DD has strep but with some strange symptoms

[CEDmom]

Yesterday morning DD complained of a stomach ache but was otherwise fine so I packed her off to pre-K with a note to her teacher to call me if she got worse. She had an ok day. Last night she complained about her stomach and also said her throat hurt a little. She woke up in the middle of the night with a stomach ache and had an elevated temp this morning. I took her into the doctor today where she only complained about her stomach. Turns out she has a really bad case of strep throat. Our doctor said a stomach ache is actually a common symtom in small children. I didn't know that so I thought I pass in on in case others didn't know either. I also called her school since a lot of kids have been out this week with stomach aches.

She'll be fine in a few days and is curled up on the couch with a video having just eaten an ice pop.

 

[ez]

just curious, did the doctor do a culture (strep test or whatever) or just look at it? The reason I'm asking is, our dr. put dd on antibiotics for strep throat a few weeks ago without doing a strep test. She got immediately better from the meds, but I still wondered if it had been viral. I wondered, that is, till I got strep a few days later! I've just noticed not all docs will do a throat culture. My old doctor would have NEVER prescribed antibiotics without doing an actual test.

 

[LindaR]

I can tell you that sometimes, if the strep is obvious, they do not do a strep test. When you have symptoms and they look at your throat and don't see the obviouse white pus spots, they will swab you. If they look and see the gook, they usually save you the money!

 

[BedKnobbery2]

Yep, happened to my boys when they were younger. Both had tummy aches and couldn't keep anything down....when they started complaining of sore throats, I attributed it to the throwing up. Boy, was I surprised when the Doc said Strep!!

Here's another weird thing about Strep...did you know dogs can carry the bacteria for it (but it doesn't affect them)? That same winter, after the THIRD time of all 3 of us being in the doctor's office with strep, the doc asked if we had a dog. I said yes, thinking it was small talk....she suggested that our dog was re-infecting us, and to get ABs from the vet. I'd never heard of such a thing! We did as she suggested, though, and none of us have had strep since. Go figure!

Hope your little one is feeling better soon!

 

[CEDmom]

Originally posted by ez
just curious, did the doctor do a culture (strep test or whatever) or just look at it? The reason I'm asking is, our dr. put dd on antibiotics for strep throat a few weeks ago without doing a strep test. She got immediately better from the meds, but I still wondered if it had been viral. I wondered, that is, till I got strep a few days later! I've just noticed not all docs will do a throat culture. My old doctor would have NEVER prescribed antibiotics without doing an actual test.

Our DR did do one of those quick 10 min cultures. It only took about 3 minutes for DD's to read positive. Our DR also wouldn't prescribe antibiotics w/o doing a culture.

 

[Jeafl]

Strangely enough, my kids have had the same problem with stomachache problems for strep.

One time we were down at WDW when my then 4 yr. old. dd. broke out in a strange sandpaper-like rash on her back. We took her to the Immediate Care Center down there and it took them a long time to figure out that it was strep. She had no fever or sore throat either.

Also, my son had strep with no other symptoms than enlarged lymph nodes in his neck. No fever or sore throat there either. It hits kids in many different ways I guess.

 

[Piglet]

My 7yo DD has had vomiting and stomach ache with strep throat. She also had a very itchy rash all over another time she had strep.

Melinda

 

[Cruise04]

One year I took my daughter to the doc for bronchitis - she had this absolutely horrible cough and her lungs even sounded rattly but no fever. Got there and the doc asked if she had strep and I said I didn't think so. He did a test and low and behold it was strep. And her lungs were clear!

 

[princess lovers mom]

just to add my 2 cents.....you should ALWAYS have a strep culture done for a sore throat..and if the rapid is negative there should be a backup that is sent to the lab for confirmation....

...white gunk in the throat does not always mean strep and quite often actually is viral....infection of the tonsils by Group A strep needs to be treated because if left untreated can rarely cause rheumatic fever....viral infections of the throat will resolve in time with NO INTERVENTION!!!!!!

 

[MScott1851]

In both my experience as a twice a year strep-getter in my younger days, and with the children I take care of, upset tummies are very common. However, all children are different. Whenever I had strep throat, I usually ended up in the hospital from dehydration because I constantly vomited (I'm still a world-class puker, even as an adult, but that's another story), while my brother would NEVER throw up. I remember it used to amaze me when my patient's strep screens would come back positive and they were sitting in the treatment room eating cheetos, because all I associate strep with is lying on the couch burning up using "the big orange puke bowl" because I couldn't crawl to the bathroom quickly enough!

So hugs and kisses to your little peanut, I know they feel awful. It's amazing what popsicles and phenergan suppositories will do, though...Ask your doctor!

 

[Feralpeg]

My DD wrote the book on strep. She had strep repeatedly until she had her tonsils removed at age 5. I always knew that she was coming down with strep because she would develop a stomach ache. She would often vomit. She rarely complained about a sore throat.