Teenagers being unwell

[homemade]

Does anyone else have this experience? DS, nearly 14, has been growing steadily for the last 2 years. But for the last 3 months ds keeps being unwell and having to be off school. As far as I know there is nothing worrying him at school or elsewhere. This last week ds hasn't had particular symptoms of anything but has been in bed all week saying he feels ill, tired etc. etc. It isn't like ds at all. Any ideas?

I'd take him to the gp to get blood tests done. My friend was like this as a teenager and it turned out she had glandular fever or something like that which meant she was tired all the time.

GP if you think he is ill
School if the GP cannot find anything wrong

3 months suggests 'school' to me and the illness is so vague with him 'having to be off school'

What other activities has he 'had to' miss?

It's tough being a teen and they are reluctant to talk. The GP might weedle it out of him better if you stay out of the room (although I'd ring and express my concerns frst)

He has missed scouts and cycling activities.

He had blood tests done a couple of months ago and they were normal.

Time to speak to gp again maybe.

I'd be tempted to make him go to school then.

Thanks. Time for breakfast, I'll look again later

Back to GP. My DS's need for sleep went up by almost 30% between 12 and 14 and has now levelled off again.
Have you spoken to his teachers to check if they feel he's lethargic and switched-off in school?
Missing scouts and cycling indicates that he's not just avoiding school, there's other factors at work.

Whatever the cause he's missing out so I'd see your GP and explain the problem has continued :)

ok, thanks for that.

I wouldn't be letting him have time off school for anything other than D&V or broken limbs unless the GP has diagnosed an illness. He can't get the time back at school and must have missed out on so much.

As Goblinchild said, the need for sleep does go up around this time, but it's very difficult to get them to go to bed earlier rather than get up later, so good luck with that!

DD went through a stage of wanting to sleep all the time - she would literllay have to be hauled out of bed. Nothing wrong with her medically, just teenage sleep requirements.

No time of school here unless at death's door, I'm afraid. I wake up knackered myself every morning, still have to go to work.

That said, sit him down and ask if he is unhappy at school, and also call the pastoral workler at the school to make sure everything is OK. It could be low level bullying which is making him not want to go to school.

Update - spoken to school, teacher is concerned already and is going to have a chat with ds. GP has referred to paediatrician and requested another set of blood tests. [hsmile]
Thanks again.

Glucose Tolerance Test and google Type 1.5 (Slow Onset) Diabetes - my brother and my father both have this form of type 1 diabetes: in my brother's case the symptoms built up so gradually and it was before type 1.5 was recognised so Dr kept saying couldn't be/testing negative for TYpe 1 (which is rapid onset). Turns out that like his Dad, he was diabetic, but the delay had serious long term consequences . Luckily that was the 70's and things are so much better but it is still worth asking the question.