Strep Throat and Fever Will Not Go Away

Updated on December 14, 2012
A.R. asks from Houston, TX
18 answers

My 8 year old daughter was diagnosed yesterday with strep throat. She's had the fever for a few days and I actually thought she just had the flu because she has a stuffy nose also. She started the azithromycin yesterday and actually woke up this morning acting like she felt a little better and her fever broke. A few hours later her fever came back and it's now 102. I gave her the second dose about 2 hours ago. She's had to miss school everyday this week. How long should I wait before calling the doctor? She's never had strep throat before so I don't know how long this takes. The fever really has me worried. Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thanks everyone! I knew I could count on everyone on here to help ease my worries! Like I said, this was the first time I've ever dealt with strep and just knew that the kids in her class who get it are always back in 24 hours. Plus, she had a nasty cold on top of it. Her fever did go down after 3 days and she is getting over her cold. I freak out a bit over things like this now because she has other health problems going on that I can't seem to get any answers for from the doctors!

Thanks again!

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P.K.

answers from New York on

Fever stays for a few days. Just keep giving her medicine. It does not go away overnight. Don't worry about school now.

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L.N.

answers from New York on

oy, strep. i dread that word.
once it enters the house, at least to me, it seems it takes forever to kick it out.
strep causes very high fevers (in my kids' case over 105F, and chills). it takes three days of antibiotics for them to show improvement.

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D..

answers from Miami on

She needs at least 3 days of antibiotics for it to kick in. And then she must finish the entire dosage to make the antibiotics really go away, mom. I'm not sure why you think she should be better yet. She's still contagious even. You should be patient and give the medicine time to work. Keep her home and make sure she gets plenty of rest (including sleep) to help her body fight this thing. Not only does she need 24 hours on the medicine, by the way, for her to be around other people, she also needs to be fever free for 24 hours to be able to go back to school. Don't send her to school if she hasn't been fever free for 24 hours. It's really important.

Good luck!

Dawn

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

It can take several days for her to start feeling better and the fever to break especially since it wasn't caught right away. My kids have had strep several times so this would not concern me at all but if you are concerned call your doctor's office so they can reassure you it often takes a few days for the medicine to work. (Did they tell you to replace your daughters's toothbrush? I think it is after 3 days of the antibiotic)

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J.V.

answers from Las Vegas on

Strep throat takes a little while to go away. After about a day or so on the meds she should be able to go back to school. That's if she is feeling up to it. As far as the fever that's her bodies way of fighting off strep throat.

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S.L.

answers from Kansas City on

Here is a link from webmd.
http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/tc/strep-throat-home-tre...
You are contagious for 24 hours after starting the medication and after that you are able to be around others without being contagious. Take medication for the fever, ibuprophen or whatever you use. It shouldn't take long once you have been on the medication which you just started yesterday. Give it a day or so.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

I've had strep throat and missed a week of work after starting the antibiotic. It takes time for the medicine to work. She's doing fine.

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R.D.

answers from New York on

Fevers freak me out too! However, there is this awesome app and website called the Kids Doctor (no, I am not connect to it), that is written by a pediatrician. They have a whole "fever is our friend" blog, which has made me feel better. But, definitley agree with the posts below, it should take at least 24-48 hours for the antibiotic to kick in. Also, there is SO much going around right now, she could have strep with another virus. You know what worries me...a fever w no other symptoms, so be glad at least you have a diagnosis and I bet in no time your little one will be bouncing off the walls again :)

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L.M.

answers from Dover on

I have had strep a few times as an adult and both my kids have had it. It takes a few days to get and keep fever down. Make sure she's drinking lots of liquids because in addition to the infection, dehydration will feed a fever too. As fever goes up, they tend to drink less...the less they drink, the higher the fever goes up...it's a cycle.

It takes a few days to really start feeling better after starting the antibotic. Make sure she finishes it completely though. You can give her something for the fever if liquids and ice pack do not do the trick. I wouldn't call the doctor unless you can't get it to go down or start staying down by Friday morning.

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R.M.

answers from Cumberland on

Give the antibiotic in precise intervals-even if you have to wake her-if the fever is present tomorrow-get a chest x ray.

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A.S.

answers from Boca Raton on

With my son, once a strep infection had set in good (he had it 4-5 times in kinder) it took a couple of days for him to really start to feel better. And his fever would stay up a bit too.

Barring an obvious turn for the worse, I would call tomorrow afternoon or Friday if things don't seem improved at all. If it gets worse I would call tonight.

JMO.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

A year ago in July my granddaughter was in the hospital for a week with strep. Her throat swelled so bad, her left tonsil swelled so big it pushed the uvula out of it's way and was pushing her right tonsil aside too.

The doc said he had never seen a throat so bad that was not Mono in all his years of medicine. He put her in the hospital because she stopped drinking. Her tongue was so swollen she could not close her mouth. She was that dehydrated. They did IV fluids and IV Rocefrin. She didn't get better for a whole week.

She couldn't swallow her saliva so they gave her her own Mr. Thirsty to have, it came out of the wall and the suction was constant. The puss and goo she was sucking into the container was disgusting so I know she was glad she was not swallowing it. She didn't feel perfect for nearly 4 weeks after getting out. It was much like Mono but every one of the 3 tests, at 2 different labs, all came back only strep.

There was one moment, at home right before I called the doc and requested they put her in the hospital, where I thought we were going to lose her. She got white and couldn't breathe. Her throat had swollen so much and the hole in the back was smaller than the end of my finger. She was so dehydrated that the air was not flowing freely, it was making her throat feel crackly and she was gagging.

Within an hour she was in the hospital and had the IV flowing. She did only liquids the whole time she was there because she could not swallow.

She started out weighing about 55lbs and when she left she weighed only in the mid to low 40's. Nothing fit her for over a month.

Strep can be bad, it can be easy, it can be a bear too. So take her to the doc and hopefully they can find out if it's the virus kind my granddaughter had of the one that will respond to basic antibiotics.

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L.O.

answers from Chicago on

I get strep way too often for comfort. It takes the full round for the strep to be gone(sometimes a second round, depending on how persistent), and about a week for the fevers to go(give or take).

If the fevers really bother you, make the house warmer for a bit, then start a bath.

Start it hot to mix this in:

3 cups Epsom salt
2 cups Sea salt
1 cup baking soda
12 drops eucalyptus essential oil
8 drops spearmint essential oil
8 drops peppermint essential oil
Put into large lidded container and shake well. Use a cup in the bath.

Once this is dissolved, make it lukewarm to cool her fever. You can make large batches up minus the baking soda and make a "smelling salts" jar to keep for both short term relief of stuffy noses. I make up large batches in the Winter for this. It also makes a nice sore muscle soak.

The reason I said to raise the temp of the house while she's bathing is to prevent her getting overchilled after the bath. It helps my son when he's under the weather.

Also, get some Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat tea to soothe her throat. Keep her hydrated.

Hope she feels better.

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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

strep throat won't disappear over night. it will take up to a week for it to all be gone. she won't be contagious after she has been on it for 24 hours. so she can go back to school now if she feels like it as long as she is not running a fever.

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A.E.

answers from Waco on

In my experience with strep, it takes 24-48 hours for the antibiotics to "kick in", but once they do, you feel dramatically better. My guess is she probably feels much better already. Try not to worry too much about the fever either. Remember that fever is your body's natural way of telling you something is "wrong" and that it is helping to fight off what is going on. While 102 seems scary, it probably won't concern the doctor. Higher fevers that don't come down are when you need to get worried. Remember also that she will need to finish her antibiotics or else you run the risk of relapse. Hope she gets well soon!

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B.K.

answers from Austin on

My son gets strep throat every 6 weeks, no lie. After the z pack your daughter should be better. We had my sons tonsils removed and he still gets it. I get it everytime my son gets it, so be careful highly contagious.

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J.T.

answers from College Station on

Give her the antibiotics, lots of rest (she won't want to do anything anyway), lots of soft foods for her throat.
Strep goes up and down. This is very normal. The most important thing is to give her ALL the antibiotics, even when she is feeling lots better and the fever goes away. She should be feeling better by the weekend.

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

I'd call the doctor if you are concerned. They can at least talk it over with you. A friend's son is currently in the hospital for having strep that didn't respond to the ABs. I would expect a z-pack to take a day or two and remember that even without the fever continuously, she's still been sick for a week.

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