Help! My 4 yr old has woken up unable to walk!

[nellieellie]

4yr old dd unwell Fri and Sat with high temperature - she was fine Sunday and yesterday. She has woken up and cried with pain when she went to stand up - that was 2 1/2 hrs ago. I have had to carry her about - she cannot weight bear at all. Can only think it is cramp as she had temp of 40 on Saturday and was v sweaty. Am getting her to drink as much as poss but earliest Dr Appt today is 5.30. Has anyone any ideas? Am so worried (A&E dept is hour drive, no parking and I have chronic back prob)

Phone NHS Direct/ 24 now

I'd ring your Dr IIWY.

DS had this a couple of times and it was a virus in his hip of all things.

I second the NHS Direct, but the same thing happened to my dd2 at round about age 3/4. It was diagnosed as "irritable hip", which can happen to small children after a virus - can't remember the cause but it cleared up after a short time. It's likely to be that - but definitely seek medical advice.

Ambulance to A & E. There is a virus that can cause that, but you need to be seen particularly as she has a temperature.
Hope she's ok.

Thanks for all this - she has not got a temperature at all now - hasn't had one for 2 days and apart from the leg pain is nothing wrong. The virus in the hip is interesting - OE and TDTDHAIA, although dd's pain is in her calves which was what made me think of cramp - it is worse when she straightens the leg. I will contact NHS direct and phone Drs again

Yep, ambulance or taxi to A&E without delay. My elbow seized up as a kid after a virus - was cleared up after a few days in hospital but was told it can spread.

Hope it's nothing and your dd is better soon.

X posted with op. Yes, mine was a few days after temp and flu bug. I actually felt fine when I was admitted. Mine was called osteomyelitis but don't scare yourself with dr google unless you have to.

My ds also had irritable hip. He was fine in the end but still needed to have x-rays to make sure there was nothing else going on.

Yes, this happened to ds1 when he was about 3. He'd had a cold and woke up one morning unable to put any weight on one leg. GP sent him to hospital and they diagnosed as irritable hip - he was out and running around by the end of that day.

Take her to the GP to double check and hope all's OK soon.

I would err on the side of caution and call an ambulance.

Poor love, must be terrifying :(

My sister had this when she was a child and it was a virus in her leg. Trip to the GP sorted it out.

Hi - wanted to say thanks for all the advice and info. I called NHS direct - they said if the Dr couldn't see me in 2 hrs to go to A&E - the GP couldn't so off we went. The consultant thinks is a virus causing muscle inflammation - the joints - hip and knee were fine with good movement so nothing more serious - eg the osteomyelitis. Should go away - can use calpol and ipuprofen (latter helps with inflammation). She is able to walk a little bit now. Am so relieved! Thanks again.

Glad you were able to get medical help. It is so frightening isn't it?

I was scared witless to be honest! Today she is a lot better, walking about at home. I'm going to take it easy with her and make sure she is totally better before going back to school

You did absoultely the right thing.

Here is my experience. Although there might be many reasons for a toddler to suddenly not being able to walk, I had the worst reason. Following fever, my child could not walk all of a sudden. Big hospital's ER room send us back home as usual. Please go to a hospital with pediatric ER room. Also do ask for a blood test. High amount of white blood cells was what we got. Next day, my child started having difficulty in moving arms, talking, and next day almost totally paralyzed. $90K later, that was the hospital cost, he was completely cured with a $3 steroid. My child's immune system attacked own brain. Problem started suddenly not being able to walk. And 3 weeks later problem went away with a similar speed after taking the steroid. In general, many viral cases cause walking problems but we had a very rare case and this is why I am taking the time to share. The take away is, ER room with pediatric section, and blood work.

@quincymarket
This is a zombie thread.
The child in the OP will be 11 or 12 now.

I see this is a 12 year old thread however this happened to me twice once at 5 and once at 7. Unable to walk one whole day could not bare weight on my legs the next morning I could. When I was 7 I could not walk until the evening. So very weird my mum never even took me to a doctor. It lives vividly in my mind and always wondered what was wrong with me.

God how worrying

Glad she's on the mend