Health and Wellness Chit-Chat: Your Primary Care Topic

[Mountainair]

I work as a Kindergarten assistant at my kids school and the amount of illness this winter has been insane. I missed two days with a fever a few weeks ago. My 12 year old has missed 5 days with a fever of 103 everyday. Sunday will be day seven with a fever and I’m tempted to bring him in to the doctor but I know it’s either flu or covid and they are just going to tell me to alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen which I’m already doing. But seven days is a long time with a fever. This morning my 8 year old woke up with a 105 fever!! School expects doctors notes but I really don’t want to take them in just to get a doctors note. I’ve heard tamiflu is worse than the flu. My oldest (15) is allergic to Z pack and my 12 year old has a heart condition (which is the main reason I will bring him in on Monday of the fever persists) but I’ve been monitoring all of his vitals at home. 
I’m just ready for this season of illness to be over. It’s like you are always just waiting to get sick and afraid to make plans. 

[PRgal]

5 hours ago, Mountainair said:

I work as a Kindergarten assistant at my kids school and the amount of illness this winter has been insane. I missed two days with a fever a few weeks ago. My 12 year old has missed 5 days with a fever of 103 everyday. Sunday will be day seven with a fever and I’m tempted to bring him in to the doctor but I know it’s either flu or covid and they are just going to tell me to alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen which I’m already doing. But seven days is a long time with a fever. This morning my 8 year old woke up with a 105 fever!! School expects doctors notes but I really don’t want to take them in just to get a doctors note. I’ve heard tamiflu is worse than the flu. My oldest (15) is allergic to Z pack and my 12 year old has a heart condition (which is the main reason I will bring him in on Monday of the fever persists) but I’ve been monitoring all of his vitals at home. 
I’m just ready for this season of illness to be over. It’s like you are always just waiting to get sick and afraid to make plans. 

I'd take both kids to the doctor.  I was really, really sick when I was an undergrad and my mom had to drive 2 1/2 hours to pick me up (so 5 hours round trip).  I went to the doctor the next day and was prescribed some sort of antibiotic.  I stayed home for at least five days before going back to school.  I think that was the first time I ever had an inhaler.  

[Dimity]

5 hours ago, Mountainair said:

This morning my 8 year old woke up with a 105 fever!!

Not to scare you and this is probably out of left field but when I was 6 I got rheumatic fever and while I can't recall any other symptoms now I remember my mother talking about my fever going up past 105.  If that fever stays up there I would definitely be seeing a doctor about it just to be on the safe side.

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, Mountainair said:

I work as a Kindergarten assistant at my kids school and the amount of illness this winter has been insane. I missed two days with a fever a few weeks ago. My 12 year old has missed 5 days with a fever of 103 everyday. Sunday will be day seven with a fever and I’m tempted to bring him in to the doctor but I know it’s either flu or covid and they are just going to tell me to alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen which I’m already doing. But seven days is a long time with a fever. This morning my 8 year old woke up with a 105 fever!! School expects doctors notes but I really don’t want to take them in just to get a doctors note. I’ve heard tamiflu is worse than the flu. My oldest (15) is allergic to Z pack and my 12 year old has a heart condition (which is the main reason I will bring him in on Monday of the fever persists) but I’ve been monitoring all of his vitals at home. 
I’m just ready for this season of illness to be over. It’s like you are always just waiting to get sick and afraid to make plans. 

Call your doctor and ask if they should be seen. They will ask what the temperature is and how long it's been that high.

Generally, if it's over 101, especially for 3 days, they should be seen. 

My little grandsons are in daycare, so they get sick a lot. Recently the 1-year-old was given Tamiflu, and he got better the next day. 

[Absolom]

My doctor said day 3 of a fever take child in to see him at the latest and soon if there were concerning symptoms and 105 is an emergency head straight to Children's Hospital ER.  In fact they treated 104 as very bad and had me take the child to the doctor's office immediately.  They told me to give the medicine as soon as I got it from the pharmacist as in do it in the car in the parking lot.  Other doctors may have different opinions.  I do know that somewhere between 105 and 106 organs can start failing. 

[Mountainair]

My 12 year old seems better today and temp is down to 99.8 but I already made him an appointment at Urgent Care. My 8 year old woke up with a fever of 107 (!!!!) so I’m bringing her with me to his appointment. She is miserable and that temp is way too high! I will update when we are done at the Dr. 

 

ETA: Flu A and just alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Did not recommend TamiFlu.

Edited Sunday at 08:07 PM by Mountainair

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, Mountainair said:

ETA: Flu A and just alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Did not recommend TamiFlu.

Do you live in the States or Canada? 
Just wondering if they don't have much access to Tamiflu, or if Flu A is not the Tamiflu-effected flu strain? 

My 73-year-old sister did not have access to Paxlovid for Covid in Canada last year. But maybe it was because they live in a rural area?
She claimed they don't have Paxlovid anywhere in Canada, but I always take everything she says with a huge grain of salt.

[Bastet]

Tamiflu is only minimally effective; most studies show it reduces the amount of time you'll experience symptoms by one day at most, and that's only if you start taking it in the first two days of your illness.  Therefore, many doctors don't recommend it based on it not being worth it for how little relief you'll get from it.  Plus, like anything else, it can cause side effects, with one of the most common being vomiting -- the last thing someone with the flu needs is to get dehydrated from puking up the little they feel like eating and drinking.  

Edited Sunday at 11:57 PM by Bastet

[Mountainair]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Do you live in the States or Canada? 
Just wondering if they don't have much access to Tamiflu, or if Flu A is not the Tamiflu-effected flu strain? 

My 73-year-old sister did not have access to Paxlovid for Covid in Canada last year. But maybe it was because they live in a rural area?
She claimed they don't have Paxlovid anywhere in Canada, but I always take everything she says with a huge grain of salt.

I’m in the states but what Bastet said above is pretty much what my dr said. I know my daughter obviously and she would not tolerate a med like that anyway. We both suffer from weak stomachs and she’s better off fighting the flu than taking the meds and dealing with side effects. My husband is now sick too so I’m going to take off work to be home with her. Neither of us get paid if we miss work. Me because I’m a part time employee and my husband while he is full time hasn’t accrued anytime off yet. He lost his job due to Hurricane Helene and had to start over in November with a new job. 
 

ETA: my son’s Blood Pressure was good and his heart sounded great. Because he’s on the tail end of dealing with the flu they gave him the go ahead to go back tomorrow. 

Edited Sunday at 11:48 PM by Mountainair

[Dimity]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

She claimed they don't have Paxlovid anywhere in Canada, but I always take everything she says with a huge grain of salt.

Take it with a large tablespoon of salt.  We definitely have paxlovid available.  My father had Covid in the fall of 2022 (I can date it because it was right after the Queen died) and he was prescribed paxlovid then.

[Absolom]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Tamiflu is only minimally effective; most studies show it reduces the amount of time you'll experience symptoms by one day at most, and that's only if you start taking it in the first two days of your illness.  Therefore, many doctors don't recommend it based on it not being worth it for how little relief you'll get from it.  Plus, like anything else, it can cause side effects, with one of the most common being vomiting -- the last thing someone with the flu needs is to get dehydrated from puking up the little they feel like eating and drinking.  

My fever was gone by the day after starting Tamiflu and all symptoms gone in a couple of days.  My doctor said it usually cuts sick time in half and it really worked well for me.  I had either no side effects or a mild nagging headache.  Headaches are tough to differentiate with flu.