High temperature - when do you go to the Dr?

[LuluHB]

Miss E came to me crying at 5pm saying she had a headache. She was burning hot and had a temp of 39.9. I put her in a warm bath and her temp was down a bit when she got out but she still felt awful. 30 minutes later and she's in tears again so I gave her nurofen. Almost an hour after the nurofen and her temp is 40.1.

I think I may need to take her to the doc but it means an after hours clinic for her, me and Miss A, and a 30 minute drive each way. I don't think a dr is likely to tell me to do anything except what I'm already doing, but poor Miss E will have to be dragged around for no good reason. My poor girl has been sick on and off for so long.

When do you head for the dr/hospital? High temps that don't come down worry me. I'm going to call health line but trapped under a sleeping Miss E at the moment and don't want to disturb her

[Kazzo]

Aw hun, I completely understand the do you/don't you. With that high a temp and after nurofen then I would be going. Even if they say to continue what you are doing they may give you a reason for the temp. That happened with me and DD1 last week. Hope she gets better soon.

[Caz_88]

I would call, and soon. I called because DH was running 40.2. I was told if it didn't come down in 2-3 hours or kept rising to over 41 to head to the ER. Also any altered consciousness to call the ambulance. I have a feeling it's 40.5 for kiddies hope DD is feeling better soon

[Mother Goose]

Just keep in mind that neurofen only brings down a temp of it is pain related. It has to do with the receptors it targets. Panadol is more effective for fever management.

If you don't feel comfortable handling the situation then definitely get her checked - is there a home visiting service in your area?

If you're ok to stay at home then you could try cool flannels, stripping her down, cool drinks.

[LuluHB]

If you're ok to stay at home then you could try cool flannels, stripping her down, cool drinks.

I'm doing all this so no problems there. Didn't know that about nurofen - have always found it good for temp control. Will give her panadol next time (if we're not at the dr by then - and see how that goes. Thanks

[Liviam]

Temps worry me. I would give her panadol and if her temps goes up again I would get her seen. Like MG said Strip her off hun and try flannels.

How is she otherwise? Is she lethargic/pale/floppy? Look at Miss E as a whole not just her temp hun. If she is lethargic/high temp etc i'd get her checked.

Could your folks come and help you out? Look after the girls while you take Miss E or come with you and look after them while you see the dr?

How did the online healthy line say?

[sangie]

Oh poor thing. Agree with the others, if you aren't sure get her checked. High temps scare me too.
I hope she starts improving ASAP xo

[Ryatha]

You can give panadol and nurofen at the same time. I've had to do that for a couple of nasties we've had when temps soared to 39.5. It's what the hospital gave DD2 when she had pneumonia and was in for a few days.

If you call health direct the nurse will ask a bunch if questions an let you know if you can wait til morning or take them to a hospital. Once they even called an abundance for me the situation was that bad

Hope you've had some improvement

[Nai]

I would give panadol now. Do you have a doctor who does home visits after hours?

Eta, there is one in Perth, google after hours gp.

[Enchanted]

The other girls have said what I was going to say. I hope she's feeling better soon

It's not fair that you still have nasties in your house, we still do too. Thinking of you gorgeous, wish we were closer so we could have a pity party *mwa*

[Butterfly Dawn]

how is her temp now?
we don't have after hours care here really, so we have seen many nights with 40 or over temps.
you are doing what you can, hope the meds are kicking in

[kelsbels]

Yep double up on panadol and nurofen and see what happens after an hour.
Depends so much on the child. My dd is 2.5 and a temp is always bad need for her and do far has always resulted in either an advanced uti or acute tonsillitis so now I give it 12 hours the straight to a doctor

Really hope she's improved and is going ok now xx

[LuluHB]

thanks lovely ladies. Just got home from the hosital. The poor poppet has an infection in one ear and a very severe infection in the other. Her temp dropped after she started throwing up in the car on the way there and she's now 38.4 - still high but nowhere near as scary. Doing the panadol and nurofen thing and doc said we can expect the next week to be pretty crappy. Oh joy oh joy oh joy. There was a huge number of vomiting, coughing and sneezing people there and I just wanted to wrap my poor baby girls in a bubble to protect them from it all.

Ihope your little ones are all feeling better very soon too Enchanted.

[MantaRay]

Glad that the temp is down hun and at least you know why. Hopefully she'll recover quickly now.

For the next time, most states have a health line that you can call and they will assess whether your need to get them seen or not. That can be helpful when it's border line.

[Kazzo]

Glad to hear her temp dropped a bit and you now know what the issue is. I hope that the week is not to crappy for you all and she gets better quickly.

[Indadhanu]

I go to the GP/ER if DD is really suffering AND the temp is rising extremely quickly AND is over 39oC AND if I can't bring it down with the usual tricks - paracetamol, hydration, rest, tepid bath.
If the paracetamol can't bring it down with 30 minutes then off to the GP/ER. I know fevers are a normal body function to deal with illness, but I worry with a temp that rises very quickly and is persistently high after trying to bring it down.

I've only really had to rush her down twice, and they did the same thing each time, give her panadol, chuck her in a tepid shower for 30 minutes and administer fluids if she's very dehydrated. I can do that at home, but I felt more comfortable being somewhere 'medical' just in case because they were quite bad fevers (rose from 39oC to over 40oC in 10-15 minutes each time) and she was very weak/exhausted and couldn't walk, her legs kept collapsing underneath her.

I guess it depends on how she is responding to the fever too. I would probably go a bit earlier if the temp was a bit lower but DD was drowsy, hard to wake up etc. When my DD has a high temp that is persistent, but she seems ok and to be dealing with it I'm more inclined to just deal with it at home.