DS11 so exhausted can hardly get out of bed

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DS is a livewire: super fit, walks half an hour each way to school, regional level sport etc etc. Also ADHD: he doesn’t really sit still.

He’s had two ‘nothing’ viruses back to back - neither made him super ill - cold not flu type things. But he hasn’t recovered from the second. I mean REALLY hasn’t recovered. He’s completely exhausted. All day in bed today. No screens, only bits of reading (younger child books). Tears, lethargy. Still eating well.

i think I need to take him back to the GP, but what do I ask for? What might this be? I am frightened…

I am worrying because this has been going on for what feels like so long (started the Sat before last), and it’s getting worse not better.
there is no way he can do school - we tried on Monday and they sent him straight home (9.20!) He needs to be in bed…

I would definitely contact G.P. I’d be worried too with that level of fatigue. Definitely reasonable to ask for assessment at this stage.
Glandular Fever can be transmitted by sharing a water bottle etc.

Please take him to the GP and request blood tests, and be firm about it happening.

My cousin was like this at age 8 - he got more and more exhausted and apathetic and my aunt & uncle were fobbed off by the GP repeatedly as it being glandular fever or that he was trying it on and lazy - until the day he was incapable of getting out of bed. He was taken to A&E and then the doctors suddenly moved fast. He was diagnosed with a serious illness, which I won’t state here to avoid bias, but suffice to say get your child to the GP.

Never assume long Covid, glandular fever etc without a proper diagnosis.

Trust your instincts push for blood tests/GP. But pre-covid my then 9yr very active kid got the flu and had 3wks off school and it took good 8wks to recover and was (still is) a sports training 4-5x a week kid. Proper flu is horrid.

Ah ok, id misunderstood the length sorry, 11 days of exhaustion?

You have taken him to a Dr by now surely??

He needs to see a Dr, you can't keep a child at home, getting sicker and sicker without doing anything.

I remember dd had a virus like this back in 2020 op. We never found out what it was, because she was too exhausted to physically get to the doctors. Just wanted to sleep. I probably would have had to carry her to get her there.

Glandular Fever is absolutely exhausting and a blood test should reveal whether he has had a recent infection or not

DH took him last week, and the GP said oh, virus, come back in a MONTH if he hasn’t got any better. A month!!!

Though tbh it was only day 5 then, and I also thought he was probably about to bounce back - don’t blame them at all for sending him away then, but the ‘month’ is ridiculous.

whats so odd is that I don’t think he is ‘sick’ - he’s just exhausted.

People who have had children w long Covid or chronic fatigue - or even just who have had a horrible time after a virus - what helped? What didn’t? Should he be in bed most of the time, should I be encouraging him to get up, should he just do what feels right?

At this stage just encourage him to carry on resting, if he pushes it before he's ready it will just make it worse. At 11 days I wouldn't really be calling my it long covid or even post viral fatigue just yet, covid knocks lots of people out for a couple of weeks, he could well still be fighting the virus. Just wait it out for now. If he's still no better in a week or there are any other worrying symptoms then go back to the gp but please don't listen to anyone telling you he needs to force himself up.
There are a lot of people with long covid who got worse from doing just that.

Rest, rest and more rest! Nothing else helps, yes there is a blood test which shows glandular fever/ mononucleosis (something about white cells but can't remember the medical lingo) so youncan ask the GP to test for this. My son was diagnosed December and still not right, GP says can take 6-12 months to recover. He seems to be in a cycle of a few days upright and able to read/on computer then few days where he's just flat on his back in bed. If it was covid it doesn't seem to matter how mild the actual virus was you can still get long covid, I've had it myself. Covid itself never put me in bed but long covid did and took 12 months to be able to work again.

Did the GP run any bloods or do any urine dipstick?

I only ask because severe fatigue after several viruses and feeling like I hadn't recovered from the viruses were my only presenting symptoms of T1 Diabetes. I didn't have excessive thirst or urination at that point.

OP, I've just had two mild viruses back to back and am shattered. Was just googling to see if this was going around but online kept saying Long Covid. Don't think it is - I think there's a bug around that makes you more exhausted than ill.

But, if he's been inside for a while due to illness, make sure he has some vitamin D spray as low levels of D can make you absolutely comatose with exhaustion. Same with low iron. Worth getting some Feroglobin capsules and Vit D spray, as well as getting him outside on sunny days, with skin exposed to get some Vit D from the sun.

Thank you. Good reminder that it isn't anything yet, and he may just be taking way longer than usual to recover from a particularly nasty couple of bouts of something.

It's horrible to see my usual tearaway finding it too exhausting to lie in a hammock in the garden...

Sounds like I ought to arrange bloods, but otherwise perhaps just hold fire until after the bank holiday (which can be quiet).

In a way it is encouraging to hear others saying that they are exhausted too, after something recent. I'm just shocked by how exhausted this one is. Miserable.

Whilst I absolutely do not want to discourage any tests etc that you feel he needs, I know of several similar kids, county level athletes, really fit kids that have been absolutely wiped out by random viruses this winter. Most, but not all have had a cough. People are calling it the 100 day cough because it takes that long to shake but even without the cough everyone is really struggling to bounce back. Even without the cough, my DC have had more time off school than ever before. My 10yo DC, also county level sports, very fit and active, often compared to a border collie was ill in Jan. It took until March until they were properly functioning and whilst they are about 80% now, they still aren't back to full fitness. They were just absolutely wiped out.

I would take him to be checked out. It does sound like it could be glandular fever or covid. Have a look at longcovidkids if it's helpful.

To a PP who mentioned variants now unlikely to lead to long covid, just under 30% of people in UK with it got it from an infection in the last year. Long covid in kids has doubled in the last year.

Incredible how viruses don't matter in his country, when they can disable a child like this. They don't matter because there are no treatments - you have to qualify for them, being ill isn't on the list though https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/at-least-550-million-of-covid-drugs-wasted-in-the-uk/ Any virus, especially covid can damage the Autonomic Nervous system- one of the main symptoms is fatigue https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7850225/#:~:text=It%20has%20been%20hypothesised%20that,affects%20the%20autonomic%20nervous%20system.&text=The%20relationship%20between%20the%20two,inducing%20pro%2Dinflammatory%20cytokine%20release. Dr Binita Kane, whose daughter was disabled by long covid became an advocate, a teacher, a doctor .

Any chance he’s been exposed to Lyme disease? Ticks, hiking, etc?

NIH: ''Sympathetic hyperactivity based on a decrease in parasympathetic nerve activity is common in acute, sub-acute, and chronic fatigue. This autonomic function alteration is related to a decrease in the brain function of the central autonomic network.'' - it was known before the pandemic how this can happen after a viral infection. There are 3,000,000 people in the UK with long covid, one of the main symptoms being fatigue. In all this time UK was busy banning covid tests & covid treatments, learning nothing from a virus that can affect anyone, including children. Did they do antibody tests to find out what virus caused the fatigue? UK banned covid antibody testing, one of the cheapest & most efficient diagnostic tool. Maybe one day they can explain why. While having very few places testing for autonomic dysregulation https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/our-services/find-service/neurology-and-neurosurgery/autonomic-unit

DS (24) had covid last year. After that he had all manner of virus's and was permanently exhausted and struggling to do even the simplist of tasks. All bloods/check ups were clear. The he got labrynthitis and ended up with 12 weeks off work. We think he had long covid but this wasn't confirmed by anyone so who knows 🤷🏼‍♀️

He's just beginning to 'feel normal again' and has done a full week back at work. Even now though he's not back up to full energy.

Prior to this, the last time he was sick and/or visited a Dr was when he was 10.

This might sound silly, but could hayfever/allergies be affecting him? My DC has has been suffering for the last few weeks and because they sleep so poorly because of the hayfever they are shattered all day. I got them anti histamine from the doctor because they have a hayfever history and within 2 days they had perked up.

I was diagnosed with ME/Chronic fatigue syndrome at age 18 but my symptoms began age 12/13. Of course it may not be that but it sounds like it. When he isn't in bed, does he lie down a lot, even if he's not been up long? Whenever he does do something, even something relatively minor like vacuuming a room/similar sized chores/equivalent, is he then shattered afterwards as though he's had a full and active day?

IF it is ME/CFS, it is a diagnosis of exclusion and takes time. However there is a lot of research going on right now (I recently gave them a sample of my DNA for research) into it and how to treat & easier detect it.

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If my child was in bed for 11 days I would take them to hospital

I'm sorry, how long has he been sick for now?? If it's 11 days, then yes, I'd take him to the hospital as a pp said