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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think illnesses can't come on this quick

135 replies

Talkabtit101 · 19/12/2024 19:04

Went to London Tuesday - went to Harry potter studios, and then stayed in a hotel for a couple nights, used swimming pool and went shopping on the Wednesday.

DD (5) got back home this morning and fell asleep a few hours after around 4 then woke up with a 38.5 fever and crying saying she didn't know what was wrong but felt poorly.

Now in our history of illnesses has rarely had a fever so I've succumbed to a wee bit of panic.

Just looking for some advice on do illnesses happen this quickly?? Could've been the only way we'd caught it as was WFH the few days before and DD is homeschooled.

I've gave calpol around half hour ago and fever is now at 38.2.

Posting for traffic and maybe a hand hold because I do have anxiety and ocd and I'm never good at handling illnesses, especially fevers. Thank you in advance.

OP posts:
TotallyTwisted · 19/12/2024 19:05

Of course they do! Hope she's feeling better soon.

AhBiscuits · 19/12/2024 19:06

Yes they very often do.

I got flu and went from fine to shaking uncontrollably over the course of half an hour.

Merryoldgoat · 19/12/2024 19:06

Yes of course they do. Surely this isn’t the first time your child has been ill?

Wavescrashingonthebeach · 19/12/2024 19:08

AhBiscuits · 19/12/2024 19:06

Yes they very often do.

I got flu and went from fine to shaking uncontrollably over the course of half an hour.

Literally snap!
This morning I was fine doing housework within hours wracked with pain and got the chills. Came on so suddenly.

Also my dc was perfectly fine when I put him to bed 1 night after soft play.. 2 hours later woke up with croup.

Awful.

Op hope ur dc gets better soon. Calpol, cuddles, fluids and observation!

lazyarse123 · 19/12/2024 19:09

Yes it's very possible. I went to bed feeling fine woke up after 30 minutes with chills, fever, shaking. It was a bacterial infection I'd had before so knew I need antibiotics but it always appears out of nowhere.
I hope you dd picks up soon, it's always a worry.

wigsonthegreenandhatsforthelifting · 19/12/2024 19:09

Absolutely they do - they can come on fast and they can also go fast.

You can piggy back Calpol and Nurofen, think Calpol is every 4 hours and Nurofen every 6, but please check that out because it's been a long time since I needed them!

If you can't keep her temp stable, seek advice from OOH or A&E.

Plenty of fluids - ice lollies are good if she isn't drinking enough.

gamerchick · 19/12/2024 19:10

Flu comes on scary fast sometimes. Just drops you out of the blue.

Poor little poppet, hope she's on the mend soon .

Sinkintotheswamp · 19/12/2024 19:12

I had flu once and it came on incredibly fast.
Packing up from work at 5pm and feeling a tiny bit run down to shivering in bed by 8pm and staying there for a few days.

Original poster
Talkabtit101 · 19/12/2024 19:12

@Merryoldgoat

No this is not the first time, but it usually is a committing bug that lasts a few hours, only temps have been when very younger and after jabs.

Thank you everyone else, the temp I believe is coming down by touch as is currently sleeping. Does anyone know with a digital thermometer which is the most accurate way to test? As underarm said 37.5 but oral said 38.4

OP posts:
Middlemarch123 · 19/12/2024 19:12

Yes they do OP.
you can give liquid ibuprofen and calpol when they’re poorly OP. I used to give both to mine a couple of hours apart. Just follow the dosage for each.

BeADinosaur · 19/12/2024 19:13

They absolutely can come on that quickly!

I once sent my daughter into school at 8am in perfect health. On collecting her at 4:30pm she was clearly unwell with tonsillitis. By 8pm she was in hospital with her tonsils having completely swollen and near total blockage of her airways.

In 12 hours!

I hope your daughter feels better soon!

Rainbow450 · 19/12/2024 19:16

Unfortunately there's a lot about at the moment. I went somewhere on a Saturday and by Monday afternoon I was very poorly with a very high temperature and the works.

Hope she feels better soon

CurlyhairedAssassin · 19/12/2024 19:17

If she's home schooled she won't be mixing with the same amount of germs that school children do every day. So it stands to reason she probably won't be ill as much and her immune system will be less well-developed. She's been out mixing in London (THE place to pick something up if you ask me, its the concentration of people in small areas and many hands touching the same hand rail, tube button etc). She has most probably caught something from being out in public. That's totally normal.

It's most likely to be something viral. As others have said, you can alternative paracetamol and ibuprofen medicines.

justfirthisboard · 19/12/2024 19:17

Ibuprofen works better for a fever than paracetamol, if she can take it. Can you get some neurofen into her?

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 19/12/2024 19:18

Covid's incubation period is typically 2-5 days, so she's bang on for that.

Flu is similar (1-5 days)

Less likely to be RSV (3-5 days)

Make sure she gets plenty of rest, ring 111 if you're worried she's not coping.

And as any/all of you could be brewing it up too, so keep away from other people as far as possible - no one wants this for Christmas (or indeed at all) - and if you have to go in to shared indoors space, wear a mask

Suhbataar · 19/12/2024 19:19

Do you mean that it's come on that quickly after being exposed to whatever random germ she has? If so, yes, definitely. But equally it could have been something that she's been brewing for a while, that you may have picked up ages ago and had asymptotically. E.g. the flu can be as little as a day but chicken pox can take 10-20 days between exposure and symptoms (which is why it's such a git in families as one child gets it after another and everyone goes stir crazy with cabin fever).

Suhbataar · 19/12/2024 19:21

Cross posted with @UnmentionedElephantDildo :-)

Jabbabong · 19/12/2024 19:21

wigsonthegreenandhatsforthelifting · 19/12/2024 19:09

Absolutely they do - they can come on fast and they can also go fast.

You can piggy back Calpol and Nurofen, think Calpol is every 4 hours and Nurofen every 6, but please check that out because it's been a long time since I needed them!

If you can't keep her temp stable, seek advice from OOH or A&E.

Plenty of fluids - ice lollies are good if she isn't drinking enough.

Edited

You don't need to always seek medical advice for a fluctuating temperature especially not A&E. Consider all of the symptoms, do not fixate on the temperature alone.

Craftymam · 19/12/2024 19:21

Brace yourself OP. We had 41 c here all weekend!

Muchtoomuchtodo · 19/12/2024 19:23

Illnesses absolutely do come on that quickly.

There are really high rates of flu, covid and RSV about atm, and busy places are prime spots for being exposed to them.

Has she had her flu vaccine this year?

Do what’s needed to keep her comfortable, I don’t worry too much about what the thermometer says tbh but do use calpol and ibuprofen as needed to minimise their distress. Keep up her fluids and lots of cuddles. Hope she’s better soon and the rest of the family dodge it. Xx

fivebyfivebuffy · 19/12/2024 19:38

Tonsillitis does that to me
I was working and felt fine, started shivering and my temp was 40c and by the evening my throat was full of gunk

Nothatgingerpirate · 19/12/2024 19:41

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 19/12/2024 19:18

Covid's incubation period is typically 2-5 days, so she's bang on for that.

Flu is similar (1-5 days)

Less likely to be RSV (3-5 days)

Make sure she gets plenty of rest, ring 111 if you're worried she's not coping.

And as any/all of you could be brewing it up too, so keep away from other people as far as possible - no one wants this for Christmas (or indeed at all) - and if you have to go in to shared indoors space, wear a mask

I would add, just for info, Norovirus for example comes on literally within half an hour.
One minute you're hungry and eating, within half hour head is down the toilet (if lucky).
Not a case of the kid, just to be alert.
😳

AInightingale · 19/12/2024 19:41

Yes, there are rotten infections everywhere right now. Been floored for two days with one. Give electrolyte drinks if she doesn't want to eat.

GinToBegin · 19/12/2024 19:43

Some years ago, I went into work feeling fine. By mid-morning, I was feeling a bit peaky, and by lunchtime, I was feeling very rough, so drove home.

Upshot was, I had chicken pox. I was floored for two weeks, off work for three in total, and in that one half-day when it all began, apparently infected several other people.

I honestly went from peachy to wiped out in hours, so I’d say yes, things can come seemingly out of nowhere and in next to no time.

Hope she - and you - are feeling much better soon.