Anyone awake - anxious about my son

[Anxiousmother23]

He came down with a temperature and very off colour yesterday morning, we kept him off school. His fever was at 38.9 last night, gave calpol and about 30 mins later ibuprofen to help, which brought it down to 37.5 (this is forehead temp)

Now he’s woken up in the early hours with a horrific cough and can’t stop coughing, his fever is back at 38.5 I’ve given him more calpol. But his cough sounds horrific. He was totally fine on Thursday, the whole thing started yesterday morning.

I’m mega anxious when it comes to illness, especially his. As I always think the worst, especially at night like this.
He’s also very rarely unwell with a fever etc.
He can’t seem to get back to sleep with this cough - obviously he needs to sleep to help get himself better.
Is it worth taking him to out of hours in the morning just to get him checked over? In case it’s an infection and he needs antibiotics?

Oh and he hasn’t got much of an appetite either.

That’s completely normal with a virus. You have said he’s snotty and coughing, that generally gives them less of an appetite as it does for some adults. Keep him hydrated as much as you can and offer light things he usually likes, he’ll make up for it when he’s feeling better.

Well we took him to see the GP this afternoon as his cough was back and seemed worse than before. Plus being off his food and more tired than usual (I know that could be a post viral thing too).
Anyway she listened to his chest and said she could hear something very faintly on one of his lungs. She said it’s likely to be vital but because it’s been 5 days and fevers too, she prescribed amoxicillin - two 5ml spoonfuls three times a day for a week.
He’s had two lots so far (so four lots of 5ml). I’m hoping it’ll kick in soon. I can hear him coughing in bed now (not much sleep for any of us tonight!), he was really coughing tonight so I think we did the right thing, along with him just not being ‘right’. It’s the sickest I’ve seen him for quite a while.

Oh and quite a few in his class are off with a very similar thing it seems - fever and a cough.
Tomorrow he’ll have been off for 4 days, which is the longest he’s ever been off school so far.

He coughed so much earlier he made himself gag then was sick. He’s also very snotty so I’m not sure if that’s also causing him to gag.

GP being a bit anxious cautious then.

I hope he gets better soon OP!

My Kids have always have a tendency to be sick from coughing fits. Pretty common I think. I still send them to school if they are well - not the kind of vomiting that requires exclusion.

Hope he feels better soon.

Chest issues can flare up very quickly. My two suffered terrible with croup and several times were taken to a&e by ambulance. Little tip from one of my visits, ibuprophen brings down a very high temp doc told me it was the go to (with a little biscuit to protect the stomach). Also watch how LO is breathing. Is chest moving normally or are they moving shoulders and sucking in diaphragm? The latter needs attention.

Theres always 111 if you’re unsure. They will take the decision out of your hands if need be. Hugs from someone who’s been there 🫂

Honestly OP, everything you have described and the course of the illness sounds like classic flu. The GP has been cautious by prescribing antibiotics but said herself that it’s likely just viral. Just let him rest, sleep, stay hydrated and eat what he fancies. Then when he is better go and see the GP again and get some help with your anxiety because your reaction to this is not normal.

He’s back on the sofa again this morning and still doesn’t want to eat anything. Managed half a pear. Just given him his first lot of antibiotics for the day.

I know I sound anxious but he normally bounces back from things and it’s been 5 days now with very little improvement.

If he’s developed a secondary ( usually bacterial ) Infection from the first virus you’ll see an improvement 24-48 hrs in with the antibiotics but you need to finish the whole course for maximum effect but the original virus may still be making him flag - flu can take around 3 weeks to fully recover which seems soo long with young children but you’ve seen the doctor now so that should give you some reassurance - let him rest and keep up fluids but don’t worry to much about food unless he fancies it

DD has had a fever for 6 days which hasn’t been responding to meds, no signs of bacterial infection but a headache and stomach ache - found out yesterday she has the flu. She has been vaccinated fortunately so the doctor thinks she should have a relatively mild case that will pass in a few days.

Flu lasts 1-3 weeks, usually around 2 weeks. He’ll be feeling ill for a while longer yet.

Sounds like flu. I'd except to see a slow recovery over the next week or two.

Hi - hope you’re ok and there are some improvements. The catarrh may be making him feel a bit queasy if it’s going down to his stomach. I think a bad bug or flu can easily take a week to get over. Also I think when you’re poorly it’s easy to be off your food. And this can last a really long time.
Little bits of tasty food and often, small things he really likes will be good to keep his strength up!
my friend finally just got antibiotics off her GP after being ill for 9 days and 4 days on she’s starting to feel better. I’m sure they will kick in soon. It’s so horrid to see them so poorly! X