This is definitely not just strep throat.... and how did he pop a blood vessel in his eye??

[StephandOwen]

I'll do this in a time-line to make it easier...

4am Monday- ds woke up with a 104 fever

8am Monday- fever up to 105, ds in obvious pain

11am Monday- took ds to the dr who did a rapid flu test (negative) and a rapid strep test (positive). All the doctors and nurses agreed that he looked and sounded like he had the flu. We did an antibiotic shot (ds has autism and doesn't take oral meds).

rest of the day Monday- ds pretty much slept the rest of the day, fever between 103 and 105

Tuesday- ds woke up vomiting on Tuesday and proceeded to vomit until around 1pm. Still has a fever around 102. He honestly looked absolutely horrible. He just wanted to lay down with a sheet/blanket over his eyes in a dark quiet room all day/night. He said his head hurt really bad and he couldn't even lift it off the pillow.

Wednesday- ds woke up with a broken blood vessel in his eye. No idea what happened overnight to cause that. His head still hurt, but he was able to move a little. No more vomiting, but he still has around a 100-101 fever.

Thursday- he slept until 11:30 today, still running around a 101 fever, looks horrible, says his head still hurts but not as bad, doesn't even want to move at all.

He's not really eaten anything this week. He started out drinking water but then said that tasted gross. So we moved onto orange juice where, after a couple cups, he says "it tastes like it has cotton in it" and won't drink that anymore. Now we've moved onto apple juice boxes. At least he's keeping hydrated now.

So, couple questions- this sounds like the flu, right? No way is this just strep (he's had strep before- it's been nothing like this). And wth is up with the broken blood vessel? I was sleeping right by him so I know he didn't fall out of bed or anything like that!

[GoBecGo]

It does sound like something other than strep - tbh when i read high fever, terrible headache, aversion to light i thought meningitis!  I would probably have called 999!  I guess he would be way sicker now though if it were that...?

Fever can cause an increase in blood pressure, which in turn can burst one of the delicate capilliaries in the eye.  Likewise the vomiting could have weakened one (from the straining) or even broken one, and it just leaked blood slowly all evening/night.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I was thinking the same thing as PP whne you said aversion to light and headache.  But you didnt mention anything about stiff neck or back or limp limbs, so I breathed easier.  Plus he seems to be on the mend (poor little guy!) 

Im wondering if he had a MIGRAINE ontop of the flu.  I thought you said the rapid flu test may have been a false negative.  Im thinking thats a sure bet by now.  Sounds like the flu for SURE. 

I know a few people who just woke up with broken blood vessels in the eye one day.  My mother is one of them.  I also believ the strain from vommitting can very possible cuase that too.  Also the strain of just being in pain (you tense up and dont even realize it)

Hope hes better soon!

[SuburbanHippie]

The popped blood vessel in the eye is most likely from vomiting.  It creates a lot of pressure.  My sister has popped capillaries in her eyes and her face from vomiting.  It looks scary, but it's not a big deal.

I have experienced strep symptoms like this before, but I would think that the antibiotic would have helped significantly by now.  Perhaps he does have a virus on top of the strep.

[StephandOwen]

Thanks! I don't know why I didn't put the blood vessel together with the vomiting, that makes sense!

Honestly, we were concerned about meningitis too. I did a lot of reading about it and found that most often with bacterial meningitis it comes on quickly (within a couple hours). With viral meningitis it usually comes on over a couple days. Since the fever started Sunday night/Monday morning and the light aversion/headache didn't start until Tuesday then I was a little bit more comfortable waiting to see what happened. Since there's no cure for viral meningitis (rest, fluids, etc) then there wasn't anything more we could do if it was that. If we really begged him to, he could move his neck. He just complained a lot about it because it hurt his head to move it.

A year or so ago ds was ill with a high fever and complained of his neck hurting and couldn't move it. We did freak out at that one and brought him to the ER. It turned out he had strep that time too. The sore neck and not being able to move it was because there were some lymph nodes in his neck that were incredibly swollen. Weird, huh?

And yes, the doctor now believes that the rapid flu test was probably a false negative based on his symptoms.

Today he is doing a bit better. He actually got out of bed and was walking around for a couple minutes (grabbing books off his bookshelf) before laying back down to read. This is the first time he's been able to read all week though so he must be feeling a bit better! He says his head still hurts but not as bad as earlier this week so that's a plus.

[GoBecGo]

I hope you didn't feel i was suggesting laxity on your part!  I just mean i would have panicked!  LOL.

It sounds like he's on the mend.  TBH we all had flu between Christmas and New Year and it was MISERABLE.  Really really bad.  So it definitely sounds like it to me!  Hope none of the rest of you get it!

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Go Owen GO!!!!!!  Nibble them cheeks for me if he can stand it.  teehee

[AllyRae]

The flu doesn't usually have vomiting--the flu that they test using the rapid flu test is a respiratory illness, meaning he would be coughing or showing other respiratory signs (especially with his pre-existing pulmunary issues).  The stomach flu (which is not the "flu" but a stomach virus) along with strep seems to be going around a lot here.  And I've seen a lot if miserable kids because of it lately. 

Poor Owen...I hope he gets better soon!

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

I meant the Flu contributed to his head ache, which could be so bad it made him vommit. 

Ive had one of those.  The slightest movement of my head or least amount of light was excruciating.  It also made me vommit.  Good times!

[maeby]

this is exactly what strep was like for me when i had it ages 17-19

 

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by AllyRae 

The flu doesn't usually have vomiting--the flu that they test using the rapid flu test is a respiratory illness, meaning he would be coughing or showing other respiratory signs (especially with his pre-existing pulmunary issues).  The stomach flu (which is not the "flu" but a stomach virus) along with strep seems to be going around a lot here.  And I've seen a lot if miserable kids because of it lately. 

Poor Owen...I hope he gets better soon!

Actually there can be vomiting with the flu (I'm not talking about the stomach bug, but the actual flu).

And, yup, of course he has the crappy nose and the cough to boot.

But it doesn't really matter what it's called because there's no difference between how we would be treating him (rest and fluids). Since the CDC says there are 9 possible flu symptoms and he has 8 of the 9 of them (he hasn't had diarrhea) then I think it's safe to assume he probably does have the flu.

[momcarez]

At least half the time I've ever known anyone to have strep, they were at least nauseous, if not, vomiting.  I had it and did so myself.  It's not completely uncommon for someone to get nauseous when the streptococcus bacteria is being swallowed, or the tonsils are not catching/filtering it.  Think about it, the bacteria can be swallowed and therefore enter the stomach!

[CarrieMF]

What you are describing has been going around here.  My middle dd had it over their march break.  She ran a fever from Fri night till Wed.  She didn't eat for 2 days & then I got her to eat some crackers.  She had a little gingerale.  She threw up twice.  She slept for 3 days & was very tired for about a week after.  When her fever started to break a little on the Monday she got a dry barky cough.  The days her fever was the highest she wanted a cold wet cloth on her head.  She said it made the headache not hurt as bad.

My youngest got a much less severe version of it. Her fever was about the same but was a few degrees lower.  We don't own a thermometer but I'd say hers was probably around the 100 & her sister was closer to 104.  My youngst didn't cough as bad, she threw up about the same, but never wanted a cold cloth or anything like that.  She was more tired than anything else, didn't want to do much of anything.  She started to get like that again this Tuesday but it only lasted 2 days.

A friend's dd had the same thing my oldest did but her fever lasted longer.  She got extremely tired again about a week after it went away.