Seeking Opinions on Reoccuring High Fevers & Negative Tests

Hi A.,

(HUGS) I know, as I am sure every other mother knows, how hard it is when our kids are sick. One thing I have learned is that you know your child the best. Call it a Mother's Gut instinct, but if you are truly concerned, I'd go to another pediatrician. Get recommendations and if the doctor doesn't seem to be "listening" to you, find another one.

In my case, my kids seemed to get more illnesses after turning 3. I swear they would alternate between virus' and strep, so I never knew and had to take them in. Their fever temps would be higher, though the fever itself isn't dangerous persay, it's what it is fighting.

One other thing, when they swab for strep do they do the rapid test and then send it in for thorough analyzes? My kids have failed the rapid and sure enough I get a call a couple of days later with it being positive. Also, if the nurse isn't doing it correctly, she can miss or contaminate the swab causing it to be a negative.

Gosh, there are so many different things, just ultimately, you are the mother and if you feel that there might be more wrong, definitely have her checked out. I would suggest writing everything down (her symptoms, when they occur, what she was doing before, how long they last, etc.)

Good luck! Keep us posted!
K.

I would suggest getting a second opinion. There is definately something that is being overlooked. Your daughter should not run that high of a fever that often. It may be that she is allergic to something hence the sunken puffy eyes. But I would definately start screening for other things as well.

Keep getting her checked. You could also take her to an internal med. doctor. They will usually test for things that the pedi wont. They are also trained in areas that most pedis arent. I hope you figure it out and she gets better.

Fevers are the bodies natural defense to fight infections. Many times the body does not need antibiotics it will fight on its own and help to build up the immune system. If you give antibiotics to kids too offten their natural defenses weeken. I would ask your pedi to run a complete blood work up to rule out anything and hopefully it will turn out to be nothing other than her natural defenses kicking in.

A.,
I don't want to scare you but since her white blood cells are out of whack ask the doctor about lukemia. I have been reading up on it alot lately because my dad was just diagnosed and it said it happens to children alot. did they say anything about her red blood cells? I pray that she is allright.

Hi there we are going thru the same thing but my dughter is 1yr this month..about every 3 weeks we get high fever to 104ish no symptoms, been to all the emergency rooms and pedi has run all the test still nothing so very hard to think nothing is going on. so we are now going to an internal Dr by dell hospital but she wants us there when she is sick still have not made it there when she is sick so if yoiu find anything out please let me know too..thanks
B.

My daughter did the same thing. If you have cats or even kittens or if your daughter has been scratched by one she may have cat scratch fever. I would give my daughter antibotics and about 10 or so days after she was off them she would run fever again. And her white blood cell count would be off as well. This went on for several months. By the time my husband asked them to check her (it had been found on his side of the family) she had a bad infection. We were told that my daughter was a carrier,that it was brought on by the cat scratch, and that once she got it she would never get it again. It may not be cat scratch but it won't hurt to have her checked. They do a blood test. I hope this helps and best of luck and GOD BLESS.

DenieceC (Texas)

I would seek a second opnion with a different doctor. Our son was having runny noses that led to ear aches. Long story short and new doctor were getting tubes. Good luck. Sorry she isnt feeling well.

Similar thing happened to my 15 month old, high fever off and on for a month, it would come and last 2 days or so and then go away. Finally it was up to 104 and even though he didn't have chest congestion they did a chest x-ray and discovered he had pneumonia. He was given the right medicine and got better. The doctor told me that in little ones pneumonia doesn't always present itself in the usual ways. I would definitely seek answers. Hope your baby feels better.

Hi A.,,,,
i think for sure she needs more testing ,, ears nose throat ,,allerieges,,,,at least that will be a start get a referal to a good DR in your area

good luck L.

I would ask for her to be tested for viral meningitis, just to be on the safe side...Good luck!

I would definitely have more testing done! The same thing happened to a friend's daughter and her white blood cells were out of whack. She ended up having leukemia. I agree with Karen M. Don't waste time on a dr. that blows you off!!! Do what you can to get it figured out now in case it is something major.........although I hope it isn't! Good Luck

My sister ran a low grade fever off and on from birth and they never figured out what was wrong with her. They even did a spinal tap when her fever spiked up really high. When she was a teenager she contracted feringitis, which is a precurser to meningitis. She was extremely ill and nearly died. Maybe that's what she had as a baby, I don't know. But I hope that you find out what's wrong!

A.,
My daughter is 3 too has always ran fevers and no complaints. But this last time she looked every sick not even moving off the couch. I took her to the drs they could not find anything wrong. She was still running a fever off and on so 10 days later i toook her back. The dr said she does not look sick so whats the problem. She had very large glands so they tested her for mono and strep and she was positive for both. Get her tested for mono it just takes a blood test just to rule it out.

A.,
I agree with alot of the other responses, definitely keep trying to figure out what is causing the fevers. Good luck and God bless!
DC

My daughter started teething at three months which triggered fevers. Maybe that's it.

First, let's describe what fever is: it's your body's response to an unknown invader. That could be many different things, not just bacteria or a virus. If there are no other major symptoms, I suggest you research "yeast overgrowth" and see if any of these symptoms apply. I give my kids over the counter kids acidophyllis everyday and double up when they are on antibiotics, although they haven't had to take meds in over a year.With my 2 yr old, the first symptom of overgrowth is her stools are little round balls. Then red bottom (diaper rash), then clear runny nose, then lethargy, then fever. I've learned to treat her at the first symptom and she's hardly ever sick.
N. T.

Hi A., Have you asked the doctor to do blood work? I'm not sure exactly what kind of test, but just a general blood work. Maybe you might find the reason for her fevers. Even if your doctor tells you that she dont need it, insist on doing blood work. Some doctors just check general things such as ears,throat and give them antibiodics when they dont need it. Well wish you good luck and hope every thing works out for you and your daughter.

Get to a pediatric specialist. Get a referral. I don't know where the closest childrens' hospital is but the low grade fever and high white count are causes for concern. The higher fevers aren't unusual with viral infections though. You would hate to miss something though and if you have decent insurance, take advantage of it. Have an ENT check out ears too. Also you can just ask for a "complete blood panel." if your doc dismisses your concerns, go see someone else...a fresh perspective helps. But make sure you listen to the doc too... Ie if she says "I think it is just viral" is ok as opposed to "I don't know." good luck to you both. Don't feel you are being difficult it is your instinct, your child, and your right!

Hi A.,

My youngest daughter went through the same thing when she was about 3 or 4. We were very fourtunate to have a dr. that kept looking. It turned out she had mono. Her fever usually spiked more in the afternoon. It is one thing to look at.

A little about me:

I am a mother of two girls 7 and 9. They are my pride and joy.

A., I do not think you are over reacting at all. Those are high enough temps that do not seem to go away. I agree with you, I would probably look into it more also. Sometimes docs can make people feel like they are being paranoid, but listen to your instincts.

Hi A., I would definitely be persistant about this. Don't let everyone's comments worry you but do check it out. Fevers don't just happen for no reason. A friend's son has had recurrant fevers (doctors couldn't find anything wrong and always said he was fighting a minor virus). He's almost 5 and they stopped about a year ago. They stopped when she took him to a doctor named Dr. Kendall Stewart (he's off of Bee Caves). He tests for everything under the sun!!! I forget what the outcome was but he put him on something to boost the immune system and he's been fine every since. My son goes to him for something completely different (sensory processing issues and overall bad health...he was sick every 2 weeks; I'm not exaggerating) and he has done a 180 in the last 6 months. Dr. Stewart discovered he's VERY deficient in his B vitamin among other things. He is a former neurosurgen. His primary focus now is the immune system and the result of weakend immune problems. He's good at figuring out what's going on with the immune system. Sounds like you have a lot of other good ideas here too. My point, find a doctor who will really look into this carefully.

Sometimes kids can have a fever with no sore throat and their strep come out negative. My daughter was like this. The only other sign was slight fatigue. When she was young, she enjoyed staying in and reading rather than going out to play, so it was hard to see that. The only way we found out it was strep was by taking her back in three days since she was still under the weather. Then it was positive. Also, since she was my youngest, I kept comparing her to my son, who would get the fever, sore throat and all the typical signs. So, it was hard for me to see that she was really ill. Her fever was never too high either. It's tough to handle being able to care for our kids when they are ill and we have no idea what is going on, but just stay on top of it. It will go away or it will be figured out in no time.

Two of my four daughters had what doctor's referred to as "fevers of unknown origin." They could be busy playing and take a break to tell me their head hurt and they would be running a temp of 102. They would lay around not feeling well for 24 hours or less and then it would be gone. They would look feverish and ill but have no other symptoms. They are both adults now and grew out of this condition years ago....certainly by the time they entered their teens. My niece's son was tested for everything under the sun as well because he was running occasional fevers with no other symptoms. I told her about his cousins and she relaxed a great deal knowing that there wasn't any serious malady that the doctors couldn't find. I hate to minimize your daughter's condition since it could be something entirely different but this appeared to be something that was somehow in our family genes.
P. Cascio
Morningside Nannies

I guess I will keep beating this horse, so here it is. Everyone should have an allergy test profile done ASAP. If she is allergic to some environmental thing or foods or food stuffs then it is in the better interest of her overall health to know what these are and act from that point of view. Different people respond differently to allergies. Not all are skin rashes or itchy eyes. It can irritate your digestive system, give you headaches and other joint aches mimicking arthritis, cause acne, fevers, personality issues, lethargy, chronic sinus and lungs problems, inflammed lymphatic system, asthma, decreased immunity, ear infections, even long term development of soft tissue cell tumors in the sinuses and brain, and I am sure others. All children should be checked as early as possible and rechecked every several years because allergies can be gained and lost over time.
I am sure if an allergy test were to show that she was allergic to dairy or yeast or eggs or whatever then you wouldn't feed her those items. But if you simply don't know then how can you make the better decision?
Write down everything that changes in your home. Different dish or clothing soap, carpet spray, candle scents, bug spray, pets and all associated, kitty litter, pet food, hair care products, any aerosols including deoderant, outside extermination, lawn fertilizer, paint, new toys, teflon coated pans, plastic ware in the kitchen, etc. etc. etc. The list could seem endless. But I would log anything that is different and compare it to her episodes.
Good luck and God Bless