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Quite concerned about DD, what would you do?

173 replies

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 14/04/2011 17:42

DD recently has been getting really difficult to wake up in the morning. She is five years old and her bedtime is seven. Mostly she is asleep by 7:15. I wake her up approx 6:45/7:00 in the morning so we can get ready to leave the house, so nearly 12 hours sleep a night.
For a few weeks she was complaining every now and again of a tummy ache, took her to the docs who said UTI and she had a course of antibiotics.
This week she has become extremely clingy, difficult to wake up in the morning, very emotional, and has been going to bed sooner and sooner each night, and getting more difficult to wake in the morning. She's also a bit off her food, one day this week she had a slice of toast for breakfast, at lunch she ate half a sandwich, and tea she had half a toastie, and she didn't want anything else.
Yesterday she had spent nearly 45 minutes crying at the childminders house before I picked her up, she alternates between saying nothing is wrong / she's just tired / she's worried the new baby will be smelly (I am 35 weeks pg, but up til now, she's seemed fine at the idea of having a sibling). I took her home last night, she was in bed and asleep at 5:45, she slept until 7:10 this morning. I have picked her up, and apparently she has been asleep "several times" today in class, slept for an hour at the childminders, and is currently lying in bed now.
I did try to get her in our docs, but they cannot see her until next thursday.
In these cirumstances, WWYD? DH says to ring nhs direct, but I'm not sure if we're just being paranoid. Any advice would be appreciated. Some people have suggested that she may be naturally worried about the new arrival, and this is what is making her a bit emotional, but surely wouldn't put her off her food and make her sleep excessively?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
ElfOnTheTopShelf · 15/07/2011 17:57

I will be taking her to the doctors on Friday next week, and seeing one of the more "child friendly" doctors, and going through the whole saga again. Hopefully will get some answers.

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MarianH · 15/07/2011 18:01

I hope that you make some progress. I also hope your DD has had a better week. Best wishes.

Clara35 · 22/07/2011 23:15

Hi elf, was thinking about you & ur dd. How is she doing?

lisad123 · 30/07/2011 20:53

Anymore news?

Knackeredmother · 01/08/2011 22:55

Bump

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 02/08/2011 19:48

Hi.
Well, we went to see another doctor at the surgery because the blood results were normal but I was still worried about DD. doctor made me feel a bit like I was being a stressy mother, and said that he thought it may all be emotional rather than physical. He said that he could order more tests at the hospital, but the chances of finding anything untoward is unlikely. He suggested we take DDs temperature on a daily basis, re-test her urine, and go back in a few weeks if we are still concerned.
Sent DD's uring for testing. Today, she went to the loo and screamed in pain. I rang the doctors for the urine results, explained that she was screaming in pain. Was told nothing showing on the urine tests, but we could take her back to the surgery to see somebody.
DH took her back and went through everything with them. The new doc asked some new questions, such as whether he thought anybody was hurting dd to cause the bruises or whether anybody was touching her (because one of her complaints is pain when going to loo). DH said no.
Doc asked whether we had seen a doc at the hospital, and said he was going to confer with the other docs and get back to us

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Knackeredmother · 02/08/2011 23:58

Have you seen a paediAtrician yet?
If not I would be tempted to see one privately if you can afford it, privately they seem more willing to actually listen to your concerns.

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 03/08/2011 09:36

No, I haven't seen a paediatrician yet, I am hoping that is what the doctors at my surgery are planning, referring us to see one at the hospital.
It is at times like this that I regret not joining up to the Bupa scheme at work.

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BoysRusxxx · 11/08/2011 13:51

Any update on your dd Elf??

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 13/08/2011 09:03

the doctors phoned us when we were on holiday, and have told us that they do not think there is anything to worry about regarding DD.

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lisad123 · 13/08/2011 09:14

Are u still worried? Doctors missed dh cancer for well over a year, my trust in them is limited now Sad

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 13/08/2011 09:50

I am worried, and then for a while I think everything is okay, then she'll be tired again, or another bruise etc which gets me worried.
We have been on holiday to the sea-side, she has had a few later nights than usual and coped fairly well with less sleep. We are at home this week and I have decided to write down what she eats and how she is feeling. I have asked her to tell me when she feels tired so I can note that down too.
I am going to weigh her at my mums house tomorrow (my scales give you a 6lb difference just moving them across the room!) and see whether she is the same weight or gained any.

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lisad123 · 13/08/2011 10:04

i would be tempted to take her to local childrens a&e tbh

BoysRusxxx · 13/08/2011 10:10

Is her diet good? How is her appetite?

I think if it were mine, id just bring them to A&E. I would just explain everything. They used to parent coming in based on just their motherly instincts that something isnt right IYKWIM. Dont feel your over-reacting.

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 13/08/2011 10:18

Her diet is very good imo. She eats a lot of fruit and vegetables, often asks for a snack of cucumber and lettuce (she is a bit odd!). Eats lots of pasta, rice, pulses, cheese, yoghurts and drinks lots of milk/water. Of course she eats chocolate and cake as well, but generally her diet is very good. She doesn't eat a lot of meat, but does eat gammon, ham and chicken.

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ElfOnTheTopShelf · 13/08/2011 10:19

Appetite is up and down, there are days when you cannot get enough food into her, but then she'll go weeks where she bearly eats. Those days, she'll struggle to finish half a bowl of cereal, a sandwich at lunch, and she'll pick at some pasta for tea.

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QuintessentialShadow · 13/08/2011 10:32

Elf, I have just read your thread from start to finnish. The first thing that struck me was iron deficien aenemia. My son had this when he was just under two years. He would be slow to wake up, then be full of beans, and then slump and be sleepy for most of the day. No energy, not even at the playground. He was dark around the eyes, and bruised easily. Doctors in the uk did not want to do proper blood tests, as "they are so invasive and upsetting" for little children. He just zonked out while on holiday in Poland, and they had no qualms doing all the bloodtests, and he was admitted to hospital with seriously low blood count and depleted iron reserves.

Your dds diet sound a lot like my sons was. Cheese, youghurt, milk (all which inhibits iron absorption), chicken, fruit and veg. But he ate little. Iron deficient aenemia makes you lose your appetite. Most childrens multivitamins dont contain enough iron to build up reserves. They are only good if the iron reserves are already strong. It wont do her any harm, but it would help build up the reserves.

Changing her diet is surely not doing any harm, and worth a try. Could you try to limit the dairy, give orange juice with meals which contains iron (helps absorption), let her eat more red meat. Spaghetti bolognaise with beef, lamb kebabs, etc. Green leafy veg, such as spinach, bakes beans is good. Scrambled eggs where you use for example four yolks and just two of the whites. For snacks, raisins, dark chocolate, nuts, dried apricots. For fruits, berries, especially blackcurrants are high in iron and vitamin c, equally red currants sprinkled with some sugar if found too sour, blueberries are good overall and rasberries, too. This means you can make a berry compote for pudding, where you make sure to add black currants and redcurrants together with the other berries. Brown bread rather than white, peanut butter is ok if she likes it, as peanuts are high in iron.

Etc.

As my son did not agree with Ferrum, we had to go down the diet route in order to sort out his aenemia, together with a multivitamin which contained iron. It was hard to start with, but worth it when we saw that he started getting his energy levels back.

Like I said, even if she is not iron deficient, a dietary change wont harm her. Good luck.

Pigglesworth · 14/08/2011 09:33

I don't want to worry you, but have the blood tests definitely ruled out leukaemia? Have you asked them to rule out leukaemia? It's just that I'm reading "My sister's keeper" at the moment and so many of your daughter's symptoms align with the (fictional) character with leukaemia's symptoms. It sounds like from what MarianH posted that quite specific tests need to be done to rule that out, which it doesn't sound like you've had.

I don't want to be a scare-mongerer but I also couldn't live with not posting/ giving that extra bit of encouragement to rule that illness out, just in case.

How often does your daughter ask for cucumber/ lettuce?

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 18/08/2011 21:36

she will ask for lettuce/cucumber a few times a week. Fave dinner is a plate of pasta and a qtr of cucumber.
I am not sure what the blood tests covered but the doc told me he didnt want to do lots of tests for things he didnt think were likely with symptoms. He seemed to imply the blood tests would show anything he thought had been possible, as he said further tests would be chest x rays etc.
I am keeping a diary of food, sleep and any complaining.

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Pigglesworth · 19/08/2011 23:50

OK. The lettuce/ cucumber requests don't sound excessive. I also read a news story where a woman who was craving huge amounts of lettuce per day ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer, and it was theorised her cravings were linked to the cancer due to some cancer-fighting chemical in the lettuce. Once her cancer was treated, the lettuce cravings ended. If you google "craving lettuce" or similar the story comes up. Note that her husband has since started up a business based on this concept/ experience so take the story with a grain of salt!

You don't sound so worried about your daughter at the moment and it sounds like maybe she is doing a little better, with occasions that then worry you again (rather than ongoing symptoms of illness). Just don't let the doctor brush you off - I would be assertive about ensuring that they have tested for certain illnesses (including leukaemia) and writing down what they have tested for, and if they haven't tested for certain illnesses that are reasonably possible, ask them why and ask the doctor to document in your daughter's file that testing for that illness was refused despite your request.

Health is so very important and please don't let yourself be brushed off if you have a gut instinct that something is wrong, doctors aren't gods and many of them are actually not very good!

nightcat · 20/08/2011 13:54

Elf, I would watch the wheat connection. In susceptible people, wheat interferes with nutrient absorption and enzymes production. Before my ds went gluten free he was very spaced out, after wheat based meals he was v lethargic plus he was deficient in various nutrients. This state of affairs goes under brain fog in gluten free circles :)
Despite neg tests for celiac (you can't test for intolerance anyway as it's a very slow buildup to affect health) I took him off wheat and he was (still is) like a different person when brain fog lifted and nutrients have improved.

So with your diary watch the wheat, bearing in mind that the post-wheat meal lethargy kicks in I'd say 1/2 hr after the meal and can go on for hours. If your dd eats wheat at every meal, then you hardly see her w/o. The amount of wheat is also significant, but if you do a few days w/o wheat then you should see a positive change.

Clara35 · 29/08/2011 22:30

Hi elf how is your dd now?

lisad123 · 24/09/2011 17:32

How is she now?

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