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Children's health

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Original poster

Inflamed liver in 8 year old.

24 replies

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 07:17

This might be a long post so I apologise but I'm hoping someone may be able to advise me.

My youngest Poor Ds has not been well for over a week,at first we thought he had caught the virus his cousins had but they were only Poorly for 24 hours.

He has had pains in his stomach that built up until they became unbearable(no Dv at all) the pain was all around his tummy.
He also has a temperature, very sore throat,glands are up & is exhausted,he looks dreadful.

The GP was very concerned so sent us to the children's out patients earlier in the week as on examination his liver was inflamed so they were concerned that with his high temperature & glands being up it could be glandular fever.

We've had the results of the blood test & the test is negative for glandular fever but did show infection (c reactive protein?), his urine test is fine.

We were then back at GP yesterday who prescribed a throat spray for the throat pain and told to contact out of hours over the weekend if his symptoms get worse & to call them on Monday if no improvement.

The tummy pain is better but still painful around the liver if touched but everything else is still the same.

He is not a poorly child, whenever he's been ill previously he gets a bit quiet but bounces back quite quickly,I've never seen him like this & obviously am concerned about his liver as I've not heard of this with children.

I'm at a loss as to what this could be & worried as to what is wrong with my poor boy.

Any suggestions?

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Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 09:40

Bump

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TheoriginalLEM · 22/08/2015 09:44

gosh how worrying for you.

have they tested for hepatitis A? not spread via blood and thankfully not so serious but that was my first thought.

not a medic though.

Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 10:25

Thanks for Reply Lem.

I'm not sure what they tested for altogether but when I rang for results they did say full blood count was clear so I assume that meant they tested for all sorts?

He is very up & down,seems to improve for a while then starts getting feverish & exhausted again and goes to lay on my bed.
He's had a tracksuit& fleece on with the double quilt & throw even though it's been so warm.

It seems like it will be a long weekend!

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Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 10:45

When I ring on Monday I will ask the GP about that Lem, it's not something I had thought about so thanks,any suggestions helpful at the moment as I really don't want to start looking on Dr.google!

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Lolimax · 22/08/2015 10:53

Poor you and him :( though if they knew his liver was a cause for concern I'm sure they would have run a full liver function test as part of the blood tests. I only have experience of alcohol related liver problems in adults which shows up in blood tests. But as a mum I would say if he gets worse over the weekend bugger the OOH and be a pita and present yourselves at the nearest (big) A and E. Hope he starts to improve and sending you calming thoughts x

TheoriginalLEM · 22/08/2015 11:03

a full blood count would look at the blood generally -looking for signs of infection (high levels of whiteblood cells etc). they would also run ametabolic profile looking at the levels of enzymes in the blood from various organs. The may well have run extra liver tests. Often the ratios of these enzymes indicate what the problem is likely to be and therefore what tests to run next. So whilst the results of this test might suggest viral infection they wont say which. They would then run tests based on these results so a high alt/alkp ratio indicates infection. ( these are liver enzymes) they then ran a glandular fever test specifically to look at if iit was this. my father had this. enlarged liver due to glandular fever. If they suspect hepatitis they will have tested for it i guess.

it sounds like he is responding to treatment which is excellent news and the drs aim.

i am not a dr. but do have a background in biochemistry. so this is only my assumption.

i hope he feels better soon.

TheoriginalLEM · 22/08/2015 11:06

i agree with the pp though. if he gets worse don't mess with ooh (they areshit) go to a&e. if he shows ANY sign of jaundice then hospital. no dithering. sounds like he ison the mend though.

Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 11:10

Thanks Lolimax,
Really appreciate the kind words, as the days are passing I'm starting to feel anxious that he's not really improving,he woke in the early hours so I gave him medicine to get his temp down & we watched a film on the iPad but when he dropped back off I still couldn't go back to sleep.

I think you are right about giving OOH a miss, only his first appointment has been with our usual GP & he was very concerned to see him this way as he knows my Ds is a quite a tough cookie when it comes to medical things.
The other appointments were with whatever GP was available as ours wasn't in & they really do not know what's going on so are happy to wait and see how he goes.

If the unbearable stomach pain returns I will ring the children's out patients who did the tests and ask their advice.

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Charis1 · 22/08/2015 11:13

my dd had this, but it sounds like hers was worse because she was hospitalised for several weeks,

we never got a definitive answer, although we were told that glandular fever can be very difficult to get a clear positive or negative for. She might have had mild glandular fever earlier, than this could have been a side effect that emerged later, after the original GF had cleared up. GF doesn't always have classic symptoms outside a particuar age range.

Anyway, she made a full recover and has had no problems since.

Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 11:15

Thanks Lem, that's very helpful, I didn't see you latest post when I was typing.

Yes the stomach pain is a lot better thankfully, it was that and the very high temp that was the main concern.

It's the other symptoms that are lingering and are not improving.
He has got out of bed know though so I'm going to try to get him to eat something.

Thanks for your advice & support both x

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Charis1 · 22/08/2015 11:15

however, we did err on the side of caution, and for several years took her for a check up at any sign of stomach pain, and even now she never takes a full dose of any sort of aspirin, paracetamol, etc, just a half dose.

What medicine is your DS on? Has it been prescribed or medically? am surprised he is taking anything with liver problems. DD wasn't allowed to

Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 11:20

Oh Charis1 how awful for you & your poor Dd!

It is horrible seeing them so poorly & not knowing what's wrong isn't it.

I have never heard of a child having a n inflamed liver previous to this & the amount of pain stomach pain Ds was in was terrible.

Off to try coax some food into Ds

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Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 11:46

They told us to continue to give paracetamol & Nurofen to keep his temp down, I did query this with the pharmacist & he said it was ok to give them.

The doctor yesterday prescribed throat spray but that is all they've prescribed.

I will be ringing up our usual GP regardless on Monday,I don't like to moan or complain but I'm not happy with how he's been left at all.

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Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 11:55

Sorry Charis, I'm on the app so can't see people's posts whilst tying (& I'm shattered so memory is rubbish)
Your Dd had negative glandular fever test also?
So it could be a case of false positive then?

I'm am pleased to see that your Dd is all better with no long term problems!

Can I ask how long your Dd had the stomach pain for ?
Ds was complaining of mild tummy pain which came & went for a few days,then overnight it built up to unbearable & pain relief wasn't touching it .
Thankfully now he has no tummy pain just a bit of tenderness if touched but as I said the rest of his symptoms are still not improved.

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Twunk · 22/08/2015 11:59

CRP is a useful marker for infection - you become very knowledgeable about this shit when your child has Leukaemia! It can be much higher and vary but essentially a level of around 25 means a virus infection, around 100 is more likely to be bacteria.

Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 12:04

Thanks TWUNK,
They didn't tell me the level just that were raised so I will make a note of that also to ask our GP Monday.

My last post I meant false negative , not positive

If its your child that has leukaemia TWUNK I'm very sorry to hear that
Dh friend had it & was very very poorly through treatment even though he is a big strapping bloke.

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Charis1 · 22/08/2015 12:54

Brumpy, my child I think was more severe than yours. She was physically ill for around three months, and either off school or part time, but it took around a year to return to full strength...

That sounds dire, she was virtually normal within 6 months, but not quite right, and easily tired. A year later, no signs of ill health at all.

I have since heard other similar stories with glandular fever, ..... no clear diagnosis, but an eventual assumption thats what it was.

its fine if the medical advice is to give the medication. DS had calpol type medication too, but in her case I was not allowed to administer it, the dose was carefully calculated in hospital, and the response recorded, and it was a very much lower than normal dose.

Charis1 · 22/08/2015 12:55

no, there was never a positive glandular fever test, although it was looked for several times. In the end we were told it probably had been GF anyway.

Charis1 · 22/08/2015 12:57

actual stomach pain? Its hard to remember now. Probably quite bad for three or four weeks, then on and off, but more off than on for a couple f months.

Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 13:24

I don't doubt at all that your dd was worse than my Ds is,it sounds like it was an awful awful time for all of you.
I'm just hoping for some idea as to what is wrong with my Ds & to see if there is anything they might have missed as the inflamed liver worries me & I have never seen him this poorly.
I would like to see him on the mend ASAP.

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Charis1 · 22/08/2015 15:34

yes, it was a worry. personally i wouldn't hesitate to bother the doctors as often and s many times as you feel like. An inflamed liver isn't trivial, and DD did deteriorate quite fast and unexpectedly at one point. Not trying to worry you at all, because she is fine now. Just saying so you are aware. In fact at one stage she was readmitted as an emergency within 10 hours of being discharged from the ward.....

other symptoms that came and went, rash, swollen joints, blood in pee, inflamed spleen, irrationality ( ie, refusing to take a pain killer that a doctor was trying to get her to swallow, because she didn't feel well...) loss of coordination in her hands, swelling round eyes, jaundice....

of course, this list might be irrelevant to your DS condition, and even if it isn't I am sure you would act on any of those symptoms anyway.

Charis1 · 22/08/2015 15:36

o yes, and insanity making itchiness. how could I forget that!

Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 22/08/2015 19:25

Thanks, that's helpful to know,I will keep an eye out for any of those symptoms just incase, I really hope the negative test is correct though, the last 11 days have been bad enough never mind a few months or a year!

I'm very grateful for the advice you have given me ,it's more than the doctor we saw Friday did, I left the appointment wondering why I bothered going.

Ds has said he is aching but not specified joints more a general ache it sounds like,it's still his throat that's bothering him so he doesn't want to eat or drink ( I'm keeping on at him with fluids) plus now he's refusing the spray as it makes him heave, he even cried over it which isn't like him at all.

Roll on Monday when our GP is back!

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Original poster

BrumpyGollocks · 27/08/2015 19:45

Just a quick update as it may help someone else who ends up in our position in future, at the moment we are still none the wiser as to what is wrong with Ds.
We've been back and forth the useless Gps this week as the tummy pain came back & other symptoms are still lingering.

They've re done the glandular fever test along with other bloods so hopefully tomorrow will know more.

Poor Ds is Very fed up, it's been over 3 weeks now & still no idea what's wrong.
I will update when/if we find out what's wrong.

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