Tonsillitis

[lilyflower1803]

Hi everyone,

My DD (3) has been diagnosed with bacterial tonsillitis yesterday at the GP. Temp has been up around 39-40 degrees, yesterday it was responding to calpol and nurofen (alternating) well.

She had three does of penicillin yesterday and so far we have managed three today (one dose left today). Today Calpol has only held her temp down to about 38.5 for 3 hours before going back up to high 39s, nurofen a bit longer thankfully.

At 6:45pm her temp went back up again so I gave her Calpol, but it didn't come down within an hour and a 1/2, so I opted to give her nurofen which has brought it down to 38. Must note, she is running around and playing fine when temp is down, could be better with eating and ok with drinking.

Anyway, my question is, when do you usually see an improvement in fever when taking antibiotics. It's been 24 hours now, and fevers seems to be getting worse and stronger to break through. I'm not expecting miracles, but was hoping to see some improvement by tomorrow.

I should add, nurofen brings the temp down to normal! It's just calpol which seems to struggle.

As a child with tonsillitis I don't know, last time I had it as an adult I think it was a good couple of days after starting the antibiotics before I started to feel an improvement.
DD had an ear infection last year and that took around 4-5 days before I could stop staggering the paracetamol/ibuprofen to bring her temperature down. She was on amoxicillin. It was the school holidays and I remember thinking she'd have ended up having at least a week off school if it had been the week before.
I hope she feels better soon.

I've just had it, started to get my appetite back after 3 days of antibiotics. A week later and I'm still not 100%.

If she's not responding soon, go back and ask for a throat swab to check you've got the right antibiotics.

Thank you both for the info. She woke up this morning with another temp of 40, trying Nurofen first this time around!

When dd had it the doctor at the hospital said to expect another 2-3 days of temp while the antibiotics kick in! Also nurofen is much better for fever than calpol

Calpol doesn't work when my daughter has tonsillitis either. It has to be nurofen.

I would expect an improvement within 48 hours of starting the antibiotics and would be taking her back if there wasn't.

Just an update,

As the penicillin was showing no signs of improvement, not even small amounts, we took her back to the GP who gave her amoxicillin to try. So far she has had 3 doses.

We went to a&e last night, as she had only done one wet nappy in the morning and nothing for the rest of the day, plus her temperature went up to 39.7. This would be the 5th day with this temperature. She is struggling to breathe when asleep due to congestion and has been sucking in her ribs but is fine when not sleeping.

The doctor at a&e basically told us just to wait for a wee to happen and go home! To be fair, by the time we got there she was already ok with her fever being reduced and was back to her normal self. He also said it could be a viral infection...

If she deteriorates, do have her seen by a doctor again and if at any point the Nurofen doesn't bring the fever down then that would be a case of going back to A&E. Be careful to note down every dose of Nurofen and Calpol as it's really easy to overdose in this situation.

The excitement and bright lighting of a hospital A&E can really liven up an unwell child and then you get the doctors thinking 'there is nothing wrong with this child!'. Some would say they can't be that ill if they rally that well but actually they can just have a temporary recovery and then drop again. Trust your instincts.

Amoxicillin is penicillin though?

She got originally phenoxymethyl-penicillin which is apparently indicated for throat/sinus infections? And then the amoxicillin is a bit more of an all-rounder antibiotic from what I've heard.

Not sure though!

Thank you, needed to hear this.

I think we have maybe turned a corner calpol and nurofen is holding the temp down for a bit longer, but it has just gone up 39.5 again so clearly she is still struggling. Drinking and eating slightly more which is good too. She's still really struggling when that temp goes high.

hi OP, can I ask if the amoxicillin eventually worked for the tonsillitis. The pen v didn’t work for my daughter and came back so now she’s on amoxicillin. Did you have a 5 day or 7 day course?