To be really worried that DS (3) is seriously ill?

[joogle]

DS aged 3 has been constantly ill with colds and bugs for the last 6 months, he seems to have had an on/off fever for months, stomach pains for 6 months, his lips keep going blue and he and hardly eats, he looks so thin.

Today he ate a full meal then 2 hours later vomitted the whole thing up a few hours later. I am worried sick and the doctor has said everything from him having a bug to a chest infection.

DS2 went through a phase of multiple, odd health problems and has several low level disabilities. I was juggling so much medical information about him and had to be the main communicator of it all to the different specialists I saw. My head was spinning and I was convinced there was something awful underlying it all. So I asked to see a paediatrician who could get a good overview of everything that was happening, and our GP referred us. Turned out two things were connected and seeing a dietitian and following their suggestions for him eased it all.

It was only when I went to the GP in a bit of a state, explaining how anxious and tired the situation was making me that he gave us the referral.

I guess my points are: get it checked out; tell your doctor how the anxiety is affecting you ;it's probably not serious and, unrelated to the first three never google!

Good luck

MissBetsyTrotwood - what did it turn out to be?

blood tests can rule out leakemia in a few hours (less than 5 mins for a full blood count) . DH has this and while he was ill alot he also lost loads of weight, was bruising easily and would sleep for hours, upto 14 hours a day and still tired. He had diahorra for weeks at a time and was still eating ok.
Sounds like its likely to be nothing, but always worth checking out imo.

Have you discussed your concerns with your GP? They may be able to put your mind at rest by saying "X and Y are going round and Z is very common at this age, we see this a lot".

I think periods of catching one thing after another is quite common at this age though.

Ask to be referred to paeds if the GP doesn't reassure you.

I know its hard not to think the worst when its your child. I was convinced something terrible was wrong with one of mine a year ago and part of the problem was that I was tired from looking after her and not as rational as normal.

Trust your instincts and push for a referral. Ds1 was very ill a few years back. In the space of 3 days I had him seen by 5 different docs all made me feel like I was a paranoid mother wasting thier time and told me it was a virus and give him calpol. One of the docotors was at a and e who examined him for about 30 seconds after waiting 3 hours who declared probably a virus or possibly early appendicitis but thought unlikely and sent us away. The 3rd day a literally cried I knew my son was ill but didnt know where to turn. But I took him back and the docotor said 'as you keep coming back perhaps the childrens ward should have a look at him'. As soon as we got they could see how ill he was and diagnosed him with pneumoia and pleural effusion, he was hospital for a week.
Not saying your little has that or anything serious. But that taught me that you have to push if your not happy, trust yourself.
Hope he feeling better soon.

Weeelll, to cut a long story very very short... he was drinking far far too much milk and eating far far too much fibre.

He's partially hearing and has a balance disorder along with a physical developmental delay. He's tiny, so when younger we were told to give him as much lovely fatty food as possible to boost his weight gain. He didn't begin to walk til 22mo and his walking got so bad (after improving for a while) he couldn't walk more than 3 steps without falling over at just over 2yo. Plus, he was getting virus after virus, diahorrea, vomiting... He was sleeping so badly at night because of bloated tummy that his walking was bad as he was so very tired. My little boy who had been making such good progress was just slipping backwards.

So less milk (or milk with water added, to give the illusion of milk) and refined carbohydrates that irritated his tummy less did help. Little by little, he slept better, got less ill and his balance improved again because he was less tired. And I had to re-think our family diet again. Small price to pay though.

But, I should say that along with all this he did have blood tests and urine and stool samples taken. I'm not saying the change in his diet was a panacea but it had a massive effect on him.

Your mental health is important too. If he has been ill constantly since Christmas I don't think you would be unreasonable to ask your GP if further investigations could be helpful, if only to set your mind at rest. You sound very anxious and that will be taking its toll on your wellbeing. Good luck.

We took him to the doctors yesterday and the doctor has referred him to the paediatricians at out local hospital, he said the appointment should be within a few weeks

Good Luck joogle. Hope he picks up in the time you wait for your appt.

Keep a diary of all of the symptoms, and especially note when your ds's lips turn blue, for how long, and what he is doing at the time - i.e. actively playing or lounging on the sofa etc.

Hi - I'm a bit of a Jonny come late, but I've been loitering for days. I wrote a very similar thread about six months ago. My dd is stick thin and is a terrible eater, she too was ill consistently for months. If it is just bugs and being a bad eater have a quick look at the health threads; there are a few of us with fatty receipes and ways of sneaking in extra calories. She is slowly improving, but I've got at least three dozen more grey hairs from the constant worry. It really does take over every aspect of your day. I'm dont know who you'll see at the hospital but they may have a dietician within paediatrics, we saw one who monitors my dd- I hope you get some answers at your appointment. X

Good luck, joogle. Please let us know the outcome. X

Good luck joogle, if it's any consolation when dd was 4 she had a nasty reaction to a dental procedure; the GP said it was an indication there might be something seriously systemically wrong, ie, leukaemia or a childhood cancer and had us referred to the hospital specialist within 24 hours. She was fine - nothing a course of anti-biotics couldn't deal with. You need to get this checked out but I think if your GP thought there was something seriously wrong, this would be moving much much faster.

Good luck - come and let us know how the lad gets on.

Hi. There is nothing in your description to suggest any serious illness; as a GP I see several children with exactly the same history every week. It sounds as though your 3 year old has been suffering from a series of different infections, which is extremely common, and rarely a sign of any underlying problem.

But purely because it is making you so anxious it would be worth requesting that your GP refer you for a paediatric opinion; parental concern is a perfectly valid reason for referral even in cases where there are no significant medical concerns. Very few practices are able to perform blood tests on children so in most areas you would need to see paeds (or at least a hospital-based paediatric phlebotomist) for this anyway.

In some cases persistent symptoms are due to an underlying problem; malabsorption syndromes, leukaemias and other malignancies, diabetes etc. If your child is losing weight, or failing to gain weight along his predicted centile line (have a look in his red book), lacking in energy ALL the time despite sleeping well etc, then a specialist opinion is a good idea.

Oh good luck joogle. I hope there is someone to look after you, too.