Would this worry you - high temperatures?

[Conundrumish]

I have noticed that when my son is ill, his temperatures tend to be high (39-40 degrees several times a day), comapared to his siblings who may reach that temperature a couple of times during the course of an illness, but often have temperatures around 38 degrees.

Would this worry you? I guess I'm wondering whether there is a problem with white blood cells.

PS: I know some people disagree with taking temperatures at all - but I do so as having given up the habit, I was immediately asked what temperature one of my children had been by the Dr

Do you know what his normal temp is?

DD has quite a high normal temp and so a high temp in her seems really high iyswim.

His normal temp is probably 35-36 degrees - so quite low.

No it wouldn't worry me. DS and DD2 regularly spiked 41 or held a 39/40 ish temp for hours even after drugs. BUT it depends on the child and whether it is comes with any other worrying signs, e.g. lethargy or shivering.

I don't think a high temperature in itself is necessarily a concern.

It does sometimes come with lethargy or shivering though Gomez. Today, for instance, he has been lying on the sofa for most of the day and only got up to briefly come on the PC. He is 6 and normally never sits still for very long. He usually shivers when he is very hot like that.

My DS usually has a slightly lower temp than his two sisters, but when he is ill his temp goes higher and often very quickly.

He gets bright red cheeks and is very lethargic and just sits on the sofa, won't eat and it's hard to even get him to drink.

I just put it down to being a bloke as they always get things worse than us women .

As it is your sons normal and very natural response to infection then no i wouldnt worry.
How old is he?

I am one of those people who do not check my childs temperature for the above reasons.

paracetamol for the uncomfortable symptoms of a high temperature, if any other symptoms then go to Drs.

Why do you come to the conclusion that he has problems with white blood cells? That is a very serious conclusion for a kid with a temperature, have you had a bad experience in the past or some thing?

I posted a while back about my son who has febrile convulsions - ie a fit with a very high temperature.

He also tends to run very high temperatures - 39/40 not unusual, and I think both are related to a problem controlling body temperature, which resolves as they get older. The thermostat is a bit dodgy, as it were!

Don't worry about fits as they grow out of that around 5 (DS is nearly 4), but he might just be less good at controlling temperature than his siblings. Shivering with a 39-40 temperature and being a bit out of it is pretty normal I think.

But I am not medically qualified and am sure a GP or nurser would be hapy to reassure you.

hope that helps

35 degrees is extremely low for a normal temperature - anything less than that is hypothermia, and at 35 degrees you can expect blue-grey skin and intense shivering. How are you measuring, if you don't mind me asking?

I am neurotic about temperatures because ds1 has had febrile seizures. I use an ear thermometer but if I feel it's giving odd results (because ds has been sleeping on that side, for example - this happened with db recently, and the thermometer read 41 degrees), I double check with a rectal digital thermometer.

Also, shivering is normal with a fever because the core temperature is so high, the external body feels very cold in comparison, so that's to be expected.

Thanks Captinhook. Yes, it does seem that he struggles to control his temperature.

Ifeelitall - we use a Braun ear thermometer. I should probably have said 35.5 rather than 35 degrees. With all our children it is unusual and usually a sign they are going down with something if they are 37, which is obviously usually classed as a normal temperature.