Help! Temp going up not down.

[EmmaRoyd]

DS is 12 months. Fine all day but didn't eat his tea, very unusual. Put him to bed at 6pm as I thought he was overtired and noticed he seemed a bit warm and his hands were shaking. This stopped after his milk so wondered if it was blood sugar/hunger making his hands shake. Took ages to go to sleep, no crying just whimpering. 8.30 his temp was 39.8 so gave him calpol. Midnight violently sick everywhere, gave him water and stripped the bed and he went back down. 1.30am more sick and temp 39.9. Don't know what to do. DH abroad and DD 2.8 asleep. I'm panicking he's getting hotter.

I don't know what CSF is. I'm glad he's managed a bit of water and food.

He's clearly fighting infection somewhere if the temp is ongoing. They should be doing all sorts of tests. Have you got a long wait or is it quite quiet?

Oh it's cerebro-spinal fluid. Larry just means they ought to test this to make sure it's not meningitis.

csf is spinal fluid - i assume the poster was suggesting a test for meningitis, but this wouldn't be done unless there were other strong indications.

Emma, you did the right thing going to A&E. both my dds chuck 41+ temps with minor infections, so I know how scary it is. the dds have both been admitted before for blood tests and observations, and luckily it's always been a minor viral infection which has just hit them really hard. dd1 once has IV antibiotics as a "just in case". let us know how things go.

That sounds very scary, especially when your dh was away. How is he now?

Tonsils are red and swollen but not pussey (sp?), they haven't given antibiotics as they said it's usually viral. Had blood tests to rule out anything more serious and am now at home waiting for the results. Ds doesn't seem too bad in himself, just picking at a few raisins. I'm glad I went back in.

Hope he's better soon Emma - DD is prone to high temps and fitting when they spike. I've always found baby nurofen better for her temperatures and its got the advantage you can give calpol as well inbetween - though being careful not to give them too much!

Back in hospital again. Bloods showed high levels of infection so will have antibiotics and be kept in overnight for observation. I've got you all to thank for making me take it very seriously and come back in. Thank you.

Well done,

I think that level of persistent fever did kind of indicate something bacterial. Strange how relatively well educated but lay people can intuit something where many more qualified people seem to require confirmation from a test.

Anyway, your son sounds amazingly strong to still nibble on food with that kind of infection so I am sure he will soon start to feel a lot better on the antibiotics.

Let us all know how it goes.

Oh pet, I think it's only that we've seen it a lot on here before - hospitals and doctors not wanting to do anything beyond what's just, well, fairly pointless lip service and sending them home.

I'm really glad they got him back in. As Larry says a high fever for this length of time isn't usually viral and I can't think why they told you that.
Perhaps they are short on beds/very busy etc etc, it makes me very cross.

Poor mite - hope he is really much better soon. You totally did the right thing and thankyou for updating us (and for letting us boss you about )

I think you'd have done the same anyway, you sound like a great mum

Well done Emmaroyd - it can feel very against your instincts to keep pushing the professionals but ultimately if you are worried you need to speak up. Pleased he is in the right place now and being monitored and treated. Fingers crossed he will improve steadily from here and you will be home soon and all back to normal. Hospital is no fun for you or for him, but best advice I was given when we "lived" there earlier this year is do look after yourself too. Keep us updated.

Glad they are sorting him out now, poor baby
We had to take dd2 back x3 before they realised she had pneumonia ad spent a week in children's wards being in IV drips and O2 tubes in her nose.
Always go with your gut imo

I'm so glad they've taken you seriously at last. I hope he is on the mend now. You have coped so well under lots of pressure and it is difficult to question the doctor and keep following your instincts even though they are telling you it's ok. I really hope he makes a quick recovery. Do take care of yourself - make sure you are eating, drinking and sleeping enough. You'll need to keep your strength up for looking after him when he's back to his normal self! :)

They've changed his antibiotic to a more broad spectrum one but he isn't really any better, or worse. Keeping him in a second night for observation.

:( so sorry to hear that. I hope the antibs kick in overnight and you can see a difference in the morning. Thinking of you both. Take care.

How is he getting along now? Hope he is starting to feel a bit better and you are doing ok.

He sounds similiar to how my dd was at a similiar age when she had noro virus, it was hideous and had similiar battles trying to get a dr to take my concerns seriously.

She eventually started to pick up but she was the poorliest i've ever seen her

It seems to be bacterial. Now they will look for where the bacteria is in the body and, hopefully, isolate it and get the right antibiotic in. The good thing about most bacteria is that they do respond to the right antibiotic once it has been found.

Hope he is feeling better today.

He is much better thanks. We were discharged yesterday. When the urine sample came back from the lab it did show an infection after all. The discharge notes also say pharyngitis not tonsillitis. He needs to go back for an ultrasound scan of his kidneys but the antibiotics are really working and he's getting back to his happy self.

This week has been a real eye opener for me. My DCs have never had anything more serious than conjunctivitis and chicken pox so this was all a new experience.

I KNEW something wasn't right and i do really feel, with the benefit of hindsight of course, that I was fobbed off many times.

Foolishly I listened to the 'experts' and not my instincts but I'm so glad I posted here as it really was this thread that made me go back in to A&E.

Next time I really will do things differently so although I thinK DS was poorly much longer than he needed to be I suppose ultimately the outcome is good

Sorry for coming back to this late, but very pleased to hear he is on the mend now. I know the experts don't mean to miss things but most of the time the cases they do see are going to be mild and therefore there is more reason to dismiss parental concerns. A parent should never feel bad asking for 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinions if necessary and still worried.

I am very happy that he is better now. We have a similar experience, I think that if in doubt rely on A&E and not GPs ...

EmmaRoyd I have only just seen this thread. Im glad your ds is better and hope the scan goes ok. I had very similar experience with ds1 a few years back wthin 3 days I had him seen by 5 different doctos including a and e who all said it was virus and made me feel like I was wasting thier time. On the third night I literally sat and cried because I knew something was not right but didn't know where to turn. He was finally admitted and the childrens ward were fantastic and dx him with pnuemonia and pleural effusion.
It does open up your eyes and makes you realise you need to follow you instrinct.
A few monts later ds1 started to get ill again, gp started with its just a virus and I burst into tears and said I am not going through this again. Gp looked really surprised and ok I will refer you straight to childrens ward. It was the start of pnuemonia again but thankfully caught early this time so he did'nt need to stay in.
Hope you ok it can shake you up a bit.

Bit of an update for anyone interested. DS became ill again 12 hours after his course of antibiotics finished. He was prescribed a different type and became ill again immediately after that course finished too.

On saturday he had an ultrasound scan which showed that he has had at least one infection in his right kidney. I'm just waiting to hear from the paediatrician as you what happens next.

orangehead, sorry to hear about your experience, you are right it is very stressfull and upsetting.

Poor thing, I hope they can sort him soon. Where abouts are you? The paediatric renal team at the Evelina Childrens Hospital in London recently helped treat DD and were brilliant.
Thanks for the update.

beautifulgirls - We're South East London. I took him for a private scan as the waiting list for NHS one was too long and I was worried about him. The paediatrician gave me his card and I see he also works at Evelina.