This is going to be long. If anybody has some real medical advice that may help me, please let me know! So my two year old has had a cold for the past couple days. No big deal, no high fever, just once or twice she had a temp of about 100. She's been sleeping good, eating good, no injuries, etc. Last night around 4am she woke up screaming and crying and grabbing her ear and head. Of course i immediately thought ear infection, so i got up, gave her some ibuprofen and water and laid back down with her to try to get her to sleep and i figured I'd take her top Dr later. Well over two hours went by, she wouldn't go back to sleep.. Just laid against my chest and screamed/cried every couple mins. By 6:30 am when my husband came home from work i decided it was time to take her to hospital. No indications whatsoever of ear infection, and Doctor was pretty sure it was meningitis, so we took lots of blood, ct scan, even a damn spinal tap, urine... Everything came back negative. Did a skull xray just in case. Negative. Checked her ears again. Nothing. But if i pick her up, move her, or if she picks her own head up she starts crying and grabs her head and ear and face. I'm at a complete loss now.. Of course i don't want anything to be wrong, but at the same time, i was hoping for SOME kind of positive result so we would know how to treat my baby. She is in so much pain, and nobody can tell me wth is going on. So she is being discharged as we speak, and i guess if it continues i will just bring her back. I know my daughter very well, and this is not like her, no matter how sick she may be, I've never seen her in a pain like that. TIA mommas...
**\also: they even did an abdominal ultrasound to rule out any blockages that may have been causing referred pain. Also negative. This is so frustrating.
We ended up staying the night in the childrens hospital... WBC was fine, they checked for mastoiditis yesterday when they did the CT scan, which was also negative. My daughter is almost 2, and normally the happiest, healthiest kid around. She isn't as bad as yesterday, but still in pain. Will probably do an MRI just in case once the Dr comes in. I'll update if or when we find anything out. Oh, and there was a small amount of fluid in her right ear, but its the left side of her head that she keeps grabbing in pain. I'm not so worried anymore, just confused.
Did they get a white count? Does it show infection? Is it just fluid behind the ear causing pain? They can give you drops to put in her ear to numb the pain. If it goes away, I'd say it fluid behind her ear.
It could be her mastoid bone beside her ear/jaw. A mastoiditis is painful.
She would have a high white count.
I would need a referral to a ear, nose and throat doctor.
I'm not a doctor. Just a mom, too.
Did you take her to a children's medical center or a regular ER? If she continues to have problems I would make sure to take her to a children's hospital. Sometimes ER docs have limited pediatric experience. You can ask for a copy of the labs and tests that have been done so they're not duplicating tests unnecessarily. So sorry your daughter is feeling so bad! Hang in there.
Blessings!
L.
The only advice I can offer is that YOU know your child. If your gut tells you something is wrong then follow that feeling and keep following up. Perhaps taking her to her regular doctor on Monday morning might help.
Good Luck,
M.
Just this year my 13 year old son was NOT feeling well. I took him to the Urgen Care because he had a fever of 102.2 - which is high for him and in all of his 13 years, it had never been that high...his pediatrician said to take him to urgent care...
They checked him over - couldn't find any reason for the fever...this was Wednesday. On Friday he was still not right...took him back to the pediatrician - he had a nasty ear infection...first in 10 years.
he was in pain. The Urgent Care checked his ears...couldn't find anything wrong...so I would say 24 to 48 hours? take her back if she's still not well.
I'm sorry your baby is not feeling well. It sucks when our kids hurt!
Did you look to see if maybe she is cutting her two year molars? Sometimes it can be pretty brutal, and it would make sense for her to be grabbing her eat area, but nothing showing up on tests. Her behavior seems to be a bit extreme for this, but it could be possible.
I also think they should give her an antibiotic just in case. You know when your child is in pain -- you may need to take her back tomorrow (or today) if this keeps up. Don't let them send you away until they've figured out what's wrong.
I hope your baby is feeling well soon. Keep us updated.
Did they give you any antibiotics just in case it was an ear infection? It sure sounds like it to me. Use a humidifier or vaporizer in her room at night to. It can help prevent ear infections when you have a cold. Our doctor told me that years ago. Take her back to the ER if she doesn't get better soon.
Ditto the thought on mastoiditis. I'm also wondering if they did a white blood cell count when they did the bloodwork -- that can unlock a whole lot of mysteries. Failing either of those possibilities -- is she up to date on her vaccinations, specifically the MMR? There's a resurgence of mumps, with so many vaccine refusenicks out there, and that can lead to inflammations in the areas you're describing.
Follow up with your pediatrician's office -- they may get a more targeted specialist referral there than from the ER. And good luck! Keep us posted!
ETA. Oh, any excessive salivation/drooling? I thought of epiglottitis, but the ER likely would've caught that pretty quick....
My grandson had ear infections one right after another and antibiotics didn't touch it. He went deaf.
His foster mom took him to an ENT doc and they decided to put tubes in. When the doc went inside his ear he found debris from all the ear infections he'd had. He took some time and cleaned out each inner ear. When he got done the tubes really helped AND kiddo could suddenly hear again.
Take kiddo to an ENT in the morning.
She woke up in the middle of the night. She was overtired, and this creates lots of crying. Also, depending on how old she is, if the doctors see nothing wrong, she could be playing sick. My son hurt his ankle, and he swore he couldn't walk on I t, that it was too painful, etc. Xrays showed nothing. He was really fine but got it in his head he wasn't. Young kids can do this, especially if mom overreacts.
Maybe just a bad headache. That's good that everything came back negative. Sinus infection is a real.possibility. Your face and head hurt like heck when sinuses are infected. Fluid behind eardrum but not infected causing pressure?
My first instinct is that she's getting lower molars and perhaps they are causing a problem coming in. The nerve travels from about the ear all the way down the lower jaw and pain sensitivity could be caused anywhere along there. Consider calling a dentist.
What about a toothache or cutting teeth ?
