High temperature but no other symptoms - any idea what this is?

[anorak]

DS (aged 3 1/2) has had a high temperature on and off for days. He is tired every evening and wants to go to bed early. At the beginning of the week we put it down to the exciting weekend he had had. But after lots of early nights he is still extra-tired. We say we'll take him to the doctors tomorrow and then each morning he wakes up absolutely fine, eats three bowls of cereal and seems perfectly well.

An hour ago his temperature went up to 104. We gave him calpol and junior nurofen and now it is down to 100. We would have phoned NHS direct if it hadn't gone down.

We'll take him to the docs tomorrow morning anyway but I just wondered, does anyone have any idea what this could be? There don't seem to be any other symptoms - just the tiredness, high temperature and a very slightly runny nose.

Could he be sickening for Chickenpox?

I thought he seemed like he was in that stage just before some kind of fever-related rash. But he's had chickenpox, a few months ago. I know you can get it again, but it was quite a severe bout when he had it before. When I've known other people get it twice, the first time has been mild.

We're suffering the same sort of thing. My DS (3) is fine if I manage to keep him dosed up with calpol, but as soon as it's starting to wear off, temperature shoots up and he's really, really unhappy. He's also been having 2 hour naps in the afternoon and still going to bed early, (two weeks ago he changed his bedtime from 8pm to 7pm!) MIL has shingles, so we've assumed chicken pox is on it's way. This is the 4th day.

Aaargh! No, not chickenox please! We're going on holiday on Saturday.

Has anyone else known anyone get chickenpx again when they've already had a severe bout of it?

I don't think it's likely to be chickenpox if he's had a bad bout recently. Our ds has had a few viral bugs where the only symptom really was a high temp and being extra tired. They lasted between 3 and 5 days and did get better on their own. But I think you should get him checked out by doc tomorrow as planned as it could be a bacterial infection needing a course of antibiotics, esp. as you're off on hol soon.

Hope he's better soon.

Thanks gingernut. I feel a bit better now.

His temperature dropped right down and he has eaten crumpets and a choc ice. Then he went outside and ran round and round the garden and played football . But then he might be horrible again by 9pm. That's what it's been like all week.

When we were worried about DS having a high temperature once but couldn't work out what was casuing it and ended up seeking medical advice we were told by a lovely lady doctor to treat the child and not the symptoms. ie if child has temperature but seems to be fine dont worry but if he seems very under the weather/ill/acting out of character but has normal temperature and no other symptons, get him checked.

Does that make sense? I think as well, trust your instincts. If you think that he is actually probably quite okay and just has a temperature for some strange reason then that is probably exactly what it is. However, a quick trip to the GP for peace of mind is never worth refusing huh?

I hope he's okay.

DS (3.5) had this the other week - lasted for almost 4 days. No other symptoms apart from high temp - kept him dosed with Calpol & Nurafen which made temp come down. Took him to the docs on day 3 but she couldn't find any cause. He didn't really eat much whilst he was ill but no other symptoms at all. Hes fine now thou'

My DD (5.5) had a high temp for a week but had no obvious signs of illness. I kept giving her Calpol and she wasn't eating much but drank quite a lot. Anyway, her temp peaked at 40.9 so I panicked and rushed her round the Dr's. After checking her over, they concluded she had an ear infection and possible a urine infection. Gave her antibiotics straight away and by the next morning she was well on the way to recovery.
I think a trip to the Dr's is best, especially with your holiday coming up. (I would't have thought it would be chicken pox again)

My ds used to be like this when he had an ear infection. But occasionally he would be like that with no obvious cause, and the gp put it down to a virus. I did a bit of research on the internet and it isn't unheard of.

Anorak,

Like Sofia, my dd had a high temp and was very tired when she had an ear infection. Probably worth taking him into see the doctor just for your own peace of mind.

Yes - get checked out. Similar situation with dd resulted in a water infection.Had the temp for two weeks and no other really obvious symptoms.
Have a good hol!

DS had a temperature that went up and down wildly for well over a week, and eventually the GP sent us to A&E when it reached 39.7 (don't know what that is in old money). 100 is quite hot, isn't it? He probably has some kind of virus that's around, but it might be worth taking him to the GP in case he develops an infection. And to stop you worrying. I always feel a complete fool as I sit there and DS inevitably perks up, but it stops the nagging doubt that I'm missing something obvious - or deeply obscure.

Thank you all. DH is definitely going to take him to the docs tomorrow just to be sure. I'll let you all know the result as I'm sure you'll be worried

DS is looking a bit peaky this morning, red eyes and tired. We booked him in to the doctors this afternoon. He burst into tears when we told him he was too poorly to go to his childminder, and then he disappeared. Found him fast asleep in his bed. Bless.

Doctor says ds has inflamed tonsils, but no white spots so not too seriously. Also his eye is slightly infected because he is run down. Because he has been poorly for a few days the doc says he is well on the way to getting better on his own and so no need for antibiotics.

I love my doctor - he's so sensible and so nice! And just wonderful with kids too.

We have all had this bug in our house, one night my ds temp was 104, week later dd had it, week later dh and week later me, it was slow getting through the houshold, I had a bad headache with mine too - probably the temp causing it. when I took ds to the docs at 11am one day, the doctor said he had seen 5 children already that morning with the same thing.

The doc said so long as they are 'with it' i.e not floppy etc, there is no need to go to A&E with the temp, as a short spell outside should start to bring it down together with calpol/neurofen

Frightening though eh ?

Not much fun! Especially for ds. He has been a good patient so we haven't suffered much.

glad to hear it's nothing serious Anorak. Hope DS makes a good recovery over the weekend.