Cody has been in Lyme treatment for three months. He is 13, congential. We haven't really noticed any changes, but he has also missed some doses. Often he misses his morning doses because he refuses to eat then vomits his meds.
The last few days I have been extremely diligent about giving him his meds. Sunday I thought he was herxing. He climbed in bed with me that afternoon and just crashed. Now this is very unllike my very hyper ADHD child.
He got up for a bit and was right back in bed with me. His temp went from 99.8 to 103 in just an hour and a half. The only symptoms he has had are:
diarrhea Saturday sore throat Sunday extreme fatigue Sat, Sun, Mon backache Monday Occasional but deep sounding cough Mon
Today I took his temp, 102 as he is still sleeping. I can't send him to school even though they are having their annual Connecticut Mastery Tests and you aren't supposed to miss unless you are dying....luckily yesterday they had a snow day so that's one less day for him to make up.
My husband says not a herx, he has a viral illness. I would agree except I've never seeen him sleep like this with any illnees.
He is on Zithromax so he should be covered even if he has Bronchitis or Pneumonia.
Should I take him to the doctor?
What do you guys think?????
Posted by opus2828 (Member # 15407) on :
Sounds like a viral illness to me. Usually the fever will break within 3-5 days.
You could take him to the doc and they could do a nasal swab to check for flu. Also, a strep test to see if it is resistant to Zithromax.
They could also rule out pneumonia which can be viral or bacterial.
I usually take my kids to the doc if they've been running a fever for 3 days and not improving.
My daughter has been on Zithromax for a few months and has had a few viral illnesses that were gone in a few days.
Recently we have had a 5 day high fever that wasn't the flu - just a bad viral thing.
If he wants to sleep a lot, that usually means a viral illness. The fever can knock you out.
This doesn't sound like a herx but if you have upped his meds, perhaps part of these symptoms are a herx and the other part a viral illness? Just a thought.
I hope he feels better soon.
Posted by jkmom (Member # 14004) on :
It is always hard for me to decide if my daughter is herxing.
I have taken her to 3 different LLMD's and their advice is always to stop taking the medicine for a few days to see. I never like doing that because I hate for her to miss her meds if it isn't necessary.
In your son's case, since he has a fever, I would *guess* it is not a herx. I would call his LLMD for advice, though. I always call my daughter's LLMD before consulting with her PCP.
Even though he is on abx, he could still get a bacterial infection, if the meds are not at the right dose for that type of infection.
Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :
I called the pediatrician, they said it sounds just like a virus that is going around. He happens to be on Singulair for asthma, which I'm reading here is the best thing for a herx, anyway.
It does sound viral, thanks for all your advice. Maybe having the viral illness triggered a bit of a herx to go along with it.
Posted by SuZ-Q (Member # 5903) on :
Gosh Tracy, how are you handling all this with your PICC problems too? I feel terrible that your family has been going through so much lately.
I'm afraid I don't have any practical advice, but I am thinking of you and sending you and yours well wishes for speedy recoveries.
Let us know how you are doing. Did your LLMD get back to you about the clotting issue?
Take care, Suzy
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Sounds like Cody has a pretty nasty virus. Tons of kids in this area have been hit with it too. Starts with the diarrhea then goes into the more classic flu like symptoms with sore throat, cough, body aches, fatigue, fevers. The fevers can get pretty high and the symptoms are lasting over a week. The kids are testing negative for strep and neg for influenza types A and B. And they just look miserable.
Hang in there Tracy, you've got a lot on your plate right now. Hopefully no one else in your house will catch it.
Posted by Tracy9 (Member # 7521) on :
I agree Sammy, as the day progressed he began coughing and is all stuffed up. His fever is down; clearly a virus.
Blake is still reeling from getting his PICC line yesterday; and I never made it to the hospital today for my new heplock, so no IV Rocephin for me tonight....!
Hopefully I'll get there tomorrow. I started Coudmadin yesterday for my blood clot.