5 y/o on day 5 of fever

[gwen's mom]

DD (5) has had a fever of 103-105 since Sunday with no other symptoms. We took her to the doctor on Wednesday where they did a strep test which came back negative. We are treating the fever with acetaminophen and ibuprofen. The fever will go down but then comes right back when the meds wear off. The doctor suggested that if the fevers weren’t better by Friday that we bring her back. When I called to ask about another appt. they said that since there hasn’t been any change in symptoms to wait until Monday when they will go ahead with blood work. The poor kid is miserable and I just don’t know what to do. Thoughts?

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

If shes miserable, i.e., uncomfortable, i would consider THAT another symptom. No advice, just I hope shes feeling better soon.

[thixle]

she needs a urinalysis, UTI's often present as just fever in little ones. 103-105 (according to Dr. Mendelson, the hippy mom's savior before Dr. Sears) is usually bacterial and quite dangerous.

I'd take her to the ER or urgent care if the ped won't see you!!! There is no excuse for the office to treat you like that. You are the customer, you have no loyalty to them. (I know I feel guilty when I think of leaving our ped practice-- but I haven't found better yet)

Anyway. I'd FREAK over a fever that high and DEMAND care.

[gwen's mom]

I want to clarify that it wasn't that the ped wouldn't see us. I questioned whether or not they would be doing any more testing if I brought her in today which is when they told me they would hold off on further testing until Monday.

Years ago our DD#1 had a UTI and peeing was absolute torture for her. Could it be a painless UTI?

[thixle]

Yep, she can have a somewhat painless, or achey feeling with a UTI. It doesn't have to be the full-blown peeing fire feeling.

To me, not testing=not being seen... it is still blowing off your concerns. What's the point in going if they say, oh, she has a fever and they do nothing? (I know I'm projecting a bit, I've had some not so fun times in a doc's office lately, lol) I know our ER will run every test they can think of, especially on the weekends, for the $$$ (if you are uninsured and poor, more so bc the state takes up the slack).

Here are my concerns--
viruses usually don't have fevers lasting more than 3 days
viruses usually don't cause such a high fever
fevers over 104 can cause brain damage
strep throat is not the only bacteria kids come in contact with
something is making your DD "miserable"
you feel like something is "off"
"The poor kid is miserable and I just don’t know what to do." has been my mantra for the past 6 months

[LynnS6]

I agree with everything thixle said, except:

Originally Posted by thixle

fevers over 104 can cause brain damage

It takes a fever over 106-107 to cause brain damage.

[omelette]

This has happened twice with my son. Once he was 6 days with a high fever and the next time he was 10 days. He was 2yrs and 3.5yrs at the time.
We did the same thing we kept going to the doc(our family doc and walk in clinic docs) having him checked and being sent home b/c no other symptoms were present. On the 6th and 10th day when we returned he was diagnosed with pneumonia both times.
I would continue to do what you are doing but continue getting her checked each day to see if symptoms change. The symptoms could change but they may not be visible to you such as UTI or pneumonia.
Hope she is feeling better soon.

[SunshineJ]

I'd take her to the ER. A fever can last up to 2-3 weeks with a virus actually, however, in those instances it tends to fluctuate - like only getting high in the afternoons, etc. If she still has a fever this long, then she's trying to fight something off and it doesn't sound like her body is winning. One concern I always have is when a body fights that hard and that long it weakens it overall and can open the door for other illnesses that it would normally be strong enough to fight off. Hope she gets better soon!

[One_Girl]

I think you should take her to the ER or an walk in clinic if you have a good one by you. Bladder infections can be painless and spread quickly so that would be something to definitely test for. They also may have more experience with this kind of situation so the tests you get may be better. I really regretted just seeing a doctor when my dd broke her arm because the people I talked to who went to the ER got much better care without having to wait for days to get it. I think the ER is better for emergency type things.