By how much should a high temp go down after a dose of nurofen, please?

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DS (7 yrs) woke up feeling miserable and very warm to the touch. His temp was 38.2. I gave him a dose of nurofen immediately (this was about an hour and a half ago) but temp just now only down to 38.1. I suspect ear infection as he says he has a headache and his ears feel "blocked up".

He is very low energy and didn't want breakfast, but has had juice and water and feels a bit cooler to the touch.

I've looked at the NHS and children's health websites and they say fever is a good thing as it fights the infection.

So I'm not sure whether I should be trying to get the temp down further or not?

Any advice? tia.

na, its the bodies natural response to infection so id be letting it do its job tbh.

just look at it like this, the reason you are giving the drugs is to get rid of pain/discomfort and thatd what they are ding.

We dont even own a thermometer in this house cos its only going to tell me what i already know....he's hot.

Loads of fluids, ice pops juice and regular pain killers, he will bounc eback soon enough.

GAhhh trying to type while sipping a hot cuppa with one hand, sorry for typos x

Thanks! Don't worry about the typos. Hope your oven gets fixed soon [hsmile].

Well, 38.2 is not a high temp, but it should have come down much more than 0.1 degree.

Are you taking him to a doctor?

Am not worried enough for the docs Winny.
He's only been ill for a couple of hours.

I thought 38.2 was quite high; not very high or dangerously high, but above normal high?

Did you take underarm reading? Then up to 37 it would be normal. 38.2 is low/medium fever ie nothingto worry about per se, but still it's strange it didn't come down.

Thanks, it my uterine oven thats broken, cant seem to keep a bun in it! LOL

Is nurofen paracetamol based? I find temp usually goes down better with paracetamol based meds. Also 38.2 not too bad, make sure if starts heading towards 39 (38.7 or over) get it down quick, open windows, clothes off, tepid sponging. Had a scary experience with DS last month where he became delirious, called doc & they said it was just fever related & to get temp down asap.

Hi scaley - sorry your DS is unwell.

It might be that the fever was still climbing so the nurofen has 'capped' it rather than bringing it down, IYSWIM.

38ish is not worryingly high and it is the body's way of fighting infection naturally. However, if it started to climb quickly to over 39 then I would start worrying about fits [worrier]. To bring down the temperature, you should put them in a warm bath (just about body temperature or a degree higher, not cold!) and offer cold drinks, remove layers and make sure the room is cool not cold.

Trying to bring the temp down quickly can have the opposite effect by 'tricking' the body into thinking it needs to heat itself up.

I always find nurofen most effective, but you can offer paracetamol alongside. Particularly if the earache is severe.

If he has a headache, obviously keep a close eye - it is probably just caused by the fever, maybe dehydration - but nevertheless.

i would try giving calpol if the ibuprofen is not doing the trick. its fine to give them together or leapfrog, anything that keeps DS comfy. GPs dont usually give antibiotics for 3 days for ear infections anyway as they are mainly viral. A wheat bag is nice and soothing and plenty of fluids