Update 6/20 Any RNs or MDs? Please?

[Reese'smom]

My daughter is 22 months old and has been running an odd fever pattern the past few weeks. She was running a low grade fever (99.5) off and on throughout the day. I had her checked about a week and a half ago (she gets frequent ear infections) but the doctors said she was fine- probably had a little virus. Well now she's running a higher fever pattern (101+) but it's wierd. She will be running a fever, I'll give her Motrin, but then she doesn't run a fever for a long time after the Motrin has worn off, maybe 10 hours between fevers. Also, her legs feel scaly. No rash, just a very weird texture. She's not dehydrated, actually she has been drinking a lot more fluids lately. Any insight on what this fever pattern could mean? Should I take her in to see the doctor again? I dont want to go and nothing be wrong with her again. I checked her mouth to see if any new teeth were about to come in, but nothing. She doesn't have any more symptoms. she may be a bit more whiny than usual, but its hard to tell in an almost 2 year old! Any advice would be great. I googled scaly skin and fevers and the results freaked me out. Thanks in advance.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

My daughter is 22 months old and has been running an odd fever pattern the past few weeks. She was running a low grade fever (99.5) off and on throughout the day. I had her checked about a week and a half ago (she gets frequent ear infections) but the doctors said she was fine- probably had a little virus. Well now she's running a higher fever pattern (101+) but it's wierd. She will be running a fever, I'll give her Motrin, but then she doesn't run a fever for a long time after the Motrin has worn off, maybe 10 hours between fevers. Also, her legs feel scaly. No rash, just a very weird texture. She's not dehydrated, actually she has been drinking a lot more fluids lately. Any insight on what this fever pattern could mean? Should I take her in to see the doctor again? I dont want to go and nothing be wrong with her again. I checked her mouth to see if any new teeth were about to come in, but nothing. She doesn't have any more symptoms. she may be a bit more whiny than usual, but its hard to tell in an almost 2 year old! Any advice would be great. I googled scaly skin and fevers and the results freaked me out. Thanks in advance.

I don't know what the fever pattern means, but if she gets a lot of ear infections, it seems reasonable to get her some antibiotics and see if this gets rid of the fever (she might have some kind of bacterial infection the docs can't see). If not, her primary care MD might want to refer her to an Infectious Disease specialist. ("just a nurse," not a doctor here, but our hospital has pediatric rheumatology/infectious disease specialists and we see a lot of kids with fever of unknown origin).

 

[Beca]

I am not a dr. or an rn, but PLEASE don't freak yourself out too much!! I cannot tell you how many diseases I was convinced my dd had when she was little. We are SOOOO programmed to worry, but most often these things turn out to be nothing.

When my dd was little, she got TONS of ear infections (later we learned due to allergies where we lived), and she was always asymptomatic. The only way I would know she had them was that she would run a low-grade fever and she would not eat well.

One time, I took her in for those symptoms, and she was diagnosed with strep. I had NO idea her throat was hurting. They gave her antibiotics and we went on our way. A few days later, I took her to the food court at the mall, which was full of skylights. I looked down at my dd to see this frightening lacy-patterend rash on her arms and face. It was so bad, that people were keeping their distance. I had not seen this before we left the house. I also noticed that her skin seemed kind of scaly....it was weird. We loaded her up into the car and took her straight to her ped's office. He diagnosed her with Scarlet Fever. I freaked at the name (I thought that was what killed Beth March in Little Women), and he assured me that it was no big deal anymore....it just needs to run its course (about a week). He did warn me that the rash would appear brighter when I gave her a bath or let her in sunshine.

There are TONS of possibilities for this, and most are no big deal. I would certainly take her back to the dr., and just for safety, take some pics in case her skin looks normal by the time you get to the doc, but please try not to stress.

 

[golfgal]

Typically you will see odd fever patterns with viruses. The fever tends to be higher in the afternoon and evening then it does in the morning, which might explain the lower fever after 10 hours. The scaly skin could be eczema or another allergy. Also, an ear infection can pop up in no time. When DS16 was a year old we had him in to the dr in the morning for his 1 year check up and by that evening he developed a severe case of croup and ear infections in both ears. Just last week the same kid was home sick from school on Friday, took him to the dr to get tested for H1N1 so he could go back to school on Monday, they checked his ears, they were fine on Friday, wakes up Saturday morning with an ear infection.

A week with an unexplained fever would be a perfectly good reason to bring her back into the dr.

I am not a Dr or Rn, just a mom with kids and have seen many, many weird illnesses over the years.

 

[mickeyboat]

I would bring her to the doctor, but I suspect a virus, too. Does she have any kind of rash at all? DD9 had a strange fever pattern a few weeks ago, and I think it was Fifth Disease. She still gets a rash every once in a while when she gets hot and/or tired.

 

[Beca]

I would bring her to the doctor, but I suspect a virus, too. Does she have any kind of rash at all? DD9 had a strange fever pattern a few weeks ago, and I think it was Fifth Disease. She still gets a rash every once in a while when she gets hot and/or tired.

My dd had fifth's disease about 2 yrs ago. She didn't even seem to notice (thank goodness!). I just noticed the look like someone slapped her on her cheeks and got to checking. Of course, it was over Christmas break, and by Christmas eve all the adults in the house had it...and it was a VERY different disease. We all had fever, nausea, and the stupid associated arthritis that lasted over 2 months...I am SOO glad you can only get that virus once, 'cause once was DEFINITELY enough!!!

 

[Reese'smom]

Thanks everyone! I'm now thinking it's Strep Throat. She opened her mouth real wide tonight I saw 2 very red spots on the back of her throat. I will be taking her to the doctor. I thought strep was pretty uncommon in kids under 3, but oh well. Thanks again!

 

[mickeyboat]

My dd had fifth's disease about 2 yrs ago. She didn't even seem to notice (thank goodness!). I just noticed the look like someone slapped her on her cheeks and got to checking. Of course, it was over Christmas break, and by Christmas eve all the adults in the house had it...and it was a VERY different disease. We all had fever, nausea, and the stupid associated arthritis that lasted over 2 months...I am SOO glad you can only get that virus once, 'cause once was DEFINITELY enough!!!

DD had no symptoms other than the fever and rash - both a lacy rash on her arms and the slapped cheek look one day. She felt fine otherwise.

No one else in our house got it and I assume that the rest of us have already had it.

Thanks everyone! I'm now thinking it's Strep Throat. She opened her mouth real wide tonight I saw 2 very red spots on the back of her throat. I will be taking her to the doctor. I thought strep was pretty uncommon in kids under 3, but oh well. Thanks again!

Hope she is feeling better, soon.

 

[Beca]

Thanks everyone! I'm now thinking it's Strep Throat. She opened her mouth real wide tonight I saw 2 very red spots on the back of her throat. I will be taking her to the doctor. I thought strep was pretty uncommon in kids under 3, but oh well. Thanks again!

And, strep with a rash = Scarlet fever

Again...not a big stress. Get her on antibiotics for strep, and the rash will run its course.

I am glad you seem to be less stressed....little ones get LOTS of things!!!

 

[Reese'smom]

Update: I took her to the doctor so many times this week. On Tuesday they did a strep test and it came back negative. She was still running a fever yesterday and her throat looked bad still, so they told me to bring her in again. Then they sent us for bloodwork at the hospital. We were told to bring her back in today if she was still running a fever and she was, so back again we went. Basically they are thinking she may have mono or some other kind of nasty virus. They are testing her on Monday for a UTI (she would NOT cooperate today). Please pray for my little one. I dont think its anything too serious, but when doctors start talking about white blood cell counts, etc, it scares me. Her mono test has not come back yet, but they said they could tell from her bloodwork that something was going on. The levels were consistant with mono.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I always think of fever as a good thing. It means the body's reacting the way it's supposed to.

When my DD was little, I always knew when she had a viral illness because her legs would become mottled. I'd never seen that before, and nobody could really explain it (nor did anyone seem to care much ), but it just became one of those strange things about my own child that I learned to recognize.

She's 11 now and as a matter of fact, this past winter she, once again, had the same type thing (which started after a sleepover with a sick baby in the house; almost all of the older girls became sick) - unexplained fever (sometimes low grade; sometimes over 102) lasting several weeks with some odd rashes here and there (once, kind of angry looking, completely covering her trunk and the back of her neck which at first to me looked like measles ), sore throat, earache, etc. Several doctors visits where everything was tested and nothing turned up. There was also talk of possible mono, but eventually she was back to normal and that was the end of it. But it lasted quite a while.

These types of things happen sometimes. In some kids more than others (my son wasn't like this). As a parent, you learn to roll with it a little as time goes on. But it is scary when they're young.

BTW, strep throat is often characterized by exudate in the throat, ie white patches. My DD had many of those and when she did, she got a belly ache, not a sore throat. Go figure.

Hang in there.