Is this the flu...or something else? (long)

[BrerGnat]

Okay guys, I need some advice. I don't know if this warrants ANOTHER trip to the doctor (it's VERY hard to take a 2 and 3 year old to the doctor by myself...so I avoid it if necessary).

We have been dealing with "sickness" in our house going on 4 weeks now. First, both boys had a stomach bug (vomiting/diarrhea, etc), which passed quickly.

3 weeks ago, younger DS (2) developed croup and a HIGH fever (104.5). I took him to the pediatrician, who diagnosed him with croup and wrote him a prescription for amoxicillin to give him *if* the fever persisted beyond 3 days, which it did, so he had the 10 days of antibiotics. He was doing better by about day 5 of the antibiotics, but I finished the bottle, of course, as directed.

11 days ago, my 3 year old DS (the older one), developed a nasty cough. Like, a hacking congested sounding cough that he could not control. No fever or other symptoms...he was acting fine, other than the cough. 4 days after the cough started, I had to pick him up from school because he had a fever and was coughing uncontrollably (teacher thought he was going to :ack: from the effort of coughing). This was last Monday. Later that day, his fever spiked to 103.0. He spent the whole week with a pretty high fever (averaging about 102.0), sitting on the couch, looking miserable and coughing all day. I was giving him an expectorant during the day and a cough suppressant at night so he could sleep. He has been very mellow and cuddly lately (NOT like him), so I know he's not feeling awful, but not 100% yet. His fever today was down to around 99.5. His cough is improving...he just has short bouts of coughing during the day.

Now, 3 days ago (Friday), both ME and younger DS woke up with a runny nose and cough like I've never had. It's this cough that feels like my ribcage is going to implode. It makes my eyes water and my head pound and I seriously have never had a cough this bad before. Poor little DS, he's only barely 2 and he was coughing so hard it made him vomit three times on Friday. He was miserable all weekend. He has also been feverish; tonight it was 103.0 at bedtime. It seems like we have the same thing. I, personally, feel awful. One side of my nose is all clogged up, runny, painflu/pressure and let's just say I've already gone through 2 boxes of tissues. I have been taking an expectorant pretty much round the clock and have had many "productive" coughs. I've also been sneezing a lot.

What I am wondering is, is this the flu? I haven't had the flu in over 8 years. I don't really remember how it feels. I don't have any body aches, no headache (except from coughing). I have a very low grade fever (99.5). I am very tired, but am attributing that to the fact that I can't really rest, being here alone with my (sick) boys. I have not slept too well, due to the cough and nasal congestion keeping me up (OTC stuff is not really helping).

Should I take my younger DS to the doctor tomorrow or just treat him at home? Should I see MY doctor? I'm not sure where to draw the line. My older son seems to be better, but it took a long time. I am pretty sure whatever it is is viral, and I know that antibiotics are not the answer (plus, DS just had 10 days of antibiotics...he couldn't have ANOTHER bacterial infection, right?)

Does this sound like the flu? If not, what could it be?

[mrsgaribaldi]

Oh boy Natalie, it sounds terrible at your house. I'm so sorry. If it was just you I would say stick it out but with the little ones I would always say go to the doctor. Just in case it can be helped by antibiotics why wait, just get them and start them. I hope you are all feeling better soon. I'm sending you very powerful :pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie:and I will keep you all in my prayers. Try to rest and eat alot of chicken soup, they say it really is good for you. Good luck:mickey:

[ckaranassos]

I would get to the doctors. I teach at a Pre School and can not get over the children who have a cough that is turning into pnemonia. Better to be safe than miserable. I hope everyone gets better real soon.:pixie:

[crazypoohbear]

Natalie I'm sorry to hear that everyone is still sick!
I would take them both to the Pedi. ASAP.
in little ones a cough can so quickly turn into pneumonia. My youngest had it 8 times when he was little. (Once I took him for his yearly and he was diagnosed with it, no symptoms yet!)
Please get yourself to the doctors as well, if you aren't feeling well yourself you can't really give your all to the boy's!
Feel better and keep us posted.

[MNNHFLTX]

I don't know if it's the flu or not (most people get a those muscular aches and pains leading up to the other symptoms when they have the flu), bit it certainly does sound like a bad viral infection. It probably will run its course in time, but if your 2-year-old has been running a temp for several days, it's probably a good idea to bring him in to see a doctor. They may go the same route they did with your older son, in prescribing antibiotics to use if his symptoms don't get better. At the very least you will have the peace of mind in knowing that it's not anything worse.

As for yourself, that's a tough situation. Unfortunately, these viral bugs sometimes last a while. If your symptoms don't start easing up soon or you start feeling worse (especially if the stuff you are coughing up becomes more purulent), I would see someone about it. Have you tried Mucinex yet? It might help with the cough. Otherwise try to get as much rest as you can (I know, easy for me to say). Good luck and :pixie:

[RenDuran]

Well, it's either the flu or a "flu-like" illness!

Several years ago, Princess got a high fever (105) and a terrible cough. After calling the pediatrician's office and discussing it with the nurse, I decided to keep her home and self-treat. The worse part about stuff like this is the cough can last several weeks past the actual illness. She only ran the high fever for about 5 days. The cough lasted almost three weeks!

I hope you all feel better soon! Run plenty of steam to help those coughs!

[BrerGnat]

Thanks for your advice everyone.

I just got back from the doctor with my little one (I sent the older one back to school this morning because he was fever free for the third day in a row!).

The doctor said he has a very bad upper respiratory infection, but did not hear signs of pneumonia or think he has a sinus infection, or ear infection, which is good. She basically told me to keep doing what I'm doing, but bring him back if he still has a fever on Wednesday. Poor baby, he fell asleep in the exam room. :(

What a 2nd birthday...

I guess I have the same thing, then, so I will hold off on going to MY doctor unless I take a turn for the worse.

Thanks for the Mucinex suggestion too! I will go and get some of that for myself.

[Dakota Rose]

Glad you went to the doctor! We've had a virus/cold going around here for the last two weeks. A humidifier has helped as has the old fashioned Vicks rub. But mostly you just have to rest! I hope you're all feeling better soon!

[SBETigg]

With the persistence of the symptoms in your family, I wonder if there's maybe some hidden mold situation in your house? Friends of ours had this going on. They just kept getting respiratory infections over and over, and then they had some sort of inspection and found black mold in the walls. Scary stuff. I hope it's not the case, but if this sort of thing persists even further, it may be something to consider and have a builder come in and take a look.

[BrerGnat]

I'm not really concerned about mold. I live in a nice apartment complex that is pretty new, and we don't typically have back to back sickness like this. In fact, the last time I was sick was last August.

However, I will not completely dismiss the idea, particularly if the kids do not get better soon. Mold wouldn't cause a fever, right? Because, that is present in my kids as well...it's not just a cough/runny nose. Parts of our apartment tend to get mold buildup, but it's the typical places...my bathroom, inside of window sills (due to condensation), but that's about it. It's the kind of mold I can just get rid of with some bleach. I will keep that in the back of my mind, though...I never really though of that as a culprit.

The pediatrician is thinking my son may be developing asthma, so she is having me keep a very watchful eye/ear on his breathing. Hopefully, nothing comes of that.

[SBETigg]

If mold is bringing on a respiratory infection, it could bring fever with it. If you have problems with mold in obvious places, it's likely that it could be building in the less obvious, like in the walls. I don't want to scare you. Though this could be a problem, it equally may not be the problem.

But also... asthma can be brought on by environmental factors. I developed mine while living in college dorms, possibly with mold ( and maybe mice). Don't be alarmed, but do some research maybe. I hope I'm way off.

[BrerGnat]

Sherri, I hope you are WAY off. The last thing (and I seriously mean that) that I need right now is to have to move out of our apartment due to mold. I will look into it, though. Thanks for the info. I have read some reports about toxic mold in apartment units here in the past, so it can't be ruled out completely.

Who could I contact to do an inspection for that? Is this something that the apartment company should handle?

[Quest4fun]

I don't have any formal medical training unless you count every episode of House and those ER shows on TLC but I think I can offer some good medical advice.

A nagging cough can be caused by post nasal drip due to allergies. The best thing to do is vacuum, dust, and wash all of your bedding and towels. You may want to even wash the pillows.

10 days on antibiotics will protect from any kind of infection so don't expect to get hit shortly after a treatment. What you guys have is probably viral and taking antibiotics, as you know, do not treat viruses and can actually make the symptoms worse.

Many doctors prescribe amoxocillin for everything and wait to see what it will do rather than spend a little more time examining the symptoms. I know because they gave it to me when I had mono. Good job guys. I recommend laying it all out on the table before letting your doctor make their prognosis.

Good luck.

Don't worry about mold. You live in Irvine. If you can't see it, it's probably not there.

[SBETigg]

Don't worry about mold. You live in Irvine. If you can't see it, it's probably not there.

Oh there, see? I bet he knows a lot more than I do. Sounds good. It's not mold. It is a newer building, anyway, so maybe not so likely? I think your apartment company would handle any concerns but maybe not to worry on that one as long as everyone's on the mend. Best wishes for everyone getting better fast.

[Dakota Rose]

I, too, wouldn't worry about mold. Sounds more like the respiratory virus that's been going around. You might want to ask your doctor about RSV. It's been a pretty popular virus this winter and hangs around for a good while. I'm in my 2nd week. Rest, drink your fluids and take the meds prescribed. You'll be right as rain in a matter of time.

[BrerGnat]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not mold. I got all paranoid and started checking around to see if I could find any. There was some on my windowsil (as usual), but I got rid of it. I have to do that about once a month in my bedroom. I didn't find any mold (or signs of it) anywhere else in the house.

I also ALREADY cleaned my house from top to bottom and left to right. :D Although I felt so sick, I spent a good amount of the weekend doing that. ALL our bedding went in the hot wash w/bleach, I vacuumed with a new bag, dusted, etc. Allergies are not too common around here either...it's so dry and there's not much in the air. Plus, my son has a brand new mattress and pillow (the tempurpedic kind, with the anti allergen properties), and I have a tempurpedic bed and pillows, and the 2 year old sleeps on a foam crib mattress (also anti-allergen), so allergies are not really a concern, plus the doctor did not see any post-nasal drip in my son's throat.

The good thing is, we are all doing better today. I felt AWFUL last night, and feel pretty good today, so we'll see how the rest of the day goes. The boys are seemingly on the mend. My older DS is doing fine and the younger one is a bit cranky, but at least his nose stopped running and the cough has let up. Whew...what a month!

Thanks for all the replies! It's been tough because DH has been traveling in Iraq, so he hasn't had email contact for 3 days, so I've had no one to "vent" to. Thanks for being there, all of you!

[Quest4fun]

I, too, wouldn't worry about mold. Sounds more like the respiratory virus that's been going around. You might want to ask your doctor about RSV. It's been a pretty popular virus this winter and hangs around for a good while. I'm in my 2nd week. Rest, drink your fluids and take the meds prescribed. You'll be right as rain in a matter of time.

Boy I'll say. It's been the bane of my wife's existence. It just doesn't go away. I've managed to fight it off by getting my vitamins though it still tries to get me every now and then.

That stinker made the rounds at my office (in Irvine no less) and everybody is finally getting over it.

You want to keep your body strong. Eat right, take your vitamins, and avoid antibiotics when you don't need them. Your body does a pretty good job of protecting itself so you need to keep it healthy and running at full strength.