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3 weeks of lethargy and now a rash?!

6 replies

NewAzureBird · 29/03/2025 16:26

Long story here but I'll try and summarise with a timeline...

3 weeks ago - My nearly 3yo son started being very tired during the day. Less enthusiasm for activities. Generally poor/overtired mood - kind of like he was living in thay last half hour before bed time permanently (not making a lot of sense, big temper, yawning non stop). Swollen tonsils. Trouble falling asleep, and then shorter sleeps yet very exhausted. We assumed it was just a bit of a mild virus and decided to wait it out. One thing to note is that his mood seems to improve with calpol which makes me think there is some discomfort.

2 weeks ago - He developed a mild cough, but more alarmingly woke up with dried blood on his mouth and blood on his pillow. This is on a Sunday so we take him to an out of hours doctor and they say to continue waiting it out but if it's not resolved within the week take him to his GP.

1.5 weeks ago - No improvements, so we go for a GP visit. The GP notes how swollen his tonsils are and ptescribes amoxycillin, and does a throat swab.

3 days ago - We head back to our GP because the antibiotics had minimal effect (only noticeable change was cough reduced) His throat swab came back normal, and our has now orderered bloods to check things like thyroid, liver, kidney, glucose, iron, etc.

Yesterday - Little one woke up itching his whole body vigorously. We gave him some antihistamines which curbed the itching a fair bit. Later in the day he developed a red rash on his thighs (looks like hives potentially but hard to tell), and several other individual red spots on his body. It looks like anywhere that he scratches is kind of swelling up a bit...

Today - He is so lethargic and angry. He's got mlre red spots, but not as big a cluster as yesterday. The spots seem to go away easily, but new ones pop up.

Honestly I'm just at a loss for what to do and looking for advice! Obviously we will get the bloods done, and we'll keep up the antihistamines for now as they seem to stop the immediate itching. But I'm getting really worried now, especially with the rash. It sucks to see your child not themselves at all. Any advice??

OP posts:
Strawberryjammam · 29/03/2025 21:15

Anything with a rash and lethargy I would take straight to a+e to get checked out. It's probably a massive overreaction but just not worth the risk.

OtterMummy2024 · 29/03/2025 21:58

Worth getting a professional opinion if you are worried.

There are various rash-causing viruses out there, roseola is one of them https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/roseola/

And this can reactivate after a virus like flu or COVID and cause a rash then too. I had a terrible spreading rash on my chest, stomach and back about three weeks after having COVID. Went away by itself. GP thought it was probably roseola reactivating.

nhs.uk

Roseola

Find out about the childhood infection roseola, including what the symptoms are, how to treat it and when to get medical advice.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/roseola/

OtterMummy2024 · 29/03/2025 21:59

Also... Has your little one had chicken pox before? I ask because that's also a three week incubation period. The itching sounds right for CP.

INeedNewShoes · 30/03/2025 12:07

I would have him seen by a doctor today. Lethargy, change of behaviour and rash merit checking sooner rather than later.

My DD had the sore throat, lethargy and behaviour change with strep A. One course of antibiotics hadn't dealt with it.

NewAzureBird · 30/03/2025 17:33

OtterMummy2024 · 29/03/2025 21:59

Also... Has your little one had chicken pox before? I ask because that's also a three week incubation period. The itching sounds right for CP.

Good call on chickenpox, I guess this is a possibility although it doesn't look that blistery but the three week incubation could make sense. Will ask my Dr about it!

OP posts:
NewAzureBird · 30/03/2025 17:35

INeedNewShoes · 30/03/2025 12:07

I would have him seen by a doctor today. Lethargy, change of behaviour and rash merit checking sooner rather than later.

My DD had the sore throat, lethargy and behaviour change with strep A. One course of antibiotics hadn't dealt with it.

We've had 3 GP trips already and a throat swab - GP suspected strep and would have given us a second course of antibiotics if this was the case. But it was all clear so no leads there unfortunately.

OP posts:
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