MY DD is still sick with a fever after the HIB vaccination - Page 3

[Lollicup]

Nothing. She had the flu. When is this thing going to be over? I fear it's never going to go away.

[KimberlyD0]

Originally Posted by Lollicup

Nothing. She had the flu. When is this thing going to be over? I fear it's never going to go away.

If she had the flu there is not really anything they can do. Just make sure she has enough fluids. If she starts to have diarea (can't spell sorry) Or 3vomits to the point where she become dehidrated thats when you would need to have her in the hospital if you can't keep it under control.

I have been in your shoes not so long ago. DD#2 was 3 months old and due for her vaccination, Because she had a minor fever (101) the doctors and I decided to hold them off a few week. Her fever was 104 by the end of the day. At first it was just a fever, and she was lathargic, she showed some signs of menengitis so they did a spinal tap it was horrible. Within about 2 hours my DD was unable to hold fluids down at all (no BM, and not pedialite) and had diarea. She was starting to quickly become dehydrated. Her fever then spiked up to 104.5 and she seizered, so they administered tylanol and mortrin at the same time to bring it down quickly. Which worked. Because of everything combined she was admited to the hospital and put on IV. She stayed there for 4 days when she was finally well enough to come home. The fever continued for 3 days at home before finally resolveing.

Its a really hard thing to go through to watch your LO be so sick. I wish I could say it gets easier but it doesn't. You just learn how to deal with it more. What you can do, even if its limited.

Hold on Mama your LO will be ok. Just keep a close eye on her and she will get better. Wish I could give you an exact number of days but there is no way to tell.

[FernG]

It's so hard to feel helpless. I know what you mean about wanting to medicate just to do something to try to make your LO feel better.

When my DD was sick and couldn't sleep well because of the congestion, she was crying or sitting perfectly still, which was scarier, with huge, miserable eyes begging me to help her feel better. We used vitamin C and vitamin D. We took steamy baths and used hot compresses (heat relieves my body aches from fever, so I treat DD the same way). We nursed as much as possible. I express some milk for DD. We used eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils in a diffuser. We used massage and chest percussion. We went for walks in the sunshine. We soaked in Epsom salts.

Doing something made me feel better - and these things helped DD. It was hard to not medicate her with antipyretics because I was going against everything my mother had taught me about treating diseases.

I resisted the urge to take DD's temperature because that would just drive me crazy. DH and I had committed to not medicating her unless she couldn't sleep and not calling the doctor unless she was truly lethargic after napping or dehydrated - not just tired and listless wanting to rest. We really believed that there was nothing our doctor could do to support DD's immune system in fighting a virus or mild bacterial infection.

[Yulia_R]

Originally Posted by Lollicup

Nothing has changed for the fever. Now she just lays around all day and her eyes are red and sad looking as if she is looking at us to make her feel better. I am really struggling with this. Is there something else wrong? It's been 5 freaking long days. When is this going to be over? I want my LO to feel her happy, silly self again! I've stopped giving Tylenol and only giving motrin when she needs i at night or when she's fevering over 104. I feel the urge to give her medicine when she is just laying there burning up. This sucks!!

Would you be concerned at this point? Shouldn't this have been gone?

I know the urge to give the medicine and "help" her to feel better. I was raised this way. So every time my kids are burning with fever I have to struggle with this issue.
If she haven't gotten a vaccine just prior that I would not be too concerned, I would just make sure to nurse her all the time, so she is fed and hydrated. But I would be concerned in your situation because she did receive a vaccine. It sounds like a nasty flu and her immune system is down/messed up due to the shot, so it can not handle the disease properly. I though am not sure if there is still anything you can do beyond nursing.

I'm so sorry, mama. I can only imagine how scary it is. I hope your lil one feels better soon (HUGS)

[CookAMH]

I read an interesting article once about how fevers can reverse the effects of a vaccine reaction - it's burning off the toxins and reaction in her body. I think I'd rather see that fever than have it all contained in her body and not know what could be going on inside. I'm not telling you what to do - it's just a thought. The article didn't say how long a fever would last.

[Valrock]

I hope your little one feels better soon.

I would urge you to do some research on vaccines before you decide to give her more.

[Yulia_R]

Originally Posted by Valrock

I would urge you to do some research on vaccines before you decide to give her more.

:

[naupakamama]

I just wanted to add that when my unvaxed DD had Roseola, she had a high fever for 4-5 days (I think it can be as long as 7) before it broke into a rash. Somehow, I knew in my gut that that is what it was and so I didn't worry about it. I did what you are doing, giving motrin only at night so that she could sleep.

Your baby is in the exact age range for Roseola. I am hoping and praying for you that that is all it is. What you are describing sounds exactly like what my DD went through.

[newmum35]

Oh I just came across that quote you had asked about, and I tried and couldn't find it the other day, but here it is:

(pg 138) The penchant of doctors to prescribe aspirin or other drugs for the reduction of fever, which many of them do routinely, is one that I find appalling. Every doctor learns during the preclinical years of medical school that for every degree of rise in temperature the rate of travel of the disease-fighting leukocytes in the bloodstrem is doubled. This process known as leucotaxis. I can't comprehend why a doctor would want to put the brakes on a mechanism that is striving to make his patient well.

Elsewhere in the book and if I find it I will quote, it says that in temperature over 104, viruses explode (not sure if this in reference to test tube or not). Therefore, when the temerpature fluctuates (and its normal to do so for the duraction of the illness) resist the urge to medicate at higher temperatures (he covers seizures in the book too - they are rare, and when they occur, they are not dangerous nor permanently harmful) - perhaps if this IS a virus, the higher temps will only kill it off faster.

Resist the temptation, except at night, if you feel she should be sleeping, and the temp. is keeping her from doing that. The number alone does not mean much. One can be very ill at a lower temp. illness, than another one with a higher temp, who is playing, etc. Her demeanor and other signs/symptoms are more important than the numbers on the thermometer. I think that link I had given earlier is a great one too - it states how the "healthiest" kids are the ones who were able to mount the HIGHest fevers (and worst rashes) and during epidemics like measles, THESE were the kids who survived! It killed off and discharged the virus through the body most effectively!

I can imagine how difficult this must be on day 5 - hopefully others with more experience will chime in. The book did say that medicating to reduce fever could actually be counterproductive or prolong the illness - I have no idea if thats whats happened or not but it does seem possible, being that every time her body tried to mount a fever to fight the disease, it was brought down again. Hooray for you for breastfeeding - it sounds like she is a healthy little girl, to be able to mount such a fever, despite all the medications- she will get through this. (Try to relax - it WON'T last forever!!)

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by newmum35

Oh I just came across that quote you had asked about, and I tried and couldn't find it the other day, but here it is:

What book is this?

[newmum35]

Sorry, it was the same book as quoted earlier. Should have been more specific:

Title: How to Raise a Healthy Child... in Spite of Your Doctor.
Author: Robert S. Mendelsohn, M.D.

[LindsayK]

Originally Posted by newmum35

Oh I just came across that quote you had asked about, and I tried and couldn't find it the other day, but here it is:


(pg 138) The penchant of doctors to prescribe aspirin or other drugs for the reduction of fever, which many of them do routinely, is one that I find appalling. Every doctor learns during the preclinical years of medical school that for every degree of rise in temperature the rate of travel of the disease-fighting leukocytes in the bloodstrem is doubled. This process known as leucotaxis.

I did a google search on "leucotaxis" and got only about 10 hits, and nothing helpful. Does anyone have any links which explain the process of leucotaxis? I'd love to have a better understanding of this, but the term seems almost unknown on the web.

[gcgirl]

Originally Posted by LindsayK

I did a google search on "leucotaxis" and got only about 10 hits, and nothing helpful. Does anyone have any links which explain the process of leucotaxis? I'd love to have a better understanding of this, but the term seems almost unknown on the web.

Try looking for "leukotaxis". With a "k".