DS2 (13 months old) has had temperature of 40,5 degrees for last 48 hours...

[nybom]

i've given him calpol 4 times a day, sponged him down with cool water - his temperature has constantly been between 40 and 40,5. he has a slightly snotty nose, no other symptoms. well, and he is all floppy and weak, obviously...

this is not my first child and not the first fever, BUT is the temperature too long/too high...? because: EVERY TIME when i finally get myself to go to the doctors/phone the NHS, the kids are better and/or the advice from the doctors is "give them calpol".

just checking what you would do: should i phone a doctor or wait until tomorrow? could it even be swin flue (or have i just heard to much news reports )? we did go to london and mingled with a lot of people, but then again, maybe it was only the aircon in our hotel room that gave him a cold...

I would go to A&E now. 48 hours is a long time. Why wait any longer? Hope that your LO is ok

ditto advice to go to a and e

vital the temperature is bought down. You can give paracetamol and ibruprofen together but maybe best leave that to hospital

all the best

Agree with all other posters- definitiely get medical advice urgently. A temp should decrease satisfactorily after dose of calpol or nurofen (also agree that nurofen much much better for fevers).

DD had rotten flu at christmas, including temps as high as nearly 41 degrees. But they did respond to meds, coming down to 38ish (then back and down and so on). Idid get medical advice - was told that if the temp stuck at 40 should get her seen asap.

A&E now. Please.

I never took mine to gp or hospital if I could avoid it, but I would in your situation.

it is like i thought: as soon as i was seriously considering shoving DSs into car and drivind to A & E, DS2 suddenly seems a lot better - temperature is at 39,5 and he is frollicking around with DS1 and both don't seem tired at all...

see, and now i even feel bad about this post, that some many of you were honestly concerned ...

er 39.5 is still very high so I would at the least phone nhs direct and please see gp tomorrow feel pleased when it is below 38.

Yes, second advice to call nhs direct / out of hours gp. I wouldn't have waited even 24 hours let alone 48. Better to be safe than sorry and I don't care if anyone thinks I'm a neurotic mum .

That is still way too high, and you dont have the root of the cause, if infection, then needs treatment, you must seaak medical attention today......please keep us posted!

Still high - when DSs wouldn't come down, the docs gave him something and within a few hours it was 36. something. Hope he is better today x

I cannot believe you haven't taken him to a doctor yet - yeah, you know - they will probably say to continue as you are. But what, thats four days with a raging temp? That you can't keep down with calpol - 39.5 with calpol is through the roof in my books.

OP, when my ds2, then aged 4 was like this just before Christmas I took him to the emergency doctor, who, the minute his temp went over 40, had him hospitalised immediately.

He had seen two other emergency doctors and our own GP who kept sending him home - until his temp went over 40.

He had very few symptoms other than the temperature, being very weak and a sore throat.

Turned out he had severe flu that quickly went to pneumonia and he was in hospital on an isolation ward for over a week with an encapsulated abcess on his lung - he was a very poorly little boy indeed and only avoided surgery by a hairs breath It was truly terrifying, he went downhill so fast and is still not really back up to full strength even now.

His temp fluctuated and spiked between 38 and 41 for almost a week and they wouldn't discharge him until it came down to 37 and stayed there.

Your little boy may well need antibiotics - please at the very least call your gp and speak directly to a doctor.

Sorry, I don't want to be a scaremonger, but this episode still looms large in my life and I get upset just thinking about it - I knew he was very ill, but had no idea how serious it was until they had done their scans and xrays.

i woke at 2 am last night as DS2 was crying, he was very thirsty, but also very hot - 40,5 again. so i took your advise and rang NHS helpline, was put through to a nurse, then to a doctor (they were concerned about the lack of wet nappies), then i was put through to someone who gave me a GP appoinment at A & E at 3,20 am ...

so we went there, and there is nothing wrong with DS, appart from a runny nose (respiratory infection). so the doctor gave me some ibrothingy to alternate with the pracetamol based medicine we have at home. basically - what i knew before. feel like such a neurotic mum waisting everybody's time...

this morning, DS2 is still asleep and feverish, poor little soul...

(btw, how do they know it's not swine flu? DS2 is not prone to high temperatures, unlike DS1.)

did they take any blood / urine samples nybom?

There is no way you were being neurotic. You explained the symptoms over the phone and they told you to come in. You did the right thing.

You must be exhausted today

no they didn't take any samples. but they felt his groin area and that was not swollen or painful, i thought that might have been to check for an infection... the doctor pretty much pocked every body part, he was very thorough with his examination, i have seen others...

yes i am pretty exhausted, particuarly as DS1 was awake at 8,00 am and there was no way he was going to play quietly and/or on his own. every 5 minutes he stomped into the bedroom and asked if i could get up NOW. . DS's been playing the trianlge for th elast hour also, it is very miserable weather here: it's pouring it down, i feel like staying in bed all day (but i can't as i have to work (from home)...

You poor thing. Is it possible for you to put the telly on for ds1 after lunch and to doze off on the sofa while he watches? even 20 minutes might help.

ohyoubadbadkitten,

yes, that shouldn't be a problem. my trick in those situations is to let DS1 browse youtube (it's quicker as i'm always on the internet and we can decide what he watches) he choses something he currently likes (mickey mouse, more recently: transformers, power rangers) and he takes it from there. he hasn't landed on any dodgy sites yet, but he usually ends up watching some south american videos...

lol at south american videos

glad you took him nybom - and glad he is OK, definately NOT a neurotic mum. Thing is, it doesn't matter if its swine flu, so long as he picks up. Must be a worrying time for you xx hope he gets better soon. Get some ice lollies for him to suck on.

Hope you are all feeling better soon, what a night! Much better to seek help and be told hes fine than not go to doctors soon enough when its serious iykwim. I'm sure noone minded taking time to make sure he was ok.

A friend was reading her ds stories when he was about 6 mo, suddenly noticed he was covered in blood, rushed down to local health centre where they discovered... a paper cut The nurse said that over-reaction is always better than under reaction.

thanks...

DS has perked up. he's improved a lot, hasn't had a sleep since lunchtime, and his fever has gone down. he still has a raised temp (~38), but i haven't given him any calpol today.

Glad he is doing better nybom x

Good to hear your little one is feeling a bit better. Hope he's fully recovered really soon.

You are absolutely not a neurotic mummy. Every doctor I've ever come across has said its always better to err on the side of caution with young children - you did absolutely the right thing.

Oh and hope you manage to get some rest for yourself soon as well.