I'm a novice at this whole child/sick thing. I'd like to consider myself to be a reasonable person. I don't rush my child to the ER with a fever of 101. I don't freak out over a stuffy nose. But we've had three fever episodes recently that have me baffled. All right you veteran moms - I need affirmation that what we're dealing with is not crazy.
So MaryP in the last 4 months or so has had 3 episodes of high fevers with no other symptoms. Zero. Not a stuffy nose, sore throat, ear problems, cough, vomiting, nada. The first time it happened she was in the 103.something range, I gave her some tylenol and her fever jumped up to 104 - so yeah, we went to the ER. And they did all of those horrible tests and found - nothing. The fever lasted a few more days, and she did eventually get a cough/runny nose, so maybe that fever was a prelude to the cold. Fine, I can accept that.
Then a few weeks ago she spiked a high fever again - and I wondered if she had an ear infection - I could tell she didn't feel great, who does with a fever - so I took her in to the doctor. She checked out clean - no ear infection. Nothing wrong. That fever hovered between 102.5-104 for about 5 days. Two doctors visits (we had to go in a second time since it was persistent) confirmed that she was hunky-dory, minus the fever.
Yesterday Wood noticed she was acting sick so we took her temp - 103 and sent her off to bed with some motrin. He stayed home with her while I went to church. She was sleeping when I got home and woke up shortly after we finished dinner. She was burning up and shaking so we took her temperature again - 105.7 (rectal temp). Um, what?! So, off to the ER we go. And after a whole lot of waiting, some tylenol and motrin, and a catheter later we head home. No UTI. We did skip the chest X-ray since we'd already been there so long (don't get me started) and we were pretty (very) confident it wasn't pneumonia since she doesn't have any other symptoms. Zero. Nada. Zip. So it's the next day now. She is sleepy and not as energetic, but I wouldn't classify it as lethargic. Her fever is hovering between 101 (much, much better) with tylenol and motrin, and 103. I think for today we're just going to keep a close eye on her. This one also appears to be symptom-free (minus the aches and pains of the fever). I'd almost feel better if she got a runny nose or something like after the first one so that I'd have an idea of what is going on. I'm grateful that she is otherwise fine, but how do I know when to get worked up about it (ok, I'll get worked up about 105.7 every time) and when to say "hmmmmm....just another high fever."
Anyone? Thoughts?
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13 comments:
Yikes! I can't think of a time when any of my boys had a fever without any other symptom. I guess just keep a close eye on her - I wish I could be more help. Hope she feels better soon.
Trust your instincts. Sounds like you are doing everything right.. I just suggest to have her drink lots of water ( I usto mix half water and apple juice for boo). I will keep you guys in my prayers.
Sorry, late post and I'm blog stalking.
You might want to talk to your doctor about food intolerances.
Just a thought.
Oh Christine - That's not fun!!! I also don't really know what it could be. Sometimes they get fevers with teething but usually they are low grade. Perhaps have your doctor do some blood tests... Not to worry you, but Chase had some high fevers and they did strep tests etc.. negative. Then later a blood test found Mono. Also a friend's daughter who after a month of unexplained fevers had blood tests done and they found she had leukemia. I certainly don't think it's that but you may want to check.. I hope Mary P is up and around in no time.
Not fun.
I had two serious fevers about 18 months ago. The first was followed by pneumonia, the second by mono. I think the pneumonia weakened my immune system and made it easier for the mono to get in.
Definitely get the obvious culprits (ear infection, etc.) checked out every time she has a fever. It might not have been an ear infection last time, but it might be this time.
Any outbreaks of diseases that people generally get vaccines for in your area? Even if she's gotten the vaccine, she may not be immune to it (I think most of them have a 99% success rate, but if you're in the 1% and your neighbors aren't vaccinnated, it can be a problem).
You might also want to talk to other pediatricians other than the ones you've been seeing. I'm not saying yours is ignorant, but different doctors know different things.
Hope you find out what's going on.
By the way, if I remember correctly, the fever hit before other symptoms did. Don't discount pneumonia even though there are no obvious signs of it yet.
Keep us updated.
That's just nasty to have to worry about. I 2nd the notion to check into food intolerance. It's tedious, but try to keep a log of what she eats and when her symptoms spike. 3 of my family members have had mysterious illnesses this last year and keeping track of what they ate helped the doctors find out what was going on. Think the best, prepare for the worst, trust your instincts and follow promptings. Good luck!
We've been lucky (knock on wood) that we've very rarely had fevers over 100 with any of the kids. Definitely less than 10 times. And when they have had fevers, it's been with symptoms, so I'm not sure what to tell you. I'd keep doing what you're doing--checking with the doctors.
Keep looking for a cause as long as the fever is ongoing.
As far as treating the fever. My children responded to Motrin better. So that was first. If the fever was still high a couple hours later then I would alternate with Tylenol.
We had a fever episode like that with Abby, high fever, and just not energetic, but no other symptoms. I took her to the doctors after a couple of days and they said to wait a couple more days and see if she developed a rash on her upper body. Which she did. It's called Roseola (sp?). And the fever for several days, then once it breaks, a rash are the only symptoms. Just an idea.
When Sweetsa was having "asymptomatic fevers" it turned out she had UTIs. But it sounds like that was ruled out. You'll be in our prayers!dingsti
Wow! It is a good thing you are keeping tabs! You are not overreacting! I don't think my kids have ever had fevers that high! I really hope you find out what is going on because that is crazy! Of course we will keep her and your family in our prayers.
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