Weird Symptoms in 4 Year Old

For the most part, none of us are diagnosticians... I'm glad you are taking her in to the doctor. Please let us know what they come up with.

I don't have any suggestions of what to ask. I would just be very thorough about how she has been acting and how long it's been going on. Also, you should clearly contrast it with the way she was before. It sounds like there is definitely something wrong, so if he tries to tell you it's no big deal, I would get a second opinion.

Does she have any bowel issues?
When my son was around 4 he always complained of fatigue and other vague symptoms, he was also anemic. Never had bowel or other digestive problems.

He continued to complain of these symptoms, doctors never found anything.
At age 13, I requested that the MD test for celiac - the blood test came back positive, he had an intestinal biopsy to confirm.

Celiac can cause bruising from a Vit K deficiency, B12 and iron deficiency anemia are also common in celiac.

Funny thing is that my son ate the same way that your daughter eats.

I am not saying that your daughter has celiac - I couldn't possibly guess a diagnosis. I am saying, it wouldn't hurt to get the celiac screening - it is just a blood test.

the pin point red dots and easy bruising make me think thrombocytopenia. When I was 24 I was diagnosed with it. Your platelet count is very low and therefore you can't form clots and bruise over simple things. I remember going for a job interview and looking down to find a handprint on my arms. It looked like someone had grabbed me, but it was from my crossing my arms and my other hand lightly touching the other. the pin point red dots are bruising right under the skin. Your other blood counts drop and therefore the fatigue and feeling crappy. Thrombocytopenia can be a cause by itself, or it could be a symptoms of some other underlying disease. I would ask the doctor to do a complete work up and lab tests, including checking out if her spleen is enlarged. Keep us updated.

Tell your Pediatrician, EVERYTHING you have noticed, in your daughter and what she's told you.
And tell the Doc everything you told us here.
And that some of the things you have noticed for 5... weeks already.
And the getting easily bruised for about 3 weeks.
And the fatigue, which is more than typical.

GOOD you are taking her to the Doctor.

You have very valid concerns and I am glad you are taking in her right away. For most kids, these symptoms all at once are coincidence, but for a few they can signal something more serious like childhood leukemia that benefits from immediate treatment.

However, even though I just threw that scary hypothetical out there, please don't stay up all night googling it (or other symptoms/diagnosis). Your appointment is very soon and a real professional opinion is better than anything you can scare yourself with tonight.

Get some rest, give yourself a pat on the back for knowing your daughter so well and doing the right thing by taking her in and please update so everyone can know how you both are doing.

No ideas, but please let us know what the outcome of the drs visit is, k?

Thinking bout you and your girl!

:)

It sounds like she eats pretty well. Nutritional deficiencies that are enough to severely affect people are actually pretty rare in this country, so that is unlikely to explain her fatigue. Get her some chewable vitamins, just to cover that base.

The amount of fatigue does sound unusual in someone so young. Just explain to the doctor everything you have told us, and make sure s/he doesn't dismiss it. If the doctor is not thorough, get a second opinion.

Let us know how it goes.

I'm wondering if her nose is stuffed she might not be sleeping well hence the lethargy??? That woudlnt explain ghte bruising though. but if she can't breathe she might be licking sort of as a consequence of mouth breathing.

i would also let the dr know if there are pets or smokers around her.
and how she sounds at night when she is breathing.

Anemia seems like it would cause all the symptoms described. Hope she feels better soon!

I want to second the suggestion below for a testing for Celiac disease. My youngest child has it, and it makes you feel "yucky" as a child might put it. She also seems to have a small amount of pica...likes to eat erasers, for example.

Many years ago, a friends daughter had similar sympotoms, and it turned out to be rheumatoid arthritis. The childhood kind.

Off the top of my head, I'd say some sort of vitamin/mineral deficiency and growth spurt/growing pains.
See what the doctor says but a chewable multivitamin would not hurt (we like Flintstones).

You might also ask about her adnoids. At the same age, my coworker's daughter had allergies that affected her adnoids so severely that it was causing sleep apnea. She had no idea until she took her daughter to the pediatrician because of behavioral problems at school. Turned out that the kid wasn't ever getting a good night's sleep, was exhausted and always felt crummy. Once her tonsils were removed, she was able to get sleep, felt better and behavior turned around too.

Also, be sure to be clear that you do not eat much meat or animal products in case the pediatrician wants to do a full blood panel for any deficiancies. I'm vegetarian, but my daughter is not. However, she doesn't eat much red meat or meat at home, so I have this same concern for my daughter.

Glad you're taking her to the doc. My first thought with the tired and bruises was anemia. Better safe than sorry. Hope all goes well.

It does sound like she has a deficiancy of something, iron, B, something. I'm sure the doc will know once you describe all this to her (we can hope).
Balanced diets arent that easy, our body requires a lot... most of us lack something now and then. It's hard when it's a child since you hate to see your little one being lethargic and you can't figure it out.

Wanted to add that with Celiac disease, the body isn't able to absorb nutrients correctly and therefore the body can be severely depleted in nutrients it needs to run efficiently (called malabsorption; not the same as malnutrition). A person can also have gluten intolerance, which is not an auto immune disease like Celiac but can also cause the body to be deprived of nutrients. And it's treated the same way, by avoiding all gluten/wheat/rye/barley/spelt/tricale/einkorn/anything made from wheat.

If it were my daughter, I would do two things. I would go see the allopathic Pediatrician and see if they are able to figure out your daughter's issues, since it is covered through health insurance. Regardless if they do--or don't--discover what is wrong with your daughter, I would ALSO take her to see a naturopathic doctor to make sure the diagnosis (if there is one) is correct AND that there are no other issues that are outstanding/were missed by allopathic testing. Naturopaths are trained to deal with nutrition, nutritional deficiencies, and a whole host of other things that western allopathic doctors aren't. Seriously.

There is a tremendous difference in what each doctor looks for and treats. I've been using alternative healthcare for the past four years now, and I rarely ever need to see an allopathic doctor. The naturopath has helped me treat the underlying problems/issues so that my body is now healthy.

The red dot/bruising thing. I also have that. Not the bruising, but the red dots. I usually get them on my legs, although I sometimes get them on my arms from scratching. There are two reasons I get them. One is that I am sun sensitive and get red dots before I suntan. It's always been that way for me. The other reason is because of lymph nodes becoming stagnant. I was told to dry brush from the feet to the neck, working the brush up toward the heart and then down toward the heart. This brushing will help loosen up and open up the stagnate lymph nodes. Once they're open and freely flowing, the red dots will go away. Truly. I know it works, because it works for me.

Good luck. And please keep us posted on an update.

I would guess anemia, but I am a faceless non-medical professional on the internet. I've suffered from anemia myself, and it's something we watch out for in our daughter because my husband has a genetic disorder that causes him to make and retain more iron than normal, so we don't eat red meat and stuff very often. I'm glad you're taking her to the doctor.

It could be a combination of allergies and anemia. Good luck tomorrow!

Children can only get vit A/retinol from the fat of animal meat, so there could be a deficiency going on, But i dont think that is the main problem here.
I do know from medical research that easy bruising is one sign of high cortisol. Leukemia, RA, celiacs, anemia, allergy, fatigue, unrefreshing sleep with a need to nap in the day, and excessive blood clotting all have a foundation in high cortisol and other high adrenal steroids. High cortisol can also cause migraines and eventual diabetes. I would ask them to do a blood cortisol test, and also check her blood sugar. Try to get her to eat more meat somehow. Pica can be a sign of an iron or other mineral deficiency. You should give her liquid vit B complex drops under her tounge, have her hold it for a minute, then swallow with a drink. it supports the nervous system, the sleep rythm, and hormone output.

the worst woudl be leukemia .. that causes fatigue and bruising.. could aslo be anemia..

the dr wil have to do tests..