Child really suffering with covid

[Amaretto21]

Just wondering if this is normal as most people say children mildly affected. 9 year old son has temperature between 39 and 40 for 24 hours (bright positive lft), lethargic, aching, coughing and doing nothing but laying in bed. Def not dehydrated and is eating and drinking but looks poorly. Is this normal or should we be concerned? Giving neurofen and calpol regularly. Thanks!

I would say that’s pretty normal at this stage. Hope he brightens up soon.

My children were so different. My 9 year old son only had a cough but we think he had it the previous year when he had what looked like blistered scaulds all over his body. Told it was an allergic reaction but he was so Ill then. My daughter was very I’ll and even projectile vomited every day. Just make bottles of juice by the bed so they can help themselves and snack foods as they won’t want to eat at all but may snack a bit. Having had it myself it’s awful as an adult so must be worse for a child.

That sounds pretty typical OP. When the media/scientists say that Covid is mild for most people they just mean that you're unlikely to end up in hospital.

Both my DC (age 10 and 12) were similar to your DS when they had Covid – really high temps, headaches, body aches (but no coughs) for a few days then gradually got better. They both felt too ill to watch TV, read or get out of bed for long for a couple of days or so.

You know your DS though, so if the lethargy or fever seem extreme there's no harm in seeking medical advice. It's good that he's eating and drinking – my 2 didn't loose their appetites either!

Thank you so much, that’s all very reassuring. Will keep a close eye on him over the weekend.

My 10 yr old dd had covid. High temp 102, body aches, headache, nausea. Was better after 2 days

Yes, it sounds normal. 4 of my 5 dc have had Covid. 2 breezed through it (twice in the case of dc1) but dc3(9) had quite a rough ride. Very high temperature throughout, sickness, dizziness & fainting. Dc2(10) had ocular migraines when he had it. In that sense it's like any other illness, some people have it worse than others.

Thank you for reassuring me yesterday, he’s much brighter today so over the worst now thank goodness!

My ds is crying with his headache and temp 39. His paracetamol had run out but he was fine an hour ago! I've just seen on nhs pages that I'm not to give paracetamol and ibuprofen unless advised by a gp. Is this correct? We always used to do this. It's so worrying. Dd has had it twice and was asymptomatic both times so this is new. He's now sleeping.

We’ve had to alternate paracetamol and neurofen as his temp was 40.5. Calpol alone did nothing. I spoke to GP and he said as long as sticking to dosage instructions of each it’s fine to do that for a short period of time. Ask your GP if unsure. Hope your ds gets better soon. We’ve had 48 hours that were absolutely awful but so much better today

Thank you for replying.

Yeah, it kicks your head in for a couple of days and then you feel better generally (not a hard and fast rule, just what I've seen in various people). Glad he's on the mend.

Everyone I know barely had any symptoms except a runny nose so actually that's not that mild. Not in any danger but still doesn't sound as mild as most people get it

@Amaretto21 - just to say my DS9 was exactly same as you described- really worryingly unwell for first 24 hours with very high 39C temperature. Still unwell day 2 but much better. And has now made a full recovery.

Hope he feels much better soon.

When my DS had mild covid, he still needed steroids and antibiotics and continued to cough badly for two months. Sadly mild covid is just covid that isn’t bad enough to hospitalise or kill, rather than what we typically think of as covid.

Sorry to hear your son suffered so badly too, it’s awful seeing them so unwell. After a difficult 48 hours he’s already recovering really quickly. Glad to hear your son made a good recovery too!

Sadly mild covid is just covid that isn’t bad enough to hospitalise or kill, rather than what we typically think of as covid

For some, it is. For some, it’s genuinely mild. One of mine had a high temp for a couple of hours then was completely fine. One had mild cold symptoms (runny nose and a cough) and one had no symptoms alt all.
Glad he’s feeling better OP.

Two of mine were like this, but struggled to hold food or drink down too. It sounds normal to me. Hope he's back to normal soon OP.