When is a temperature too high? Should I give Tamiflu

[johillier]

My DD has swine flu (or at least so I think) phoned helpline and they gave it to me but I have not given it to DD as am worried about side affects and am questioning the usefulness of it. He has a temp of 39.4, but seems not too bad, has eaten today and drunk ok and not been sick. He is always sick so amazed he is not. This why I don't want to give him tamiflu. Am worried it will make him sick and then it always takes me a good week to persuade him to eat again, not convinced its worth it. But then, when is a temperature too high and you just give him tamiflu?

Did the helpline give any advice re giving him/her (sorry you say dd but then refer to he) calpol and/or nurofen for the temperature as well as/instead of tamiflu.

Why not ring the helpline again?

Yes they said you could give the tamiflu with calpol in fact they suggested it, as it comes in capsule form, so they told me to break it open and dispense it into something nice tasting like Calpol ?! I guess I could phone helpline again but the guy I spoke to this morning told me he was 20yrs old and knew nothing medical! I don't know that tamiflu will reduce the temperture?! Anyway have probably left it too late now as he has been all day with temp and they say you need to give tamiflu within the first 24hrs so by the time he wakes up will be gone 24hrs....

Did you actually give him any calpol? afaik that (or better still nurofen) will be better for bringing temp down. I don't know much about tamiflu, sorry.

If the helpline was "unhelpful" (sounds like it was) and you have concerns re a young child with a very high temp, then in your position I would be ringing GP tbh.

yeah ring GP and take their advice, we had swine flu here and all had tamiflu, I had to take paracetamol and nurofen regularly for 10 days and am still taking it for aches and pains intermitently after 2 weeks. My girls recovered quickly with the tamiflu, calpol and nurofen with no side effects but can see it may not be ideal for you (the tamiflu) with her being prone to sickness. My eldest had a bad reaction to the SF with her breathing but is ok now, she had a flu induced wheeze and had a course of steroids and an inhaler for a week, she recovered great though, she's 4.

Hope she's better soon, have you a fan you could put in the room or open the window and make sure she's in light loose clothing like just a vest, try and get her to take plenty of fluids too although can be hard x

how old is your daughter?

American paediatrics website that tells you how old and how high

this site says too high and see your doctor if over 103 at over six months old

I think my little Monkey had it but he's getting over it himself. I wouldn't give him Tamiflu either, too many possible side effects for me to be happy with. He is more or less back to normal already, no drugs what-so-ever just his body getting on with what it does naturally when it would have the normal flu. He slept a lot, didn't eat a lot but had lots of water to drink. I also tried to keep him calm and cool.

I don't think my post helps it's just my 2 cents worth.

I hope your DD feels better soon.