urgent - do you add anything on when taking temp on armpit?

[hereidrawtheline]

thanks very much DS is ill and I dont know.

hang on
will look for you

I don't - what's the temp?

thanks I am looking but cant find

under arm temps are generally 1 degree lower than rectal ones

arm pit normal is 36.5/97.6

39 rectally is the same as 38.4 orally and 37.9 by armpit - generally

thats what I thought the leaflet with my thermometer said but its been torn and wouldnt you bloody know tthat bit is gone all I have is how to change the battery.

he is just under 40 - after adding on the one degree

has bright red cheeks
been up all night talking in his sleep and in bed with me waking every 30 mins or so crying saying he hurts and is hot
this just came on last night around 11
he has had nurofen twice

39.8 exactly

I only slept a little but I kept dreaming he had swine flu, DH works at a hospital where there had been a suspected case but I think it was cleared.

you can take most of his clothes off, sponge down with tepid water, and give paracetamol in combination with nurofen (just be careful to stay within recomended doses for each).

as I understand it, the most important thing isn't the actual number, but how fast it goes up.

well it would have gone from nothing at 10 pm last night to this this morning, is that really fast?

no - I think really fast is minutes not hours. if you're worrying about flu (swine or otherwise!) the NHS direct website has a good symptom checker (dp was on it when ds got a snotty nose yesterday, and found it reassuring). here

well he has been sick and is coughing but not crying at the moment, I am taking him to GP at 11.

what happened?

gp thinks he has a virus and when we got there at 11 his temp had gone down to normal but gp said he thought it would go back up again as that was the pattern of ones that spiked quickly. And indeed it did! At 1:30 it went up to 38.3, calpol. Then nap and he just woke up so we are just on temperature watch right now! He did say though he couldnt talk anymore in the buggy on the way home from doctors and was working his throat like it hurt too much. He has been very tearful today though some of the time quiet and cuddly too.

Hereidrawtheline - Did GP swab him at all? Are there any virus's doing the rounds? How old is DS?

I just ask as recently DD had these type of symptoms, soaring spiking temps, vomiting, then a rash developed. She had scarlet fever, but lots doing the rounds similar by us - Roseola and Slapped Cheek...

GP did not swab him, he looked down his throat, in his ears and checked his chest (tapping, stethescope) I dont know of anything going around I dont have many mum friends near me.

poor thing. hope he feels better soon hereidrawtheline.