Quick help please. Do I ring NHS Direct or not please, please give your opinion or advice.

[Jaquelinehyde]

DS 3yrs old hasn't been himself all week.

On Sunday he was freezing although it was very warm and he complained of a headache.

He woke up that night with a 39.6 temp and again complaining of headache, but went back to sleep after a cuddle and some Calpol.

Monday and Tues he mentioned on and off about a headache but appeared fine. My initial feeling was that it was for attention because he knew he would get lots of extra attention when his head hurts.

Anyway today mid afternoon he was crying about a headache and tummy ache and was then sick everywhere. He went for a short nap and woke up still complaining about his head.

He is in definate pain - not playing up - and the Calpol isn't helping at all. He keeps drifting off but gets woken up by the pain.

I'm looking at him on the sofa at the moment having just drifted off with a cold towel on his head.

I'm worried about the headaches, and not sure what to do.

Any advice would be welcome please.

I'VE ONLY READ PAGE 1 OF THIS THREAD BUT.....

PLEASE JUST TAKE YOUR CHILD TO A & E IF YOU ARE WORRIED. PEOPLE GO FOR MUCH MUCH LESS, BELIEVE ME. DON'T WORRY ABOUT TIME WASTING. FEVER - NO DIAGNOSIS - HEADACHES - SLEEPY - 3 DAYS - I THINK YOU'VE OGT A STRONG CASE FOR ASKING TO BE SEEN BY A PAEDIATRICIAN

Hope your ds is getting better now, Jacqueline.

Btw I completely agree with what both Georgi and Scottishmummy say here. Why would anyone ask a bunch of people who can't see your child what they think is wrong with them?

I know the Internet is a useful tool blah blah blah but, honestly, its wholly inappropriate to consult it on everything.

Agree with Georgi and Scottishmummy tbh.

You have a poorly child, complaining about headache for 4 days. He is sick, has temp & I don't understand why you still need validation from a bunch of strangers that he should be looked at?

I don't understand why people start threads about what to do with poorly children. By the time you have posted & gotten an answer, the child could have gotten worse, but here you (general you, not op in partic) are, wasting time on a pc seeking the answer from people who cannot see/do not know your child.

They are called instincts for a reason, time we all learnt to listen to them a lot more & take them seriously.

She needs validation because in my experience I have been embarrassed and ridiculed for going to a&e with a baby in much the same condition. I have been given useless and incorrect advice by nhs direct and worthless advice from out of hour doctors. My ds was quite ill, very frequently during his first couple of years and every time I went through heartache trying to figure out the best place to call or take him because I had had such terrible experiences with every one of the options available to me (in West London). Georgi, your comments were neither supportive or helpful to the OP. One can only hope that you were having a bad day and are normally kinder and more thoughtful with those around you. The OP was clearly concerned and paralyzed with anxiety. Why on earth would you choose to exacerbate that anxiety, rather than allay her fears and guide her kindly and thoughtfully to the wisest choice? I do hope you are more forgiving with your children.

I also want to reassert that we should not assume that just because a parent is posting in children's health (what is this topic here for?) that they aren't also doing a hundred other things to safeguard the health of their child.

I'm constantly astounded by how many mnetters will jump to the assumption that a poster is less able, intelligent or rigorous as themselves regarding a particular issue just because they have decided to post about it. It's quite arrogant really.

I started posting about my DD's illness as all those motherly "instincts" were kicking in. I'd tried NHS direct and been given the "we are swamped right now so won't deal with you unless it's urgent" feedback.

Of course I had a plan of action in my own mind, but until I could action it, it was helpful to have advice and support of a few, more kindly than this poor OP has been given, MNetters who understood what it's like to feel sick with worry but at that precise moment, to feel utterly unsure about the best course of action, or for the most ideal course of action not to be available to you because your child happens to be ill on a weekend...when it appears the entire health system in this country wants to shut down.

It is often incredibly difficult to discern between a stomach bug that will pass in a couple of days vs something more serious until you reach that critical end of day 3.

"I do hope you are more forgiving with your children."

I hope you are less pompous in real life. Read my comments again, I don't see how "take your sick child to A&E" which was the thrust of my response, is unsupportive. Does everything have to come with hugs and tickers now?

Yes honeypie, it does

bleurgh - "huns" to you Sycamore!

Any news Jaquelinehyde? Hope all is well.

I'm sure JH wouldn't want to post on here now judging by the crappy posts. GM really can't you see how your comment of 'Is it so difficult' is a bit like talking (disrespectfully) to a child and would you in RL talk to someone like that? I really don;t think so.

JH I really hope things are ok and please post if you can.

Hi everyone, sorry it's taken so long for me to update, it's been a busy, busy day.

So I took DS off to the hospital as told to by the emergency helpline. As soon as DS got out of the car he was his usual bright eyed, bushy tailed self .

The Dr we saw was really wonderful, joking with us both, checking everything and more. He really was the best Dr I have seen in years.

DS has a viral infection that's been doing the rounds apparently. Causing tiredness, sickness, severe headaches and chills. (not swine flu )

He has made a dramatic recovery and not complained once since last night, which is let face it just typical.

A quick explanation about last night, I hate ringing out of hours services and really hate and do not trust on call Dr's. DS was ill when he was 5 weeks old (he was also 5 and a half week prem) I took him to two sepreate emergency Drs (different towns) over 2 days and both sent me home with him saying he was fine had a little sniffle and just needed lots of water. I was told I was being neurotic. 20mins after returning home from the 2nd Dr visit, I found DS limp and lifeless. The Drs at the hospital said I was lucky he was alive, over the next 48hrs he was resusitated 6 times.

I usually ring my Mum (7 kids she knows more than most. Health professional or not) but last night she was out teaching. So I came to the next best place.

Some people think that it was wrong and plain stupid of me to come on here asking for an opinion (not a diagnosis) but I had my reasons for doing so.

I apologise for telling georgimama to fuck off that was uncalled for, and as I said at the time that is the first time I have ever wanted to say that to someone in 4 years on here.

Next time just say I would call the Dr's or NHS direct. Really didn't need to add all the extra shit that came with it. Would have saved your time and my upset (pathetic but true).

Thanks again to everyone who chipped in, it made no difference to DS but at least I got a half decent nights sleep instead of worrying.

Now just my health problems to sort out...should I be posting about that on MN or is it not allowed either?

JH I am so sorry you had to justify your reasons for posting on here. But I am so glad your lo is ok. Shame on all the negative posts.

Look after your lo and please post if you need to.

JH, glad you came back to let us know. And I'm glad he's ok. Little tinker, they always do that don't they!

As for the more miserable posts on here, as they say about bad behaviour, ignore, ignore, ignore.

jh glad to hear your lo is ok

Now I'm just hoping that the other 2 don't catch it

glad your lo got seen,glad you will chose NHS direct/gp as 1st call

as good as mn is,its remit does not extend to paediatric health,that is a GP/NHS call.that is the point i am emphasising

you have had previous harrowing experience and that is dreadful to have sought advice.placed trust in someone professional opinion to feel fobbed off.no wonder you feel aggrieved

cries of ignore ignore?ignore what?the glaringly obvious that anonymous strangers tap tapping on pc is no substitute for face to face assessment.you yourself state you will use GP/nhs direct

my motivating factor in posting is to maintain good reliable advice,and if required seek face to face assessment.as good as internet is it can consume valuable time

i would worry about anyone seeking internet opinion first before reliable evidence based opinion

Scottishmummy, I think you're overthinking this.

OP posted, got told to phone out of hours drs. OP reassured that she's not over-reacting, did so, sorted. She phoned within 10 minutes of her OP.

Where is the problem with that?

thanks for telling me what i am am over thinking.

i have a point to make and shall make it.

over thought or not

i am not particularly wishing to be drawn on specifics of OP .frequently,i am alarmed at content of some health thread's for previously stated reasons

Yes you can make your point.

But if you were a GP, do you choose one patient's appointment to make that point, or do you tackle a wider audience where it might be more acknowledged? I fear that's badly expressed, but I just wonder if one person's worried thread is the best place to make that point.

The individual OP feels attacked for having asked a question about her child's health, and she did get a sensible answer. I still don't know what the problem is with that.

has op said she feels attacked or are you surmising?

dont understand your example.

have made points i wanted to make.nothing further to add

She responded by telling georgimama to fuck off. Typical reaction of someone feeling attacked. I'm surmising obviously, she hasn't used the word attacked.

If you have a general point to make about several health threads on MN, perhaps make it in site stuff, or as a separate thread. Don't have a go at one poster when there are so many using MN for reassurance, which i think is legitimate. (I don't know if you personally had a go, Scottishmummy, I can't be bothered to go back and check)

I still maintain that JH wrote a reasonable OP. There are many like that. I hope MN can provide that source of support to parents who are worried about what to do next.

given you say you dont know what i wrote,dont apply conjecture or assumptions to my opnion

your willingness to infer or assume is lazy and really just negates any points you try make

want to take a stab at what i said- try reading it first

now i really am offksy

Personally I've always gone for the out of hours GP rather than A&E cos you get seen quicker which means you can start getting your child better quicker. At ours they give you a time to go so you are in and out. If you went to A&E you could be there all day. If the GP thinks they need to be admitted you bypass A&E and go straight up to the ward.

DS spent 2 weeks in the children's ward in February. I frequently heard the nurses saying they needed a paediatric doctor down in A&E deciding who really needed to come up to the ward cos the A&E doctors send almost all the children they see up for precaution even though most of them don't need it.

When I was there I heard a doctor on the ward ask a woman why she'd brought her baby in. She said oh well he's got a bit of a runny nose and his temperature is 38.5. I was The doctor didn't look very impressed!!

Another lady brought her daughter in cos she supposedly had some sort of rash. I know you have to be careful with rashes but this one looked virtually non-existent and the kid was bouncing around the room.

So even though doctors and nurses will always say to your face you did the right thing in bringing them in, secretly they are thinking why the fuck have you brought this child in they just have a virus/cold/slight temperature etc. It does certainly make you think twice about over-reacting and taking them to A&E.

I found that when I lived in London, our local hospital's a&e was beyond useless for children (and close to useless for adults for that matter). I would drive 45 minutes to the closes paediatric a&e and found that it was still quicker than going to our local and waiting 4 hours for a doctor who knew how to look in a newborn's ear for and ear infection (never mind that said child, ds, was limp and had 104 temp!). So going back to georgimamma, the OP was clearly intelligent and concerned and may well have had good reason to be wary of "taking her child to a&e." Pity that you felt the need to judge instead of being helpful.