Sick One Day, Fine the Next Then Sick Again Whats up with That?

Updated on September 04, 2015
T.D. asks from New York, NY
7 answers

my son brought sickness home from school. and i know this is normal. he had a sore throat, drainage and appeared to be having his usual allergy isues. then the low grade fever started and the snot changed colors. next day hes only got a cough and is acting normal.
its DD that i don't understand.
day 1: crabby.
day 2: 101.1 and took 2 naps and went to bed early, skipping dinner (the rest of the days meals were normal intake of food)
day 3: normal food intake, normal activities, no fever decent dinner.
day 4: crabby, complained of 3 different things hurting at 3 seperate times and so far has only drank 1/2 cup water and right now taking a nap on the couch. no fever (shes only been awake for 2.5 hrs)
i know something is up, she hasn't napped (unless sick) in a year and a half.

after day 3 i thought she was over the sick but after a day of being normal shes back to acting sick...
do you ladies think this could be lingering sick? a new sick? and what would you do? (i am a go to the drs when needed and dh is run to the er for a fever kind of guy so we never see eye to eye on that)

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More Answers

D.B.

answers from Boston on

Usually when the immune system is weakened, they are susceptible to new infections (viral or bacterial). But what also happens is they start to feel better, are so bored with sitting around, and jump back into full activities. They don't realize that healing is energy-consuming. So they really have to limit activities and go back slowly, and they have to sleep more - the naps are telling you that.

You don't need the ER. You may not even need the doctor at least after the initial diagnosis. A low grade fever is the sign that the body is working to fight the infection - not a reason to rush in to be seen. (Different if there's a possibility of strep or something bacterial that won't heal on its own.) In fact, it's not usually a good idea to medicate a fever unless it's above 101 or unless the kid is so uncomfortable (like aches from the flu). Just let it be - fluids, rest, sleep, repeat.

If she's not drinking water, find other options - popsicles, water-rich fruits like watermelon, soups, regular seltzer (plain or with flavor), etc.

But tell her that feeling "normal" doesn't mean she's done - limit the activities! She'll be ticked off but too bad. Her body is telling her she is run down. Get some movies, get out the board games, do a jigsaw puzzle - anything that's fun but which doesn't involve running around and which can be started/stopped when someone's tired.

3 moms found this helpful

S.C.

answers from Kansas City on

It's not that unusual. Possible she was starting to feel a bit better (they don't always display symptoms like we expect, she may not have been feeling as good as she was acting on day 3) but just wasn't quite ready to be up and about on a normal basis, so it came back worse the next day.

2 moms found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

it's pretty common. they start to get over the illness, perk up and get active, and the viruses or bacteria rally and take over again.
khairete
S.

1 mom found this helpful
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N.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Her body is fighting, losing a bit, fighting harder so she's very tired since our bodies have the most power to fight when we're asleep, and then she's better because the body fought and won then she's bad down because the germs mutated a bit and started a new battle but the body bounced back.

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M.G.

answers from Portland on

This used to happen with my little ones a lot.

She's likely fighting off the cold virus your son had. Mine would get fevers from the common cold - whether they developed it fully or not. Sometimes they would bounce back day after fever, but I'd still keep them home, get them to rest and lots of fluids. It would drag on longer if I didn't.

Good luck :)

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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

My instinct is to get bloodwork done for mono, as well as tick & mosquito-borne illness. Not so urgent as to merit ER, but a strong enough supposition that I'd make an appointment for the next open slot.

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E.B.

answers from Beaumont on

Lingering sick. I'd see a doctor before the weekend.

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