this horrible coughing & fever fluey virus - someone please tell me it won't last forever..

[geekgrrl]

I've had it since Tuesday now and am soooo fed up. I've still got a high temp and seem to either sweat buckets (sorry TMI) or freeze. Dh's got over it quickly and the kids just had an irritating cough.
I'm so fed up. It's also brough my asthma back and I feel like someone's sitting on my chest all night long.
Sorry, just needed to moan.

Hi all,

He's been admitted and is on IV antibiotics and constant O2. He has to stay on this for now as his SATS drop every time he takes the mask away.

On a positive note - he had definitely perked up after the 2pm antibiotics - he was saying he was hungry for the first time in 3 weeks!!

I'm so, so glad we took him in - now he can be on the mend.

So frightening for all of us

yeahh, im over it now
dd3 is really snotty and dd2 is still chesty but there is a big improvement . dp is feeling rough but on a whole i think it is passing thankgod

CDG- hope ds1 gets better soon , big hugs and love sending your way xxxxxxxxxxx

I really sympathise and empathise with everyone on this thread!DD1 has this horrid fluey thing and has had it on and off for weeks....she had a bad cough over xmas and antibiotics did help but now she is weak, listless, very pale and harldy eating which for her ( she is a right gannet) is unusual. She can't seem to get warm and has a temperatuer on and off.Poor little thign - she is so unlike her usual self.

DS is now on day 12 of this! He has been better of actual 'flu' symptoms since the weekend but he is completely wiped out still so I can't send him to school. As I have said earlier in the thread, he has cp and usually gets about by crawling.. cruising etc (he is 5) but he barely has energy for that at all.
Usually he is very very high maintenance.. into everything.. trying to climb everything.. is as strong as an ox. Now he is a shadow of his former self. I keep telling myself (from reading earlier posts in the thread) that this is 'normal' and I actually phoned our very nice HV (who I have lots of confidence in) on Monday and she said, from my description, that she is sure he will need this whole week of school, and that just 'being him' usually requires so much energy that he is bound to be very lethargic in comparison. She made my feel less worried but at the moment I am worrying again. He has been up half an hour (usually, when well, he is up at the crack of dawn and wakes throughout the night.. now he has just woken and went to bed at half six last night!!!!)

He is actually eating a bit less than when he was actually ill (he never completely lost his appetite) right when I want to be feeding him up to get his stength back. And I can't give him cheesy/eggy things because he is dairy intolerent. He has just nibbled half heartedly on some toast and banana for his breakfast;wasn't interested in weetabix (when well he has TWO plus toast etc!) I think it's a vicious circle.. he won;t get his strength back until he eats.. but he won't eat until he can work up an appetite when he gets his strength back!

He has been on antibiotics throughout as the doctor was playing safe (he has a dodgy chest history) and his cough is better than it was. He just has no oooomph! None at all. And normally he has 3 times as much ooomph as the average child his age (5).. honestly!

What should I be doing? Do you think we will start seeing him get his energy back soon???

SJ x

Sj, it's Lonelymum here, using my other name at the moment.

Has his temperature gone down? Is he off the Calpol and stuff like that? If the answer is ye, then he is clearly better than he was and I think you need to hang on to that thought for now. My dd wasn't nearly as bad as your ds but she still took her time to get back up to speed. Fortunately she had the half term holiday to do it in. One of the reasons your ds might not be able to eat properly yet is because his stomach has shrunk a bit. It will take time for him to be able to eat a full size meal again. Can you keep offering him litle snacks? I found my dd (while, like your ds, never going completely off her food) was often asleep when we had a meal, so I made some jelly and other soft, easy foods like that, which she could dip into whenever she wanted. Could you do something similar and not limit him too much to mealtimes? Ditto the sleep thing. Just let him sleep whenever he wants to. Sleep gives the body time and energy to get better.

Have just taken his temp even though I hadn't even used the thermometer for a couple of days as I thought he felt a bit warm when dressing him, and it is 38.1 again!! WHAT is going on?? This is getting ridiculous. I am making another doctor's appointment. Oh God I hope he hasn't got pneumonia like GDG's little boy...

(Thanks LM for replying to all my ramblings... )

i am soooo fed up of this horrible bug in our house. All six of us have had it. DH finished anti b's yesterday for chest infection and is now laid up in bed again. Dr says tough basically no need for more anti b's just take paracetamol. We have had three weeks of this. The kids seem to be recovered fairly well at the minute just gunky coughs left. But DH is really poorly and he can't afford not to go to work as he not on permanent contract yet. interview 1st March. I sooooo sooooo fed up.

Sj, I think you are doing the right thing, getting in touch with the doctor again. I t doesn't seem right that he should still have a temperature and not see a doctor. Hope you get an appointment and are taken seriously.

Longwaytogo, sorry you are still suffering too. We will all be so pleased to see the sunshine and feel a bit of warmth of our backs won't we?

Got an appointment straight away and to my great relief we saw an absolutely lovely doctor we'd not seen before.. (I have had a rant brewing in inside me for a while about GPs who have no time to listen or reassure.. or even let you get to the end of your sentence! [angry[) but this one was so kind and understanding and thorough!

Anyway, DS has bronchitis .. and a definite bacterial thing going on in his lungs. I mentioned my pneumonia fear and that lovely doctor said 'well you can stop worrying about that.. that is not what this is.. it's bronchitis!'

We have been given erythromycin which the GP is almost sure will help (said the amoxycillin would not have been able to tackle what DS's illness has not become).. but if he is no better by Friday (when the nasal swab he also took should be back with a result) I have to take him back. And if I do I am seeing the same doctor even if I have to rant/beg/both!!

Poor DS. But thank God it's not pneumonia.

I hope you are all better soon (those still suffering eg Longwaytogo's family)

SJ x

Good result SJ Hope he is better soon.

Thanks LM By the way I love your alternative name. It's much more cheerful and original than LM and suits you (lovely) personality better IMO

Any improvement today SJ?

Just found this thread, am hoping some of you are going to tell me that your little ones are getting better, because it isn't happening here!

DS1 had this last week (half term) and apart from a lingering cold and cough is now fine. DS's 2 and 3 however have had it since Saturday. DS2 had sickness all of Saturday night and both had very high temperatures which have come down a bit but are constantly high. They both have awful colds and now coughs too and are incredibly tired all of the time. The only good thing about this virus is that they have both had 12 solid hours of sleep for the past 2 nights. A welcome relief for me when I am normally up 3 or 4 times a night!

Have called for a doctors appointment for them both this morning as DS2 (aged 3) has just been lying on the floor/sofa all morning and crying intermittently. He worries me the most as he barely eats anyway, but hasn't really eaten anything since Saturday! DS3 (14 months) although his appetite has gone a bit is still eating something and he is my good eater normally so has enough on him to keep him going.

Apparantly I am getting the triage nurse calling later on. I really don't know why, I explained the problem to the receptionist. Do you think I should just insist on an appointment? Can they actually do anything for them?

The icing on the cake is that DH called last night (he works away in the week a lot) to say he felt awful, so he will be home around 12 ish. Someone else to look after! I'm shattered!

Caleb'smummy.. hugs and sympathy! Blo**dy Hitler-ish triage nurse system!! Hopefully he/she will be nice and helpful and see that you need an appointment asap!

LM I think he is doing better! This morning he woke at normal time (before 7 when we have to get up anyway) and came to his gate!! He has not done that for days.. and days! He also ate some Weetabix.. and is looking a bit brighter and more cheerful in general. Thank God for the erythromycin!

I would strongly urge any parent whose child's state of health (with this virus) has gone BACK downhill after some improvement to take them to the doctors as although we are constantly told that these viral illnesses do not benefit from antibiotics (true) I also know a great many kids who have had secondary (bacterial) infections which do benefit and need anti bs. DS is one of them and he has even been ON Amoycillin almost through out.. but it was not strong enough.

SJ x

Great news SJ. Let's hope it continues.

Sorry to hear you are suffering Calebsmummy. My dd was never actually sick but she was definitely ill for 7 days and then slowly got better. Don't worry about the not eating bit (hard I know) just concentrate on drinks and sleeps. Hope you get an appt soon.

Oh SJ, good to hear that your little man is improving.

I wish it was a 'Hitlerish' triage nurse, she was too nice to shout at !!! She was very informative (although everything she said I already knew) but has made me feel a little better so I guess she did her job!

DS3 has eaten some weetabix and half a banana this morning and gallons of milk, but he would have to be really ill not to eat anything He is sleeping again now.

DS2 still isn't eating much, I even gave him Hula Hoops for breakfast but he didn't want them.......ooh just offered him a Kitkat and he is eating it Just don't really wanna carry on with the bad things as he is a monkey with his eating anyway and will just expect to only have to eat the nice things even when he is well. But I figured it may give a little energy.

Had enough now!!

Back to the hospital today! Although he seemed a little better yesterday I got back from school run today (left him with Dh) to find him looking like a wet dish rag on DH's lap! I just thought 'this can't be right!' and took him back to the same GP as before.

He sent us back to hopsital.. this time to the one which admits kids (usually). Also GP took his temp and made it 39.. but no way would I have said he was that hot.. he didn't feel hot at all to me! (I hadn't taken his temp beforehand as I can always tell with my hand if he has any degree of temp.. I am rarely wrong.) And at the hospital it was 36.9 and I hadn't had time to give him anything to bring it down!

The hospital have sent us home because they (two doctors, an SHO and a registrar) both said his chest is virtually clear (WTF???!!! the GP at the surgery said it was 'no better than Wednesday' and that he was 'floppier' in his opinion) and that we just need to give him time to start improving. The nasal swab of Wednesday grew only heomopholus (sp?) which is bacterial.. but nothing major.. and nothing that won't be tackled by the antibiotic he is on.

Sigh. I just don't know what to think. I am thinking now that he just needs time.. I know the GPs were being cautious which I'm glad about (he wrote on the hosp letter.. which I opened and read, as I do!.. that he was sending him in as he is such a 'vulnerable child' (due to his other conditions obv).. but I really thought that we were going to get to the hosp this morning and be told he had pneumonia. I was quite convinved that we'd be straight down for an xray and then back to the ward for IV antibiotics.. and here we are home.. and DS still looks awful.. although I'd be lying if I said he didn't perk up at times.. and he is eating and drinking.. although not a huge amount of food.

I just want this over with and him better. At the moment I feel as if I will never ever complain again about the amount of house-trashing and chaos he achieves when well.

I could just sit and cry if I had time. It's been so long now since he was the 'Alex' we all know and love. But the two paediatricans said it can take 3 weeks to get better from this.

As always, I am here SJ and can only offer you my sympathies (and perhaps a few prayers now wouldnd't go amiss?) and hope he starts trashing the house again soon!

I have it and was feeling very sorry for myself until I read this thread. Massives of hugs to all of you with kids who have it,(SJ, I had no idea, poor you and ds)
I hope you all se some improvement soon.
and I hope my kids don't get it off me

Doed anyone know how GDG's DS is?

think we've joined the club. terrible cough, runny nose off food ,frightening temps etc etc all for the last 4 days, and judging by what i have read on hear we've a few more days to go yet.... yawn! ds seems to have had bug after bug this year.... is it a particularily bad year or are we just unlucky?
hugs and love to everyone struggling with the calpol cap at 2am every night!

I've had this since last Sunday and still feel foul. DS came down with it a week last Friday - raging temperature and sick twice - but then seemed fine two days later. He's been back at school and absolutely normal... until this morning. His temperature is up again and he looks awful. Blooming marvellous.