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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this just can't be normal?

32 replies

ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 05:20

Sorry in advance for the long post!! Dd (5) started school in September. We were obviously expecting her to come home with lots of coughs and colds but hers seemed to be excessive. Between September and December she probably had a day or two off every two weeks. I'm not the kind of person to keep the kids home with a little sniffle either so each time she was off it was genuinely because she was too poorly to go in. We spoke to a Gp at the time who said they had been seeing lots of kids like this and it was the result of lockdowns etc. All fine, thought we've just got to ride it out until her immunity increases.

However the real issues then started in mid jan. She got a stomach bug (not d&v) and ended up in hospital on a drip. Took about two weeks to fully recover and then was fine. Since then she has been getting constantly high temperatures and complaining of a really sore stomach. When this first started happening we had a word with her and told her that we had to tell the truth about feeling poorly because we knew there were a couple of times that she was saying it just for the attention (or to try and stay home from school). This seemed to nip that in the bud and now she only tells us when she genuinely has the pain.

We recently had a letter from school about her attendance being low because of the time off she is having from being poorly. Then 5 weeks ago she got tonsillitis and was off school for the first two days until her temp had come down. When the illness started she had a really high temp and was crying in pain coming from her stomach. The stomach pain seemed to last for a few days after the tonsillitis had gone. Then 2 weeks ago she got it again and again the symptoms started with stomach pain and temp. She actually didn't complain of a sore throat at all so we had no idea it was tonsillitis, only found out because we had to take her to ooh, they gave her antibiotics for her throat but didn't check her stomach as they said the temp was just because of her throat.

I picked her up from school yesterday and again she is saying her stomach is really painful. All night she has had a really high temp (40) and is doubled over in tears. Every time we've had to take her to the GP they've had a quick feel of her stomach and said it's fine so they don't seem concerned but I just don't think this can be normal??

Has anybody had anything similar?

OP posts:
Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:08

Anyone?

OP posts:
Chikapu · 28/05/2022 06:11

If she's doubled over in pain, crying and has a high temperature take her to a&e. There's obviously something else going on here and it needs investigating.

Pancakeorcrepe · 28/05/2022 06:13

OP you must keep investigating. Could she be coeliac or have other food allergies? Worms are also a possibility. When she says her tummy hurts, do you think it is her stomach or the intestines?

ChristmasPuddingAllRound · 28/05/2022 06:19

Could it be an abdominal migraine? Might be worth asking the Dr. Also keep a diary to see if you can identify any triggers.

ChairCareOh · 28/05/2022 06:20

This reply has been deleted

Withdrawn at the user's request

Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:20

@Chikapu we've taken her to be seen a few times when she is like this though and they just have a feel of her tummy and say she is fine and it's probably viral.

@Pancakeorcrepe she did used to have a dairy allergy but has completed the milk ladder last year. I may stop the dairy again though just incase. Not sure if it is her intestines or stomach, when I ask her where it hurts she always points to just under her ribs right in the centre

OP posts:
Dinoteeth · 28/05/2022 06:22

Doubled in pain I'd take her to A&E. It could be her appendix.

Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:23

ChristmasPuddingAllRound · 28/05/2022 06:19

Could it be an abdominal migraine? Might be worth asking the Dr. Also keep a diary to see if you can identify any triggers.

Haven't heard of these before but I've just googled it and it does sound like it could be this! Would she get a temperature with it aswell though?

OP posts:
Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:24

Dinoteeth · 28/05/2022 06:22

Doubled in pain I'd take her to A&E. It could be her appendix.

This is what we thought the first few times it happened so we got her seen straight away but the Gp felt her stomach and said it wasn't that

OP posts:
MarmaladeLime · 28/05/2022 06:29

How often is she going to the GP with this? Sorry I can't quite follow the timeline. I mean if you're going every few weeks I'd be making sure you're asking if there's not something underlying causing this. And also see a different GP if it's the same one each time. When you say she started school, had she been to nursery or preschool? If not I guess it's possible, I mean my child was off ill a lot in the first 6 months to 1 year of nursery, lock down did seem to make it worse according to nursery. But I wouldn't be leaving this, no one should be doubled over in pain like that regularly.

Cheerybigbottom · 28/05/2022 06:30

We took our son, then 3, tonight if ours with sore stomach once and it turned out he had tonsillitis and the glands in his stomach were causing him pain. Doctor explained it was common in children for lymph glands to swell there but less so in adults, if she has a fever then the tummy pain could be due to this.

justanoldhack · 28/05/2022 06:33

Has she been on antibiotics for any of her illnesses? And if so, did you also give probiotics during and afterwards?

Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:37

MarmaladeLime · 28/05/2022 06:29

How often is she going to the GP with this? Sorry I can't quite follow the timeline. I mean if you're going every few weeks I'd be making sure you're asking if there's not something underlying causing this. And also see a different GP if it's the same one each time. When you say she started school, had she been to nursery or preschool? If not I guess it's possible, I mean my child was off ill a lot in the first 6 months to 1 year of nursery, lock down did seem to make it worse according to nursery. But I wouldn't be leaving this, no one should be doubled over in pain like that regularly.

We've probably seen the Gp 10 times with this over the past 3 months. She did attend nursery before school so she did mix with other children before she went to school. I've just called 111 as her temp is still climbing and they are going to get an ooh dr to call us back but that normally doesn't get us very far because it isn't her main Gp

OP posts:
Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:38

justanoldhack · 28/05/2022 06:33

Has she been on antibiotics for any of her illnesses? And if so, did you also give probiotics during and afterwards?

She has been on penicillin twice over the past 5 weeks but we didn't give any probiotics

OP posts:
MarmaladeLime · 28/05/2022 06:40

Is it the same GP you're seeing each time?

Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:42

@MarmaladeLime yes normally the same Gp but it has occasionally been a different one. I keep asking every time we go if it is normal for her to be getting poorly this often and they just keep blaming covid and lockdowns

OP posts:
ZekeZeke · 28/05/2022 06:50

It's a lot of time to be off school.
Is she genuinely ill?
I'm not saying she is faking but she may just really miss you, enjoyed the attention when she was on the drip in hospital and wants to be home with her mum?
Covid has had an awful impact on socialising and she has been home with younfor w years, she is still a baby at 5.
Perhaps she could repeat the year seeing as she has missed so much.

Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 06:54

ZekeZeke · 28/05/2022 06:50

It's a lot of time to be off school.
Is she genuinely ill?
I'm not saying she is faking but she may just really miss you, enjoyed the attention when she was on the drip in hospital and wants to be home with her mum?
Covid has had an awful impact on socialising and she has been home with younfor w years, she is still a baby at 5.
Perhaps she could repeat the year seeing as she has missed so much.

This is what we were worried about at first after she came out of hospital so we had a talk with her and we got her teachers to do the same and since then she hasn't tried to pretend at all. Also every time she is getting poorly she has a really high temperature which she wouldn't be able to fake

OP posts:
Lovebeingamummy2 · 28/05/2022 06:56

I think it could be Mesenteric Adenitis.

My daughter had this recently and she spent ages doubled over in pain Crying.
It’s basically swollen lymph glands in the stomach normally caused by the child getting a virus that irritates the glands causing them to swell

Dominuse · 28/05/2022 06:58

Make an appointment and insist on a referral - don’t ask phrase it - ten times in one year is excessive - could be other allergies, unlikely to be appendix (that generally only goes one way) high temp means she is fighting an infection.

Original poster
ohnoohnoo · 28/05/2022 07:10

Just to update I think it may be tonsillitis again Sad she's just started to say that her mouth hurts.

Spoken to 111 and they are getting an out of hours appt for today. If it is tonsillitis, is it normal to have it 3 times since mid April? She only just finished the antibiotics for the last bout last Friday!

OP posts:
MarmaladeLime · 28/05/2022 07:21

Could it be that the antibiotics didn't quite finish it off last time and it's flared up again?

WhatsInAMolatovMocktail · 28/05/2022 07:24

Hi op, your poor little girl and poor you handling it.you can get recurring bouts of tonsillitis as sometimes the course of antibiotics doesn’t work to completion for a bad infection.

As a child I had whooping cough twice (a few years apart, GP claimed it was impossible and the original GP must have misdiagnosed then looked back on the notes and said, “oh! I diagnosed it myself last time! Well then it is possible but very rare so she must be the rare exception to the rule then.”)

and I had recurring ear infections that antibiotics just wouldn’t kill

I had tonsillitis that recurred for a couple of years in my late 20s when I was very run down.

I still go through phases where I’ll catch cold after cold, and will cough for months at a time following a cold due to sinus problems.

Im sure you are doing all the sensible things already but my suggestions are:

  • no swimming
  • don’t sleep in a draft
  • use sinus spray even when your child seems better to keep finishing through any residual infection
  • use Olbas every night
  • hydration. Get her to drink as much as humanly possible.
  • obviously vitamins. Make sure her vitamin D level is ok
  • when she has an illness don’t rush her back to school. My GP advised my mum, “when she recovers, keep her home and mostly indoors for one extra day to really recover properly.” This genuinely helps - even now when I’m poorly I can tell it lingers when I am rushing about working, grocery shopping, school runs etc.
Don’t worry about missing school it is just one of those things. My DB was home a lot due to severe asthma and he read maths at Cambridge so there’s not always a positive correlation between illness/time off school and academic success. Supply your dd with colouring, puzzles, jigsaws and books to read or look at And she will be fine.
PragmaticWench · 28/05/2022 07:26

If there's no immediate diagnosis then I'd be asking the GP about a blood test to rule out coeliac disease. The pain high up in the centre, just under the ribs, is where DD used to get pain before being diagnosed. Coeliac can also result in a reduced immune system.

Hopefully it's not that! Worth ruling out though.

MadeForThis · 28/05/2022 07:36

Antibiotics can really upset the good bacteria in her stomach.

I second taking probiotics to balance that out.

As the GP about stomach glands.