Long shot - but any idea what's wrong with ds?

[LadyOfTheFlowers]

ds1- 17months.
3 or so weeks ago we took him to a&e as he had a temperature of 39.5 that i couldnt control. they suspected meningitis till they checked his ears then said he had a raging ear infection in both ears, the right ear drum was bulging with infection and we should be prepared for it to burst etc.
prescribed anti-b's, 6.5mls at a time. finished those.
2 days after he'd finished them i noticed ds going downhill again- miserable, not eating, pulling ear, biting me (he bites when tired etc).
took him to my gp and also doc at a&e had requested a doc checked him out to check ears were ok. she said they look a bit 'funny' but it can take 10 weeks for ears to return to normal. i was not happy and felt a bit fobbed off as i knew there was something wrong with him but they do tend to treat me like an idiot as i am only 23- usually get my mum to take them for me.
couple days after this ds is getting worse, my mum said enoughis enough, he is not well and she took him back to doc.
his ear drum had perforated under the pressure from the infection but not to worry as it does not normally affect hearing- great, i wont worry then.
more anti-b's, all finished and hes no better.
he is running a temp of over 38 again and has been asleep all day so far, sweating till his sheets are wet. he kept waking up last night, all i could do was give him painkillers and cuddle him, but he couldnt decide what he wanted as he seems uncomfortable when handled or moved around.

i was wondering if anyone has any ideas as i am reluctant to take him out in the storm to be told he is fine again. (i dont drive and also have 3month old)
can children get recurrent ear infections?
please, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

please? now ive typed it all out i feel more concerned.

Children can get recurrent ear infections. I would seriously consider taking him to A and E or at least asking for an appointment with a different GP at your surgery. You are his mother and you know when something is not right. Don't let yourself be fobbed off.

thanks for posting.
he is still asleep. that seems very wrong to me.... ?
i want to take him to a&e but short of an ambulance cant get there.

i don't see why they can't have recurrent ear infections! he may not have been on the right antibiotic? or the infection may not have been completely cleared by the anti-biotic he was on.. if your worried try ringing nhs direct, but i think you should see a dr if his temps that high!

don't worry about what the gp says.. i' rather look a fool for a minute than an idiot for the rest of my life! plus i think they're used to dealing with neurotic mums tell us how you get on later.... hope your little boy feels better soon

if the doctors aren't being helpful then phone nhs direct and get them to organise transport(even if it is an ambulance) he is young and this does sound like he needs some more help thean gp's have been giving

is the nhs direct no 0845 46 46?

0845 46 47

I think it's 0845 46 47

thanks, ringing now.

Hello

I had a perforated eardrum a few times when I was a teenager due to infected / blocked u-station tube (the tube that goes from your ear to your throat). I just wanted to reassure you that I can hear fine..... can you ring NHS direct? They might be able to give you some more info?

Anna

As an adult I've had ear infections that have taken months to clear, and not responded to several different antibiotics, so I would certainly think that a toddler could suffer the same problem.

I would take him back to gp and not leave til given a different antibiotic to try.

thanks for the reassurance.
i have spoken to the health advisor who asks all the questions, i was asked the standard rash questions, light hurting eyes? etc and he thinks a nurse will get back to me within 30 mins.
he asked meif he was hot to the touch and wether when i touch his head my hand is clammy when i pull away and i said yes, he sounded abit concerned.
i have given him calpol etc, the hospital version they gaveus the first time, and it doesnt do anything to his temperature.

have you got baby nurofen? stick him in a cool bath? put a fan on him?

the nurse has told me to get him to a&e, forget the doctors surgery!
oh god.

Don't panic. They will be acting on a 'better safe than sorry' principle. No points neding you Gp only for GP to send you to Hospital, might as well miss out the middle-man(or, of course woman).

Best of luck - let us know how you get on.

ds3 is on his 3rd perforated ear drum since November. (1 ear twice, 1 ear once). His temp has gone very high with them, and both did take him a long time to get over. For the double ear infection fever lasted about week to 10 days, for the single one fever lasted about 5 days, but he's still not really 100%. He returned to nursery after a week off and the ear was still weeping- so seems to take a long time. Antibiotics often are not recommended for ear infections these days because they don't seem to aid recovery. DS3 was hospitalised when he had the double ear infection because he had a seizure, but even then they wouldn't give antibiotics (which was fine by me- not complaining).

Always get a baby checked out again with a fever and if you're not happy, and don't feel like you should apologise to a dr for doing that- that's their job, but certainly ime these things can rumble on.

Don't worry too much about NHS direct- they're always doing that. When ds1 had a baldder spasm they very helpfully told me that "if he collapses on the way to hospital, pull over and call for an ambulance" gee thanks wouldn;t have worked that out by myself- just completely panicked me for no reason.

Hope you don't have to wait too long in A&E.

Hope everything is ok with ds,let us know how things are.

Ooooh, hope everything is ok. Nurses can panic you can't they?

How are things today LOTF? x

oh god, what a palaver!
get to a&e. wait 40mins (not bad) to see first doc. the usual- 'i am not a paediatrician so cannot rule out meningitis'
we had to go back to waiting room to wait for paed.
paed says both ears are perforated but not inflamed so this is not the cause of fever. his lung on the right sounds quiet- could be fluid, suggests phumonia (sp?).
go for chest x-ray- very distressing for ds.
lungs look foggy but not foggy enough for phumonia.
next paed comes to look at him. she thinks it could be water infection- bag taped over willy etc. emla cream on hands as blood sample needed too. she then says he is being admitted as he seems to have infection somewhere but they dont know where so he needs watching/regular obs taken.
get to ward, settle him down to sleep. doc who suspected phumonia wants to take blood now.
me and two nurses holding ds while doc takes blood. ds screaming blue murder as he is being restrained and is scared. they give up as ds is too strong for us all to hold still . resort to my initial suggestion of letting him lie on the couch with his bottle of milk while one nurse holds his arm still and doc takes blood with me chatting to him-no problem- no tears, no thrashing and screaming. they ignored that i had said he would probably let them do this way no problem. as a result, he wont let any doc near him now.
take him back to ward, settle him back down. nurse comes in with anti-b's for him to take. wake him up again and he wont go back to sleep now, hes running on empty.
another paed comes in 'i would like to look at him too please'
ds starts screaming as she gets closer- wakes all the other babies up.
she announces he can go home but i must keep very close eye on him and bring larger wee sample to send to the lab first thing in morn. she will rush the bloods through and if there is a problem she will ring us and we must take him back in. no phone call.
take wee in this morning and the doc says there are raised 'infection markers' in his blood but they cant pinpoint where the infection is. his haemoglobin (sp?) is also low. they will also rush wee sample thru and if it is water infection, they will change the anti-b's.
he must have blood trest again in 3 weeks to see if the infection is still present, wherever it may be.
he has not eated a proper meal for about a week and previous to that has been picking, a few grapes here and there, a bite or two of bread. he has lost tons of weight but they are happy to let him carry on like this for another two weeks as he is drinking watered down milk all day.

Poor you and DS - brave feisty boy Hope they get to the bottom of it soon. Take care.

Gosh what a day Ladyoftheflowers.
I hope he gets better soon and that you get some much needed rest.

I hope he starts to get better soon.