Teenager Has Had a 103 Fever for 3 Days

More than likely, it's pneumonia. Wait for the X-rays. This is why they say not to pay much attention to the cold but directly afterward, if they spike a temp, that's when you see a doc. Bronchitis or pneumonia is the likely culprit. Antibiotics, rest, lots of fluids. He's going to be ok, mom, but it takes weeks to get rid of that cough.

Well, I am glad you took him to the Dr.

It could be many things... obviously his body if fighting some sort of infection.

Try to remain calm until you hear from the Dr. My train of thought when I am awaiting test results is.... no news is good news because if a Dr or lab found something that was bad and an emergency situation, they would contact me before the results were "due".

It's good a doctor has seen him.
It's a cold or a virus - maybe pneumonia - maybe not.
Might be mono - the tests should help figure out what it is (or what it's not).
It's most likely not appendicitis (not with a cough and phlem).
He's up to date on his tetanus shots and has no little cuts or scrapes?

I had mumps when I was 16 - talk about miserable! - my glands in my neck were swollen to the point where my skin was tight.
I can't tell you how glad I am that vaccines have made THAT disease much less common than it use to be.
It was horribly painful and miserable.

Does Tylenol or Advil bring the temp down for a little while?
I'd be more concerned if there was no bringing it down no matter what you did - and 103 is up there but it's not too high.
Our pediatrician didn't want us to call unless it was 104 or over.
It's only been 3 days and sometimes these things take longer to work themselves through.
Work on treating the symptoms.
For fever - Tylenol or Advil - rotate them if you want to.
For cough - Mucinex or some other expectorant
Put a humidifier in his room at night and he can take all the hot steamy showers he wants.
Keep him well hydrated - water, soup broth, tea.
Have him rest up - sleep as much as he wants.
He'll get through this!
At least he'll be over it early in the summer!

My son had similar symptoms with pneumonia. We received a breathing treatment machine and antibiotics, which helped, but it took about two weeks for him to recover. It is never fun to watch your kiddo suffer! I hope he feels better soon.

A fever is actually a good sign - the body's defenses are trying to work against the infection. Don't medicate it too much - let the body work. If he's miserable with aches and pains, then give something for that which will also reduce the fever.

Try lukewarm baths/showers - he'll hate it but it can bring down the body temp. The spitting up doesn't surprise me at all. There is probably a lot of postnasal drip, and that works its way into the stomach. If it's from coughing, then it's the congestion in the bronchial tubes and the lungs. If the test results are negative for strep, then they will tell you "it's viral" which means they don't know and can't do anything. My son had a vicious case of mono a few years ago, bad enough that it showed up on the first blood test. (A lot of cases don't show up on the basic office test but will on a second test.) But even so, it's viral.

My son was a healthy kid, strong athlete, and then was completely flattened by this mono - in fact, his spleen was so enlarged that we could see it protruding from his chest and the doctor told him not to wear a seatbelt in the car! His throat was so sore from coughing and the rest of the infection that he wasn't able to eat much, and then he declined further. The throat was so sore it was bleeding. Still, we were told to just push fluids and let him sleep and watch TV. Fortunately, his coach (and the head of phys. ed. and wellness for the school) told us about nutritional products that support hydration and immune system strengthening. Turned our kid around in just a few days. And we've all continued that nutrition since, with remarkable results. Your son's situation is probably complicated by the allergies which create a whole bunch of swelling and phlegm and drip and so on. I had those as well, and it always made my bronchitis worse. So things overlap.

So I'm saying not to panic, and that even if it is mono and some of the symptoms he doesn't have now do occur, there is plenty you can do about it that won't conflict with any medication he might be given. Mono, for example, has a whole bunch of possible symptoms, but not everyone has all of them at the same time. We had tons of allergy and upper respiratory problems for years (I had them my whole life) but were able to turn it around.

Since then I have trained and now work extensively with immune system issues, and I have seen a zillion cases like your son. It's normal to think, "Oh this is a healthy kid and he's been affected now by some horrible debilitating lurking illness that must be serious and they just aren't telling me or testing for it." More likely, he's been building towards this for a long time and it's the same thing pretty much everyone in the country has - reduced immunity! It can be addressed and I'd be happy to help you, but I think you don't need to panic. The question is, how long will it take his body to fight this on its own, and how long do you want to wait it out?

I think you are doing everything you possibly can to help your son. Sometimes these virus last longer than we want. As long as he has been in to see a doctor and testing this might just be a waiting process. :(
Make sure he is getting plenty of fluids! And keep in touch with the doctor! Good luck and hope your son feels better soon!
Hugs......

my daughter had a fever for 6 days.. I took her to kids after hours clinic (our dr was closed) her chest sounded clear.. but on xray they saw the very beginning of pneumonia... but only on the side view..

she got antibiotics and was fine in a few days..

could be strep, could be mono, could be a host of things like that. non life threatening things. a fever is the body's way of killing off bad germs. but I would go back for another dr visit if it doesn't come down. is he taking tylonal or anything like that?

Test results should be in today and you will have better information. Hope he is feeling better - Does he have some type of pneumonia or lung infection that is causing the fever? Good luck. Moms worry when kids are little and also when they are big!

Sound viral. Usually a viral infection has the high fever, whereas bacterial infections are more low grade. That's not always the case, but typical.
My daughter had something similar over the weekend. She had a high fever for a few days, felt ok for a few, and then had a slight backlash yesterday (headache, feeling bad, fatigue). She's back to normal today.
Hope he feels better soon.

Does not sound like strep...Strep does not come with that kind of a cough with phlegm....Sounds more like pneumonia or maybe bronchitis..Did the doctor do chest xrays? Might also be the flu where the fever could last 4 or 5 days (did doctor swab his nose? ---yucky, I know).
I hope he feels better soon....and take care of yourself too!

I'd be wanting a chest xray if I were you. How about having him spit his phlegm in a plastic cup and run it down to the doctor to have a lab test run on it?

Please make sure your son is drinking plenty of fluids, including those with electrolytes in them. It's really important that he doesn't become dehydrated. My son did from throwing up so much and the first thing the ER did was check his HEART. Evidently the sac around your heart is where being severely dehydrated hits hard.

I really WOULD get more help.

There's nothing to do until the tests come back. With the phlegm, it sounds pulmonary. Might be a mild pneumonia, when the tests come back, if it's bacterial, they can give antibiotics.

Sounds like he is in good hands and the doctor did what was necessary. Don't do any online searches and just wait to hear from the doctor. It sounds like something very treatable. I would suspect strep, pneumonia or perhaps mono (less likely). You can have those things without other symptoms. When my teenagers have spiked fevers like that it's been strep or pneumonia. I have a teenage son with asthma who is prone to pneumonia and he spikes a fever of 104-105 when he gets it. Good luck.