Does this sound like the flu (as in influenza)?

[Jennifer in MI]

Ugh. It's our turn. I think I need some hugs. I've been up all night for two nights with kids.

 

Ds12 - Tues night started running a fever. Wed through today it's been as high as 104.7. He was eating still on Wed and sitting up, so we didn't treat the fever. Wed night we gave Advil so he could sleep. Fever did not come down much - maybe 102? He woke up all night long coughing. Thurs. he had such a sore throat it hurt to eat. He did drink quite a bit of ice water though. Frozen blueberries were also a hit. Fever still at 104.7, but came down to 100 with Theraflu and stayed down until about 4 am when it spiked to 104.7 again. This morning he's coughing and coughing and coughing. Fever is gone thanks to Theraflu. We were up all night with him because he gets halucinations when the fever increases or decreases. It's VERY scary.

 

Ds8 - Wed morning he woke up with a fever of 101. Acted quite normal all day - ate, drank - was just a little slow. Didn't treat with anything until nighttime when he couldn't fall asleep. Fine all day yesterday until 8 pm when he spiked a fever of 104.3. This is my child who used to get seizures with fevers, so we treated him right away. The fever only came down to 102 all night long. He has body aches, fever, chills, sore throat and a really bad cough this morning.

 

We are going to the doctor at 12. Why did ds8's fever go away for 15 hours only to come back?

 

What can I do for them in the meantime? They are eating honey/lemonjuice, drinking lots of water, sleeping, taking osco(whatever that long homeopathic flu remedy is), etc. How do I keep the rest of us healthy?

[Marie in Oh]

sounds like it. It is at its height right now which is late. I think Tamiflu only works within the first 48 hours of onset. Otherwise, it is usually about a week down. Get some movies and pull out the couch.

 

Hugs to you. I've has 5 kids down with stomach bug-- waiting for the other 2 to fall.

[Jennifer in MI]

Thanks Marie. I guess I was hoping someone would pipe in and say that it just sounded like a different type of virus that's going around - but not the flu. The flu just sounds so scary.

 

The tv has been our best friend lately.

[MBM]

Yes, it sounds like the flu that we had at our house a week ago. My son went from very active to sluggish in a matter of hours.

 

Ds also had a high fever. To make life even more tiresome for dh and me, we were dealing with 30" episodes of sleepwalking. At one point ds was trying to run in bed! I think he might have clocked a seven-minute mile at one point, but I was the exhausted one.

 

No cough here, just sniffles. Ds is now almost 100% one week later.

 

I would guess that your son's fever is back because his body is using it to fight the fever?

 

Hope life is soon back to normal for you.

[mrsdrcook]

I've written numerous rxs for Tamiflu this week. This will lessen the symptoms and length of the illness. Your pediatrician can get this for the children if it has been less than 48 hours since beginning of the fever.

 

Mrs. Cook, FNP

[Jennifer in MI]

Thanks MBM and Laura.

 

MBM - I'm sorry to hear your ds was sick too. Sleepwalking is scary! I'm LOL about running a 7 minute mile! Ds was running around the house last night yelling,"I'm going to HELL!!!" He sounded absolutely terrified. This morning he doesn't remember any of it. This happens with every fever, unfortunately.

 

Laura - Funny - my sister is Laura Cook! Unfortunately, it's been more than 48 hours since the symptoms started. They just didn't seem sick "enough" for it to be the flu on that first day, so I didn't call. Oh well, we'll see what the doctor says and maybe get the rest of us on something.

[Only me]

DD (13) started complaining of a sore throat last weekend. Monday her throat was a little worse and she had a couple of bad dizzy spells. By Tuesday she was very lethargic, ached all over and had a fever and stomachache. The strange thing with her though is that her fever went away on Wednesday so I didn't call the doctor. Yesterday I decided to take her to the doctor because she still had the same symptoms minus a fever. I wanted to make sure that she didn't have strep.

 

The doctor said that she didn't have strep. He thinks that she has a nasty virus or possibly even influenza. At this point it is too late to give her anything to lesson the duration of the flu. She has very little appetite and hasn't had a regular meal since Sunday.

 

I feel bad for her because she is supposed to be in a bowling tournament tomorrow. Her bowling has improved so much and I really think that she has a chance of moving on to the next level. Your score is based on the average you had when you qualified for the competition back in November. Since this is her first year bowling her average was less than 80! Since we bought her a ball and it made a huge difference. A few weeks ago she bowled a 160. She almost never bowls under 100 now. She will have a huge handicap at the tournament and even if she bowls in the 120's she will have a great chance of moving on.

[Ria]

It does sound like the flu, but, on the other hand, my boss's dd recently started with a similar illness, but four days later she was better.

 

I'm glad you are going to the doctor. They can do a test and tell you for sure if this is flu or not. It's worth knowing. If it is flu, pay attention to the coughing and breathing. My son ended up with pneumonia.

 

I hope your kiddos feel better soon. Just plan to be in survival mode for a while...

 

Ria

[Sharon in SC]

Ugh. It's our turn. I think I need some hugs. I've been up all night for two nights with kids.

 

Ds12 - Tues night started running a fever. Wed through today it's been as high as 104.7. He was eating still on Wed and sitting up, so we didn't treat the fever. Wed night we gave Advil so he could sleep. Fever did not come down much - maybe 102? He woke up all night long coughing. Thurs. he had such a sore throat it hurt to eat. He did drink quite a bit of ice water though. Frozen blueberries were also a hit. Fever still at 104.7, but came down to 100 with Theraflu and stayed down until about 4 am when it spiked to 104.7 again. This morning he's coughing and coughing and coughing. Fever is gone thanks to Theraflu. We were up all night with him because he gets halucinations when the fever increases or decreases. It's VERY scary.

 

Ds8 - Wed morning he woke up with a fever of 101. Acted quite normal all day - ate, drank - was just a little slow. Didn't treat with anything until nighttime when he couldn't fall asleep. Fine all day yesterday until 8 pm when he spiked a fever of 104.3. This is my child who used to get seizures with fevers, so we treated him right away. The fever only came down to 102 all night long. He has body aches, fever, chills, sore throat and a really bad cough this morning.

 

We are going to the doctor at 12. Why did ds8's fever go away for 15 hours only to come back?

 

What can I do for them in the meantime? They are eating honey/lemonjuice, drinking lots of water, sleeping, taking osco(whatever that long homeopathic flu remedy is), etc. How do I keep the rest of us healthy?

 

It's a good thing you're going in no later than today. If it does turn out to be flu, they can prescribe an antiflu medication (dependent upon which type they have) to the kids and parents to minimize the course of their illness *and* hope to prevent you from getting it. Let us know what you learn!

 

As for home therapy - alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours, lots of fluids, and lots of rest.

[LizzyBee]

There is a virus going around in our area that causes symptoms very similar to the flu, but it's not the flu and lasts only about 4 days, except the cough which is lasting weeks for some people. I hope your boys feel better soon!

[Colleen]

All I can offer are cyber hugs. Sorry you're dealing with this! I am curious if it's influenza. On a side note, I wish we (myself) hadn't gotten in the habit of referring to gastroenteritis as "the flu". We say all the time, "I have the flu" or "She's getting the flu" ~ but of course it's not inFLUenza. On the other hand, saying, "I've got gastro" doesn't sound very nice, does it?;)

 

Anyway. Hang in there, friend. Hope you're all healthy soon.

[SapphireStitch]

All I can offer are cyber hugs. Sorry you're dealing with this! I am curious if it's influenza. On a side note, I wish we (myself) hadn't gotten in the habit of referring to gastroenteritis as "the flu". We say all the time, "I have the flu" or "She's getting the flu" ~ but of course it's not inFLUenza. On the other hand, saying, "I've got gastro" doesn't sound very nice, does it?;)

 

Anyway. Hang in there, friend. Hope you're all healthy soon.

 

Well, the medical types sometimes refer to it as a "GI virus". DH has a friend who told him his whole family had a GI virus. DH thought it was something to do with the military.:D

[maggiemay]

Just checking in. Was it the flu? We had similar symptoms and we went to the dr. today and it is the flu. Ds who is 9yo has the flu.

[Jennifer in MI]

DD (13) started complaining of a sore throat last weekend. Monday her throat was a little worse and she had a couple of bad dizzy spells.

The doctor said that she didn't have strep. He thinks that she has a nasty virus or possibly even influenza. At this point it is too late to give her anything to lesson the duration of the flu. She has very little appetite and hasn't had a regular meal since Sunday.

 

I feel bad for her because she is supposed to be in a bowling tournament tomorrow. Her bowling has improved so much and I really think that she has a chance of moving on to the next level. Your score is based on the average you had when you qualified for the competition back in November. Since this is her first year bowling her average was less than 80! Since we bought her a ball and it made a huge difference. A few weeks ago she bowled a 160. She almost never bowls under 100 now. She will have a huge handicap at the tournament and even if she bowls in the 120's she will have a great chance of moving on.

 

Oh man. I hope your dd feels better soon. I guess we're pretty lucky because we have nothing this weekend. So, we can focus on getting better. Let us know if your dd gets to bowl.

 

It does sound like the flu, but, on the other hand, my boss's dd recently started with a similar illness, but four days later she was better.

 

I'm glad you are going to the doctor. They can do a test and tell you for sure if this is flu or not. It's worth knowing. If it is flu, pay attention to the coughing and breathing. My son ended up with pneumonia.

 

I hope your kiddos feel better soon. Just plan to be in survival mode for a while...

 

Ria

 

Thanks Ria. We went and both boys have double ear infections and sinus infections. They were tested for strep and it was negative. My doc did not test for flu because he said the results wouldn't change how he treated the boys. (He does not prescribe Tamiflu because of the side effects.) Their coughs are not in their chests (yet!). He did feel because of the height of the fevers and the duration of the illness that it is bacterial and prescribed antibiotics. But, he told us to hold off until Sunday to give their bodies a chance to fight this first.

 

It's a good thing you're going in no later than today. If it does turn out to be flu, they can prescribe an antiflu medication (dependent upon which type they have) to the kids and parents to minimize the course of their illness *and* hope to prevent you from getting it. Let us know what you learn!

 

As for home therapy - alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours, lots of fluids, and lots of rest.

 

My doctor wouldn't prescribe the Tamiflu because of the side effects. He didn't say what and I didn't ask - it was a bit hectic as I had to take all the kids. Doc did say to do exactly as you said - alternate Tylenol and Motrin.

 

There is a virus going around in our area that causes symptoms very similar to the flu, but it's not the flu and lasts only about 4 days, except the cough which is lasting weeks for some people. I hope your boys feel better soon!

 

If this is what they have, they'll be done today!! Well, except for the cough - but I can handle a cough!!

 

All I can offer are cyber hugs. Sorry you're dealing with this! I am curious if it's influenza. On a side note, I wish we (myself) hadn't gotten in the habit of referring to gastroenteritis as "the flu". We say all the time, "I have the flu" or "She's getting the flu" ~ but of course it's not inFLUenza. On the other hand, saying, "I've got gastro" doesn't sound very nice, does it?;)

 

Anyway. Hang in there, friend. Hope you're all healthy soon.

 

Hi Colleen! Thanks for the well wishes! Yes, I did feel like I needed to clarify that the flu to which I was referring was influenza and not just a general feel carppy kind of thing. We've never had the real flu before (that I know of!).

 

I responded about the results to Ria. I just love my doctor!! He's such a "let the body heal itself" type of guy, but knows when to call in the big guns. So, while my kids are still running 105 degree fevers when the medicine wears off, I do feel better now that we went. One of my friends here has two children who ran 105 degree fevers for four days and then the fever decreased and lasted another 7 days!!! I sure hope this isn't what we have!!

 

Now, if we can only get the 12 yo to stop halucinating and having "night terrors" all night long! He does this when he gets fevers. He was up three times last night for 1/2 hour or so each time. My 8 yo has had seizures with high fevers before. So, he slept next to me last night. I woke up each time he twitched or shivered with the fever. I think I got about 2 hours of sleep.

 

I'm crossing my fingers that the other two children don't get this!!

 

Well, the medical types sometimes refer to it as a "GI virus". DH has a friend who told him his whole family had a GI virus. DH thought it was something to do with the military.:D

 

:lol:

 

Just checking in. Was it the flu? We had similar symptoms and we went to the dr. today and it is the flu. Ds who is 9yo has the flu.

 

 

Oh man. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this too! How long has your 9 yo been sick? What are they doing for him?

[Tree House Academy]

Sounds like some yucky flu. I think your dr was right to have you WAIT on the antibiotics. If it is the flu, they will start getting better by Sunday.

 

My only child who ever had the flu was my now 9 year old. He was 4 at the time and his fever was 104.9 for about 4 days and NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING really brought it down. He was miserable. The did the swab test and it WAS the flu - both A and B at the same time - and it was the very scary strand of one of them (the same year that kids were in the news all over the country dying from the flu). He was the sickest I have ever seen him and now we get our flu shots (well, the kids do) religiously because it scared me so much!

 

I hope your guys feel better soon and the others don't follow suite!