Worried about my DD. Please help - particularly anyone medical!

[CandleFlamey]

DD has been very unwell now for a week. It began with a bad cough, but has since worsened. She hasn’t had an appetite in a week, and has just managed to sip water and have small bits of food here and there, but very minimal.

The Doctor today said she has an infection in one of her lungs and prescribed her antibiotics. She has been feeling increasingly nauseous as the week has progressed and tonight has been gagging over the toilet, but very little to bring up. Pretty much just bile. She is back in bed now, but I don’t know how long that’ll last, as she hasn’t been sleeping well. She has pains in her side due to the infected lung, she hasn’t been eating much, and now the vomiting.

My plan is to take her to the GP first thing. Or does she need to be seen sooner? I am happy to sit awake and watch her through the night. She is exhausted, bless her.

sorry, not an AIBU.

I would either sleep in her room or observe her tonight. Sleeping slightly inclined with an extra pillow can ease the difficulty breathing with a chest infection and also help calm any stomach irritation/nausea as well.

“If you have a lung condition, lying flat on your back might:

• make it more difficult to breathe, because it puts pressure on your chest
• make you cough more, because the mucus in your nose drips to your throat
• make your acid reflux worse, because gravity is no longer keeping your stomach acid down.

You could prop yourself up with pillows, so that your head is slightly higher than the rest of your body. This could help to reduce your symptoms by opening your airways and taking the pressure off your chest. Try to avoid sleeping completely upright, as this could make it harder to get to sleep. ”

Can you sleep with her, so you get some rest? And next antibiotic with a small snack. If she’s vomiting the dose may just be coming back up again. And maybe something from pharmacy like hydralite (ask for advice)

If you can I’d take her to A&E. My kids have an allergy to all antibiotics ending in -icyn. They can’t take them - neither can I. Same symptoms. If you can’t take her tonight try early tomorrow ans insist on a different medication being given. It clearly doesn’t sit right with her. I hope she recovers quickly.

It sounds like pneumonia. I would take her to A & E. They will always see a child. She probably needs IV antibiotics. Nurse here.

The 2hr alarms is a good idea so you can nap a bit.

I’ve been watching her, and this is the most peaceful she has slept in days, as she’s not coughing constantly.

I’ve just checked her temperature. Also the lowest it’s been in days. It’s down to 36.8, whereas, calpol
has usually only been bringing it down to just under 38.

Her last dose of calpol was 9.30pm, so usually her temp would be spiking again by now.

I was thinking pneumonia as well. OP, it could be a nasty viral infection that she'll clear it with rest and fluids. But the problem with a lung infection is that it could turn into pneumonia and oral antibiotics won't do much. The only sure thing to get rid of it is intravenous antibiotics.

When you go to your GP ask, and don't be persuaded against it, to get chest x-rays for your DD. The x-ray will show if pneumonia is present or not.

Hopefully she’s turned a corner. But I’d still take her to A&E in the morning if she doesn’t keep down the next antibiotic dose.

I will definitely ask for an X-ray. I just want to know she is getting the right treatment to recover, and at the moment, I am worried in case we get this wrong. She just doesn’t have the reserves left for this to carry on for much longer.

Not the point of the thread but a pneumonia absolutely can be treated by oral antibiotics and this is part of the national guidance on how to treat pnuemonia. IV antibiotics only required for severe cases / or if not responding to oral antibiotics.

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/chest-infections-adult/management/community-acquired-pneumonia/#:~:text=Prescribe%20oral%20amoxicillin%20500%20mg,total%20course%20of%205%20days).

If your daughter is improving with the oral antibiotics I wouldn’t demand an X ray and expose her to radiation for no good reason. Obviously as already stated here before if she gets worse or isn’t improving with the treatment given then of course go to A&E. Every place works differently but most GPs don’t have access to emergency X-rays anyway so I if worse in morning A&E rather than GP

I would take her to A&E. Just to rule out sepsis. I wouldn't risk it.

The GP already knows it’s pneumonia (which may be viral or bacterial) - “chest infection” in non-medical terms - as they found the signs of it while listening to OP’s daughter’s chest. That’s why they started the oral antibiotics, which as PP said can absolutely treat pneumonia. There’s no need for a chest Xray if she improves on the antibiotics, which will take at least 24 hours on them.

If she doesn’t improve after 24 hours of antibiotics, or if she continues to vomit them up and therefore isn’t absorbing them, or if she gets worse from a breathing or sepsis point of view then she needs to go to A&E.

I hope she’s feeling a bit better this morning.

I get a lot of chest infections and have had pneumonia. I need to sleep propped up.

My fever goes from 36.5 to 39 usually but has been known to spike.

When I had pneumonia i was seeing the GP twice weekly (on GP instruction) so don’t be worried about going back if you need to take her. I usual need 2/3 lots of antibiotics and sometimes steroids.

Good luck

GP needs to prescribe an emergency prescription of anti emetics.

Keep her hydrated OP, be aware of signs of sepsis and any sign of that straight to ED. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in soon. The fact her temp was normal is a great sign that things are starting to get better. Could well be pneumonia, but only a doctor can diagnose.

There is a very nasty virus going round, I am a teacher and have had a huge chunk of my class off every day for the last month, some for days and some for weeks.

Has she had antibiotics before? My son had his first dose age 11 and started vomiting after ever dose, turns out he is allergic to penicillin. He also developed a nasty rash after a few days if taking them.

Horrible flu going round at the moment

Antibiotics often cause nausea and vomiting. I have particularly bad reactions.

the general advice if they are doing this is to take on a full stomach if possible (even if it’s only liquid) and keep drinking and eating in small amounts.

it’s a bastard of an infection I had it a couple of weeks ago. So sorry for your dd. Hope she is feeling better soon.

I've had a horrendous amount of antibiotics in the last year (I think I'm over 10 at the last count) and they make me feel very sick and not hungry.

I have found some midwife anti sickness pills (herbal) that work and absolute treat. They're called ease the queese and you can get them on Amazon. Total game changer!

If she’s not getting worse I wouldn’t drag her back to doctors. it sounds like the antibiotics just need time to work.

When my DC were ill, after getting antibiotics I wouldn’t see improvement for 2/3 days. My adult DS has just had this awful virus going around, he had 10 days of antibiotics and is now on steroids for 8 weeks, he has had a chest X-ray, which was clear. The trying to be sick is probably hunger pukes, so try getting her to eat some toast or dry biscuits. One the the main symptoms for me when DC were ill was the trying to vomit, so I knew it was an infection. Hope she begins to start feeling better soon.

You could ask for her to be prescribed an anti sickness if it’s the meds making her sick

Common side effects for clairythromycin include an unpleasant lasting taste (bitter or metallic) and gastrointestinal issues, so it sounds like your DD may be experiencing both of these things, poor thing.

As others have said, keep an eye on her temperature and general demeanour and don’t be afraid to get further medical advice from the GP or 111 if it looks like she isn’t improving.