no other symptoms that made me consider going to the dr.