Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

dd - yr 2 - ongoing illness & school abscence

6 replies

roundabout1 · 25/04/2012 13:27

My dd1 is 6 & since jan has been ill on & off, we haven't had any diagnosis but because of her picking every bug going & tiredness one gp did think it could be glandular fever or post viral fatigue. School have been good but she has been absent a lot, last term the only full week she did was the last week of term, most other weeks she did 3 or 4 days. She did two weeks of half days that worked well but both school & myself want her to be at school when she was well. She seemed to turna corner the last few weeks, has had more energy & hadn't been ill. At the weekend she had a rash - viral/heat type rash & mon morning her face was swollen, saw nurse practitioner who said it was a virus, since then she has been off school. She's complaining of the same symptoms previously, feeling sick, tired, limbs feeling heavy & is much worse in the morning & at night. It's hard as she is well for periods but tires quickly, her teacher seems to think she worries about feeling ill & makes herself feel worse & while I think this is true there is something definite behind all this as she's not just ill when it's school. The gp's I've seen are all unwilling to diagnose her but happy it's nothing serious however school would prefer to have a letter from the gp to explain the absences. I've asked one gp for a letter & he was spectacularly unhelpful & seemed to think it was all caused by worry. Sats are coming up so would you battle for a letter from a gp before school insist on one or just get her to school when well enough. Just worried as dd is bright but sets herself high standards, my missing school she is loosing confidence in her ability but when she's been in school & feeling unwell that seems to knock her confidence even more as she doesn't do as well at things as she normally does. Excuse the long waffly post!

OP posts:
margoandjerry · 25/04/2012 13:50

Has she had blood tests yet? You don't mention that but I would be insisting on the whole range right now. My DD (5) has just had them (FBC, liver and kidney function, various other ones that I can't remember) and is going back for the screen for glandular fever in a few weeks. Sounds like your GP needs to pull his/her finger out and yes a letter from the GP is a very reasonable request.

dixiechick1975 · 25/04/2012 13:55

Could you ask for a referral to a paediatrician?

It may help get to the bottom of the illness and show school it's not just the 'usual' childhood illness.

roundabout1 · 25/04/2012 14:13

margo - No - no blood tests yet, the best gp we've seen didn't agree to doing them on kids unless absolutely necessary & has monitored her weight to make sure she didn't loose any more & he also said for glandular fever it's not 100% reliable anyway.

dixiechick - I could ask for a referral. I'm feeling really fed up about it all tbh, obviously I feel really bad for dd but even getting a gp appointment is such hard work & two of them at our practice are hopeless & it's normally them that you can get to see. I really thought it was all improving but obviously this latest virus has set her back.

OP posts:
margoandjerry · 25/04/2012 15:08

roundabout, I think you should push for more. Of course my DD didn't enjoy her fasting blood tests but she did enjoy the chocolate croissant after! Yes you wouldn't do them willy nilly on a child but at this point better to rule out an underlying problem, I would think.

Perhaps it's time to just insist on your right to a second opinion and see someone helpful instead.

To put the other side of the story which is probably where your GPs are coming from, my DD has been poorly since December with endless viruses and just when she seemed to be getting better she started crying with tirednesss 2 hours after she got up and was as white as a sheet. At this point I requested blood tests because my mind was going into overdrive. I'm sure my GP thought it was somewhat unnecessary because it was more likely to be just bad luck but he agreed to send her for a full range of tests. She came back with a slightly low white blood cell count and slightly low iron but the low wbc could be the effect of the viruses rather than the cause and he was not at all worried (and he did manage to reassure me). But is sending her for a follow-up test in six weeks to make sure things are moving in the right direction. So he was probably right that the tests were unnecessary but I'd rather be where I am now than worrying which I was two weeks ago.

ninani · 25/04/2012 15:28

The first GP we spoke to about tiredeness sent us for blood tests which we did the same day and told us which hospital would do them for a child (not a walk-in centre which does over 12yo only). The second GP next week followed up by prescribing vitamins just in case. Do check iron levels and ferritin which shows iron stores in other body parts. And we hadn't even bothered the GP with many visits. It's a matter of lack with different GPs isn't it :(

roundabout1 · 27/04/2012 10:16

Thanks for your replies, I've tried answering on wed but couldn't post for some reason. Well yesterday morning decided to take dd to the doctors, dh was working from home so we both could go. Couldn't get to see a gp til monday but saw a different nurse practicioner, told the whole story again & we were sent for blood tests yesterday. DD was very brave (she is such a wimp!) & bribed with mcdonalds afterwards! It was a lot easier going with dh, he didn;t do much talking but I think it meant I didn;t get distracted from what I wanted to say. I normally have dd2 (22 mths ) with me too so obviously trying to keep her still too. So they are screening for glandular fever, checking iron count & white blood cells I think. The nurse did say it could be that she is going through a bad stage with bugs & infections & the bloods wouldn't show anything it didn't change how poorly she obviously is feeling. Mind you seeing a gp who thinks along the same lines may not be so easy! Thanks everyone, just got to wait & see now. Dd went off to school today in tears, she hates going back after having time off which is causing a viscious circle really. I have no doubt that she is feeling very low & poorly at times but also the being off causes her to worry about going abck & then has caused rifts in the friendships & relationships with her class too. Then school & one gp then question whether it's all psychosomatic & it's more likely to be caused by stress. Just hoping to get some answers,a lthough obviously I don;t want there to be anything wrong either.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page