High fever....teething?

[jingwen]

For the past 5 days my 11 mos ds has been spiking a fever of 102-103. During the day, he's seems happy but sometimes he seems unhappy and just sits.
No cold/flu symptoms. I took him in to his pedi 3 days ago and she said that he was negative for ear infection. She said that he could be getting a virus and symptoms should appear soon. If not, then they want to culture his blood and catheterize him.

Well 5 days has gone by and still no cold/flu symptoms and i really do not want to put him through the torture of the blood draw or catheter.

I really think he's teething bad because he is showing the usual teething signs, sticking fingers and anything in his mouth but the doc said his fever is too high for "just teething".

Has anyone's dc have anything similar to this or do you think it could be teething?

[Breathe]

Hey jingwen, I am a very cautious one when it comes to meds, drs, etc., but I agree that that is probably too high a fever to be just teething. Two times around 1 yr ds had high fevers like this with no symptoms, until later when he broke out in rashes. The first time the rash came on day 5, the second time, on day 3. Once was probably roseola, but I never heard if they can get this twice (it's viral). I know you hate to have him catheterized, so if they're wondering if it's a UTI, why don't you insist on a clean catch? (That's what they do for adults!) They'll tell you that there's no such thing as a "clean" catch, but it's a good place to start if you're really opposed to the catheter. And if you get a negative result on the clean catch, you KNOW it's not a UTI (a false positive is more likely).

I hope that fever subsides soon! If not, I would have it checked out. And in the meantime, are you giving him any echinacea or goldenseal to boost his immune system? Your health food store should have some for babies -- we alternate echinacea/elder syrup (15 drops, 2x/day) with echinacea/goldenseal (5 drops, 2x/day) when ds (18 mos) is sick. Mind you, I'm just a mom -- not an MD or ND, so take this as amateur advice, okay?

Good luck!

[jingwen]

Thanks Breathe!

I'm glad you told me about the clean catch. I'm sure they'll say it's not possible, but i'm sure willing to try!

At least tha'ts one less thing i have to put my ds through. Now if i can just get blood from him without poking him!

I'll try the echineacea and goldenseal....thanks!

[Breathe]

Just realized my first post was a little unclear -- the echinacea boosts the immune system , while the goldenseal is antibacterial and will help fight an infection. And when I say alternate, I mean on day 1, give the echinacea without goldenseal, then on day 2, the echinacea/goldenseal blend. Apparently you wouldn't want to give goldenseal two days in a row. Oh, and if you end up having to give him an antibiotic, do follow-up with a probiotic to help re-establish the good bacteria in his gut. (Mary Bove's Encyclopedia for Natural Healing for Infants and Children is an *excellent* resource for more info! I got my copy at the health food store.)

Good luck!