I think my son has covid

[Mistlewoeandwhine]

DS is 14 with no underlying conditions. We have all been super- careful, wiping the shopping, staying at home etc but DH went to the chemists two weeks ago and soon got ill. He had a v bad sore throat and temperature but no cough. Unfortunately he gave it to DS and he has been very ill for the last 12 days. He’s had a temperature, agonising throat and what seems to be a gland pain but no breathing problems and no cough ( until about day ten then he’s had a slight dry cough but not frequent). We took him to the dr on Fri as he had the temperature and wasn’t eating and we were doing rounds of painkillers. The dr gave him antibiotics for his throat. But I have literally never seen him so ill. The temperature is gradually going down but he’s so weak he’s sleeping every few hours and about 11hrs at night. He’s drinking about a litre a day (with some bullying from me).
I think he’s getting slightly better (fewer painkillers and more time awake) but is there anything else we can do? I don’t want to take him back to the dr just for advice as we had to sit in direct sunlight in the car park until the dr would see us in a tent. It was incredibly hot for the rest of us and my poor child had a blazing temperature and was crying to go back to bed.
Basically can anyone suggest - will his appetite return? Should I try to force him to eat or respect the fact that he just wants drinks? Is there anything else I can give him? To make matters worse, his brace is digging into him and hurting his mouth so he’s got that to deal with too ☹️

My husband was ill in April. He also totally went off food. I gave him a daily berocca and then copious amounts of ‘tasty’ drinks. Soda and lime with lots of ice, freshly squeezed orange juice, lucozade, squash .... etc.

When he started to feel a bit better it was simple things that appealed, omelette, chivken noodle soup, strawberries, melon. I’d give a good multivitamin, lots of fluids and continue to offer food but don't stress about it. I really hope he feels better soon.

Smoothies. Use avocado, banana, peanut butter in lactose free milk and add in strawberries or Nutella or whatever.

I use glucose in dilute squash to drink when my kids are ill - it's what my mother used to do for us - it keeps blood sugar up. Years ago when my DD had an intestinal blockage that glucose in squash stopped her deteriorating as fast (she couldn't keep anything down, but glucose begins to be absorbed through the mouth mucosa ). Flat full fat coke or lemonade is another good one - add a teaspoon of glucose and it will fizz right up then be flat. Very good for really sick people. Those cheap lollies are good too - the icepop ones.

How is he with ice lollies? I remember with tonsillitis eating felt like swallowing barbed wire unless it was very cold.

Let him sleep. As long as he needs. Then tiny amounts of soup and water every couple of hours. X

Pea based protein shakes

It could be ‘Mononucleosis’ aka ‘Mono’ and also known in the USA as the “kissing disease” as it’s a virus which usually happens in adolescence (although I had it at the age of 25!).

My son had mono at the age of 14 when we were living in the States. He came home from school one day and said he was tired and went to bed. He didn’t wake for dinner and was in such a deep sleep I actually put a mirror next to his mouth to check that he was still breathing!

He slept for a straight 24 hours and was exhausted when he woke up: a blood test confirmed that he had the mononucleosis and as it is common for the spleen to become enlarged he was not allowed to do any PE or sporting activities for a month.

I hope your son recovers soon.

Thanks for all the tips. Much appreciated 💐

So you went to the doctors surgery when he might have covid?

Poor kid.

Beware that doing the test at home might not give an accurate result, it's very difficult to get the swab where it needs to be. You might be better booking another test at a testing centre

Do you have an oximeter ? If not see if you can borrow one - check his oxygen level. Not having shortness of breath doesn't mean he's getting enough oxygen

Are you giving him dioralyte? He needs something like that. I prefer high5, I buy mine online or in cycling shops.

Also see if he'll 'eat' any of the baby pouches that are squirty. I have bought a few for myself 'just in case' as I live alone and go iff good when I'm not well, but I know it'll be important to try to 'eat' something

Hope he's starting to improve soon.

Hi,
What about the cups that freeze drinks to make slushies? I got one for DS after he'd had his tonsils out, made by Zoku. You can bung in a vegan shake or a smoothie and it will freeze to a soothing temp. Can I also recommend a humidifier for his bedroom? I got the Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier from Amazon and we always use it when one of the kids are ill. Poor boy. I hope he feels better soon. I had chronic tonsillitis as a child and it is hideous. Take him back if you can in case he has quinsy or needs different antibiotics. Good luck OP.

The last time I had tonsillitis it wiped me out within 4 hours for 2 weeks.

Do not give him a throat spray, it's like gargling acid. Warm slightly salty water.

If you could make a smoothie with banana and alpro ice cream that might be a start, the onto soup after a couple of days.

Make sure whatever he is drinking has some sugar. Without eating you can go into ketosis and just lose your appetite which will prolong recovery.

Fabulous bottom: if you read my post you will actually see that we did NOT enter the surgery. We rang ahead and were seen in the car park by a dr in PPE.

@fabulousbottom feel better after getting your boot into a worried parent?

Like others have said, try to get him to drink things which contain glucose for energy if you can’t get him to eat anything or ice pops/lollies. You could try something like dequadin lozenges or difflam throat spray which helped me when I had tonsillitis as they numb the throat and allowed me to manage to eat a little.

What about glandular fever. I had it at 14 and it really knocks you, the tiredness is indescribable (I literally slept for about 18 hours a day) and if I wasn’t sleeping I was just lay down unable to move. I couldn’t eat, my mum gave me lucozade as it was the only thing I could stomach

How about Huel? It’s a meal replacement shake with all of the calories of a meal...

Just repeating what others said, but do make sure he gets some calories from his drinks. And give him plenty of drinks. Do keep his fever under control with paracetamol (and maybe keep a log of his temperature and when you administered any medicine). And do call a GP or 111 or even 999 if you feel he's deteriorating (keeping a log can help you decide if/when to do that, and what to tell them)

I got something similar back in late March. Might have been COVID. It did get better. Wishing your son a speedy recovery.

My DS had Covid he didn't have much of a cough with it.

Oh bless him - sounds more like glandular fever to me. And as someone who has had it, my god it is fucking miserable. Really feel for him

Poor lad!

No more suggestions than what others have said - ice lollies, smoothies, slushies, jelly? Soft fruits? Mango, watermelon?

I'd probably avoid anything milky as it might make his throat feel more uncomfortable? It does for me when my throat is sore!

I’ve suffered with tonsillitis all my life and this sounds like a nasty dose of it. Sometimes is horrid and other times it’s absolutely dreadful. The last time I had it (late 30’s) I was out for 2 weeks. Throat was the usual hell but It also felt like I had full on flu with it. I have had tonsillitis dozens of times in my life but only had it this bad twice. Make sure he finishes the complete course of antibiotics m- I’ve made that mistake before and it’s come back!

Lacto free do a lactose free chocolate milk. Alternatively use his normal milk to make up Nesquik, liquid and calories. Adding a scoop of (lacto free ) ice cream (such as Swedish Glacé) would be very chilled and soothing.

Poss glandular fever. You can get a test.
DD most likely had it, in late February. Was bedridden for 5 weeks.

When I had sore throat/fever in March I lived off hot ribena - it really soothed my throat, I often find milky drinks are a complete turn off with a bad throat, and hot rather than cold seems to be better. I would offer exciting drinks like a pp suggested- full fat coke, lucazade, any sweet sugary drink he fancies, maybe some boiled sweets to suck, or jelly - a great way of building up energy, hope he’s on the mend soon