Fever - how high do you let it go? - Page 2

[alegna]

Originally Posted by AllyRae

That depends on your child though. A child with no seizure history (febrile or otherwise) and has never had an averse reaction to a fever...most likely it's not dangerous. But there are a lot of kids where it *is* dangerous. And for very very young ones (under a year or so old) extremely high fevers can lead to a mess of problems, like brain injury. (And for pregnant women in the first trimester, high fevers can be dangerous to the unborn child as well).

So, it's not true that fevers are never dangerous. For some kids, most kids in fact, they are not. But until your child has a couple fevers, you won't know if your kid is one that it's safe to let the fevers go. It's all about knowing your child and balancing risk. There's danger in everything--you just have to konw your risk factors.

Seizures are worth considering. Though all I've read says febrile seizures are scary as heck but not dangerous.

If you have a link saying that fever is dangerous in infants, could you share please?

EVERYTHING I've read says that is not true.

-Angela

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by sprouthead

I need to jump in here with a question.. My son is 18 months and has a fever- 103 under the armpit. He's clearly uncomfortable- right now he's nursing and seems okay, sometimes he's inconsolably crying, and sometimes he's just whining. I did give him tylenol last night to try to help everyone sleep, and it didn't help much so i'm hesitant to give it again. for those of you who don't medicate, do you give anything else? when he's done nursing i'll see how he feels and i may try the bath.. i'm just nervous about what may be causing this..

I use homeopathy, but that's about it. That sounds alot like pulsatilla.

[bri276]

febrile seizures must be VERY frightening, and I truly hope I never witness one, but all the medical literature that I have read, from major health organizations, states that antipyretics like tylenol and advil will not prevent a febrile seizure.

[fechera]

I have a friend who is a respected physician in the community. She and her colleagues have a 'it'll get better or it'll get worse' philosophy. That means, that a normal fever, doing it's normal job (signal of body fighting infection) is not dangerous, and is, in fact, necessary in human beings. I've had numerous medical professionals (nurses on call, physicians) tell me to watch my child's response instead of the number on the thermometer. With young babies this can be difficult. If they are unresponsive or going into (or are prone) to seizures, it's best to get a second opinion (next to your own...as your's is the primary opinion). I never give Tylenol anymore. If DD is uncomfortable, I use non-medicinal methods to comfort her. If I suspected any dangerous infection (which usually come with other symptoms alongside fever), I would take her to her primary care provider.

[mamakay]

Originally Posted by bri276

febrile seizures must be VERY frightening, and I truly hope I never witness one, but all the medical literature that I have read, from major health organizations, states that antipyretics like tylenol and advil will not prevent a febrile seizure.

Yep. Weird, huh?

If I had a kid who was prone to febrile seizures, I might not be able to resist the urge to try anyway, though.

[3lilpunkins]

I read that fevers shouldn't be medicated. They are helping your body destroy germs and other invaders. Fevers also help antibiotics work better.
Glassy eyes are a side effect of fevers, that is not a sign of trouble in and of itself. even having convulsions from high fevers is a side effect, it does not cause brain damage in an otherwise healthy child. Fevers were known to be beneficial untill someone came up with fever reducing drugs, then, they are considered dangerous, and must be stopped.(just like how were supposed to believe chicken pox is deadly)If you must reduce a fever catnip tes baths or enemas are supposed to work.


Be aware though, In other countries, malnutrition is a leading cause of death from getting sick.
In america, the leading cause of children dying from being sick is lack of fever!

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by bri276

febrile seizures must be VERY frightening, and I truly hope I never witness one, but all the medical literature that I have read, from major health organizations, states that antipyretics like tylenol and advil will not prevent a febrile seizure.

That's what I always read. Something like the febrile seizure is caused not by how high the temp gets, but by how fast is rises/falls. So, theoretically, by the time you realize the kid has a fever the risk of a seizure is gone (more or less).

Of course, if my kid had seizures with fevers I might be more willing to medicate for them, I can't say for sure.

[peaceful_mama]

I medicate for symptoms.

Fevers are supposed to help the body work.

I just went to an absolutely fascinating talk by Mary Tocco about vaccines and she also talked about fevers and how they work.

I bought a book there by Robert Mendelso(h)?n that is all about natural remedies that work and guidelines on when to visit a doc.

both of those talked about how when you are running a fever, every degree higher that the fever is, the leukocytes in your body travel at double the speed to wherever the infection is to cure it.

Also, you know how when your fever gets up around 103, you start to feel like general crap? Food sounds disgusting. Your muscles hurt. All you want to do is lay around?

that's because your body is directing all nutrients to be stored in your spleen while it's working on starving out the bacteria that is making you sick. They also won't survive at that temperature.

then, you've probably seen, the fever comes down, the fatigue, muscle aches, all that go away and you want something to eat maybe. That's your body releasing the nutrients back into your bloodstream after the bacterial junk is gone.

Fascinating stuff.

I didn't medicate for fevers *before*...now I'm even more convinced.

also the R. M. book talks about typical illness-induced fevers will not reach a danger zone. 105 is about it. The only fevers he ever saw reach levels that are actually brain-damaging dangerous is in cases of heatstroke.

hmm that said, I'll still do cool baths and maybe medication for obvious discomfort. but not just because of a fever.

who knows, if they *only* have a fever, maybe by letting it run they get nothing else.

[purplepaisleymama]

I don't as a rule medicate for fever, I go by the way that they feel. The other day my ds wanted to go to sleep and was in tears about a headache, which was likely from being over-tired and he was cranky, I did give him a bit of meds to help him relax to go to sleep. I also gave him a remedy and within a short time he was feeling better and we were all happy that he wasn't crying anymore.
Most of my kids have had fever related seizures, the youngest having the most. He is followed by a ped neuro who has said that he is comfortable with whatever we feel is necessary, we are more concerned with him having seizures without fever and have not given meds to lower a fever in quite awhile, it doesn't make a difference for him, he will have one even without a high fever, it seems that if his body is distracted with illness he will just have a very off time and will be out of it.
I did give him tylenol on monday after he had surgery, he was exhausted and he actually complained about pain which is not at all like him, so I gave it hoping to let him sleep through the bulk of the pain and heal more. It worked and he didn't really get up until the next morning and has been back to normal, albeit with a sock on his hand to keep the bandages clean.

[chiromamma]

As high as it needs to. When our kids process something, we adjust them so their bodies can do what's appropriate without interference.
DS2 had febrile seizures from 19mos-5 years. They are generally harmless and there's nothing to do to prevent them. After every one, he made some kind of major developmental milestone like speaking, neuromuscular coordination, things like that. Obviously served some purpose
I threw out our thermometer when our oldest was about 2. I just was getting all fretful and annoying her for nothing.

[chiromamma]

Originally Posted by sprouthead

I need to jump in here with a question.. My son is 18 months and has a fever- 103 under the armpit. He's clearly uncomfortable- right now he's nursing and seems okay, sometimes he's inconsolably crying, and sometimes he's just whining. I did give him tylenol last night to try to help everyone sleep, and it didn't help much so i'm hesitant to give it again. for those of you who don't medicate, do you give anything else? when he's done nursing i'll see how he feels and i may try the bath.. i'm just nervous about what may be causing this..

Has he been vaccinated recently? If you choose vaccinations, never rule out an adverse reaction

[luv]

Originally Posted by AllyRae

And for very very young ones (under a year or so old) extremely high fevers can lead to a mess of problems, like brain injury.

When my uncle was under a year old he had an extended high grade fever due to meningitis. The end result was he never developed mentally past the age of two.

High fevers put me on alert.

My daughter just had her first fever last night. When it woke her (and I) up in the middle of the night at 102.8, I medicated. She was clearly very uncomfortable. I've been watching her closely since and it has continued to come down without further medication. If at any point her fever was 104 or above and did not respond to medication I'd be getting the doc on the phone. While I agree that most low~mid grade fevers are helping the body I do plan on medicating when she is clearly uncomfortable or the fever reaches 104~5(ish).

-luv

[alegna]

Originally Posted by luv

When my uncle was under a year old he had an extended high grade fever due to meningitis. The end result was he never developed mentally past the age of two.

So sorry about your uncle

But the damage was due to the meningitis, not the fever alone.

-Angela

[~Twighlight~]

Originally Posted by alegna

So sorry about your uncle

But the damage was due to the meningitis, not the fever alone.

-Angela

That is exactly what I was going to say. I am very sorry your family had to deal with this, but it wasn't a result of fever. The meningitis was the issue. Fever is an alert that the body is working. It will not damage in and of itself. I don't think that anyone on this thread has said to ignore a fever, just that if it's presenting on it's OWN it's best to let it do it's job. In your uncle's case, it wasn't presenting alone. I would be very suprised if anyone here said not to treat meningitis. We may have different ways of doing it, but I *think* we all would.

Again, I'm very sorry.

[ema-adama]

Gosh, it's been fantastic to read through all the replies

In DH's family (full of doctors and people who believe everything the doctor says) there is such a paranoia about fever.
When someone (anyone) is sick, the first thing that is asked is "do they have a fever?" and then 'How high" and then "is it responding to medication?"

Tepid baths and washclothes and herbal teas would be met with complete disbelief and mutterings of our child being abused.

So, I was wanting to hear other people's experiences just to feel a little more confident about not rushing to give a paracetamol suppository.

I am tempted to not use a thermometer and just go on how my child looks/feels.... but I don't see DH being comfortable with this - in the near future anyway. (we are working out our differences.... who ever thought it would be easy to share responsibility for your child's health when there are such differences in medical philosophy - but I digress)

I have read that febrile fevers, while very scary, do not cause convulsive disorders.

Anyway, for me it is still all theoretical. But thank you all for sharing :