Feverish
We’ve been hanging around kids who’re either sick or recovering from something or other and it’s finally caught up with us, sigh! Layla’s been down with a viral fever since Sunday; we’re at six days and counting.
Initially I thought our usual routine would suffice, i.e. six-hourly doses of Dhamol over two, maybe three days, with temperature checks every hour (or two hours through the night — I set an alarm). By day 3 I realised we weren’t getting off easy this time: we were still pushing 40 degrees every time we eased up on medication. Took her to KKH for a blood test and was told we had nothing to worry about, to wait up till five days to see if it would quit on its own.
Since we were dealing with a prolonged high fever for the first time, I decided to try Ibuprofen, but was kinda alarmed when Layla’s temperature dropped below 36 degrees in the night. (Even got a 34.9 reading once(!), but that was probably due to the way I angled the ear thermometer).
Today we were back at KKH for another blood test and an X-ray, which again didn’t indicate anything was seriously wrong. We were told Layla’s probably developed a secondary bacteria infection, which sometimes happens during a viral fever because the kid’s immunity dips.
We got two bottles of antibiotics for the suspected bacterial infection. It comes in powder form and you’re supposed to mix it yourself with lukewarm water. I did and I got something that looked and smelt like orange-flavoured laundry detergent, so you can imagine the drama that’ll take place at home every day now, three times a day, for a week. Right now I’m attempting to drench it with Sunquick but it doesn’t kill the smell. Layla, to her credit, has had two full doses so far.
We learned a few things today, which I thought might be useful to share:
- If you give your kids Ibuprofen, you may see their temperatures dip below 36 degrees. That’s fine, but anything below 35 is cause for concern. (For us, we woke Layla up, gave her some warm milk and switched from aircon to fan.)
- High fevers on their own don’t cause brain damage, though a small percentage of kids between 6 months and 6 years may have seizures with high fever. Even so, these seizures usually don’t lead to brain damage. (This is from KKH’s fever management booklet.)
- I always thought you couldn’t give Dhamol (paracetamol) and Ibuprofen together. Turns out you can — if you’ve used paracetamol but your child’s fever is still above 39 degrees an hour later, you can give a dose of Ibuprofen to bring the fever down. (Also from KKH.)
- We’ve always checked Layla’s temperature 30mins after her med feeds, but the doc told us today to give it an hour instead.
- Technically, a fever is only considered “prolonged” when it persists beyond 14 days. (Hope we don’t get there!)
Try mixing the antibiotics with Vitagen which is also kinda thick and smells like detergent (to me!). (not yakult) It worked for a bit with Jamie previously. Take care and hope Layla gets well very very soon!
Thanks for the tip, will def try it tomorrow! *fingers crossed*
hope layla gets well soon… you too have to take care…
Thanks Pauline, she’s finally fever free! :o)
Hi woman, glad to hear that Layla’s on the mend; I didn’t know there were different kinds of fever, like viral fever for example. Old-fashioned folks like my mum always thought fevers were a good thing to fight off infections and she would swathe me even tighter to sweat all the ‘toxins’ out. Of course, long and lingering fevers aren’t good either.
Added info from WebMD: “A rectal or ear (tympanic membrane) temperature reading is 0.5 to 1°F (0.3 to 0.6°C) higher than an oral temperature reading. A temperature taken in the armpit is 0.5 to 1°F (0.3 to 0.6°C) lower than an oral temperature reading.”
Hope this helps when gauging her temperature in future. She’ll get well sooner than soon… lots of fluids too, and she’ll be well in no time at all. :) Take care!
Hey thanks!! Your mom’s right, but it’s still hard to not get jumpy over fevers!
Re. WebMD, does this mean that ear readings are more accurate?
hi evelyn, actually u can give paracetomol and ibuprofen together cos they work in different ways. for para – u can give every 4 hours. for ibuprofen – can give every 6 hrs. of course the dosage wil very with weight and age of child. have to check with doc on that.
the whole purpose is to allow u to play around with the med so u can control the fever,
for j, this is what i do.
eg. 12 noon – give para 4.5mil
2 hours later, if fever is high, i can at 2pm – give ibuprofen 5.5mil
2 hours later, if fever stil high, i can at 4pm – give para 4.5mil again becos it has been 4hrs since the last para dosage.
4hours later, if fever stil high, i can at 8pm – choose to give either para 4.5mil or ibuprofen 5.5ml cos of the time lag in both meds. can give either but dun give both becos u want to be able to have the choice to feed med 2 hours later if needed.
so assuming i give at 8pm – ibuprofen 5.5ml,
i can give at 10pm – para 4.5ml.
hope the above is clear in illustrating how u can use these two meds to control high fever for children.
of course, use mother’s instinct to know when must go to hospital.
Hi! Thanks so much for the tip — was just about to write you, so glad Jodie is fine, what a scary experience with the fall + vomiting! Would love to catch up, if you’re free (once we’re all well again of course.)
I try to medicate as little as possible; I only give paracetamol when her temp’s getting close to 39 (although our doc’s instructions are paracetamol for < 38.5 and ibuprofen for > 38.5). All this while, we’ve been able to manage fevers with 4/6/12hr doses of paracetamol, with fevers lasting 1-3days, which is why I haven’t needed the Ibuprofen till now. In this case it didn’t follow the regular pattern, so it really threw me off.
Re. hosp: We visit KKH out of convenience because it’s just 5mins away by cab and the wait (surprisingly) is shorter than at our PD’s. Cost-wise, they’re all equally expensive! But I’ve finally found a GP in the area that I like, and no crowds yet ‘coz it’s new and relatively hidden! We’ll be switching to him to save $$ from now.
definitely love to meet up. jodie sometimes talk abt layla and how long it’s been since we visited u :) i didn’t have to use iburofen until a few weeks back when jodie had a viral fever too and it was abt 39! i panicked cos i declined the pd’s offer to get the ibuprofen cos j’s fever is usually low-grade. fortunately i called the clinic and the nurse was very helpful in advising me. i bought the med from guardian and gave according to her instruction. thankfully by next morning, she was ok.
understand since u r so near KKH, u’ll naturally swing by there first. but the A&E is usually a horrendous wait! although i’ve only been there once – when jodie fell and cut her chin – and if u have read abt our experience, it was kinda “eye-popping” in a way. so i would say if its really emergency cases – the cannot wait types, i would recommend the private hospitals as a first stop.
i’ll msg u – likely a thurday evening is good for us. may pick j up from school at 4pm n take train to your side. u were mentioning the new shopping centre near your place? we could have early dinner there if u dun mind! take care!