by My oldest is helping her Grand-dad work calves this 19 degree weatherful mornin’; my middle daughter is lying on the couch watching Little House on the Prairie after a miserable night of fever and little sleep, and youngest is still in her footie pajamas, coughing but happy.
After just discussing my stance on letting fevers run their course in the comments of the Vick’s VapoRub on Feet post, you all would have been raising your eyebrows at my frenzied run for the cupboard and some Tylenol last night.
Meltaways rolled from my palm, onto the countertop, then off to the floor. At the same time, my little girl cowered into me, alternating between hiding her eyes and furtively looking beyond us to the doorway. If you’ve ever seen Sixth Sense you know how creeped out I was. She’d woken up, sweaty and disoriented, hallucinating. What was she seeing, what scared her so much? People. Lots of them. Ones I couldn’t see.
She’d been running a 104F fever (40.0 C for my NZ friends) for probably 4 hours at that point, but since she was resting well, I wasn’t worried about her needing Tylenol. And I’m still not sure the Tylenol did her any favors, because well within its 4 hour parameter she had two more episodes–hallucinations. It was so strange, because we had her giggling, and listing off all the names of our dogs, her cousins, the 27 books of the New Testament and right in the middle of seeming lucid, she just went off about the giants in the kitchen and begged me to turn off the kitchen light so she wouldn’t see them anymore. Of course we prayed for/with her and I held her close on the couch most of the night, but what a horrible experience. She did this last year when she had influenza but somehow I’d forgotten.
This morning her fever is 103F. Her hot little forhead is heating up cold washcloths almost as fast as I can replace them, but thankfully she is drinking 2-3 cups of liquid an hour. Thanks to the hydrogen peroxide treatments she has little to no cold symptoms anymore, only the fever and malaise, though she did vomit once last night…
Thank you all for praying, my little girl needs it! I’m just so thankful for plumbing, and that midnight jaunts to the outhouse in zero degree weather aren’t necessary!
On the home front, dh finished the “mini-bathroom” remodel up last night. We are rejoicing to have a working shower and bathtub again! We even found the exact match to our bath tile-board, so we only had to replace the one wall section…
How are all of you guys this end of the week Friday?
Gosh, Mary, I would have panicked for sure (and given Tylenol). I’m glad for your story though…if Lydia ever hallucinates, hopefully I’ll recall this and won’t call 9-1-1. 🙂 It’s amazing how little ones can get so very sick so quickly…then bounce right back. I’ll pray your girls return to good health quickly. As for the Tylenol, no criticism here! Modern meds are here for a reason and there’s a difference in rushing to the Tylenol at the first sign of a warm head and a whimper, and giving a dose of med when there is sustained fever and serious sickness.
Lydia is about to get a cold, I fear. She woke up with a runny nose and some congestion. I tried the hydrogen peroxide and she screamed like I was killing her. She would not remain still, so I’m unsure if any peroxide actually stayed in her ear. How often do you do the peroxide…daily or more?
I, too, am so thankful for modern plumbing. When Frankie was in Europe he had to use an outhouse in freezing weather for a couple of weeks. Thank God we don’t have to rush with little ones to an outhouse!
A mini-bathroom update sounds wonderful!
Having a hallucinating little girl is rather less so. I hope today finds her better.
Oh wow Mary sounds like you had a tough night! Sounds like you handled everything so well though. I can’t believe it’s 19 degrees there in the day! It’s still freezing here…well the sun does come out during the day and it does get hot but the air is so crisp and there’s wind so it makes it colder…
My Lil Man is sick too with a cough and fever, but not like your poor lil one! Glad to here your renos are going well…what a horrible thing to happen though. Just goes to show what praying can do to make things better. You are definitely in my prayers still and your poor lil gal too!
Also I am so impressed that your youngest knows all 27 books of the New Testament…I’m afraid I would have some troubles there so I think I should brush up on my catechism knowledge…
I loved Little House! Still do, but unfortunately it’s not on anymore…actually I should check the satellite company we’re with and see if it’s on a special channel or something we don’t have. I watched that all the time growing up!
Well, since the Tylenol didn’t seem to help her out any last night, and since she is still running a 103+ fever, I’m trying Children’s Motrin/Ibuprofen tonight…we’ll see. I only hope she gets a good night’s rest. I am becoming a tad alarmed at how long this is lasting…we have to carry her to the bathroom and back, and almost every trip is so hard on her that she immediately vomits whatever liquids she’s managed to keep down afterward. I’m trying diligently to keep her hydrated, and it’s backfiring on me. The more she drinks, the more visits to the bathroom she makes, and those cause the nausea. You wouldn’t believe this little girlie though, she is apologizing for throwing up…saying “excuse me” right in the middle of it, it breaks my heart! I couldn’t ask for a better patient, but I’m praying she won’t have to be much longer!
Amy M, I am beginning to realize that this particular daughter of mine is a little more fragile when it comes to high temps. My other two had just as high of temps last fall when we all had influenza, but they never “saw things”, and she did. So this has been a red flag for me, something to alert me to the fact that I need to take her high fevers a little more seriously than I do her sisters’. So sorry Lydia is coming down with something. Did you try the Q-tip trick, with the hydrogen peroxide? It does bubble really loudly and fizz the first two times, then it hardly does anything (in the successive treatments for the same illness) b/c it’s already cleaned the ear out pretty good. Since Lydia hates it so much, I’d probably only push it once a day for a few days. With my girls all being willing, we did it 2-3 times a day this last round, and the head colds are almost gone, yet this fever remains!
Thanks, Beck, it is wonderful to have our bathroom troubles 100% fixed, and better than before! We’re really enjoying it. 🙂
Hi Geri! It actually made it to 38*F today, almost warm! Ha. Tomorrow we might see the fifties, which would be nice. We’re going through hand lotion here like crazy for our chapped hands. Wow, your little guy is sick too? This stuff is all over the world, isn’t it…really. I keep hearing from other people that have recently gotten over it, or have it currently. Thank you for your prayers! The LHOTP show that my 7yo was watching is one we taped off about 3 or 4 years ago, it was a Disney special series on television (ABC)…our girls really enjoy it. I remember watching the original TV show (starring Michael Landon) on my own sick days at home…that and the Waltons!
Poor lil thing! I hope she is doing better today. It’s the worst having to watch your child be sick. I feel so helpless. Kyle has his terrible cough and a bit of fever night before last. I took him yesterday to the Dr. just to make sure it wasn’t anything serious (we were at my family’s the last couple days and my nephew and brother were both really sick and my nephew-2yrs-just got off of antibiotics so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t what he had). Anyways the Dr. said the next time he has a fever to give him both Tylenol and Advil…I thought she meant switching every 4 hours…but when I asked she said “No, just give him both at once! I do it with my kids all the time!”…I could see if Kyle had a fever that just wouldn’t go down or something but his fever was nothing too extreme and when I gave him Tylenol alone it brought it right back down…so I can’t really understand her reasoning behind that. I think I would rather bring him into emerg. before double-dosing him since he’s still so young.
Anyways, I just ordered the US programming (you get 5 US channels for only $1.00 more) so I can see if I can find LHOTP…but I don’t think it’s on anymore…I’ve searched on the internet. And now that I’ve remembered it I just want to watch it so badly haha. But if I can’t find it I will just have to look for the DVD set and ask for it…my B-day is coming up so I’ll just have to hint to DH!
Again, I hope that your lil one is getting better!!
We’re praying for you guys and the quick recovery of your middle one. My younger sister and brother both had hallucinations with high fevers, still do at almost 40 years of age! It just seems to affect some people that way but it can be OH SO SCARY! You just don’t know what to do. At least you can hold her…with my younger brother his re-occuring one was that your hands were frozen with the skin coming off so he wouldn’t let you touch him!
I do pray the Motrin works better than the Tylenol, I know it does better with some of mine. Just hang in there…this too shall pass! Endurance, patience and sleep I pray for you! Take care, Mary.
Tylenol and Advil together? I’d be leary of that as well, Geri. Did a quick search and found this, of course, it was for a different situation, but if a doctor warned an adult against taking them together, how much more for a child? http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/taking-tylenol-amp-advil-together.html
I’d like to hear what a pharmacist would say about how double dosing the two…
7 yo got a great night’s sleep and relief from the fever last night thanks to prayers and Motrin. I plan on doing that again tonight. She’s slept a lot today, still running a fever tonight of 102*F, down from this morning’s temp of 103.5. She’s acted better today though, despite the fever, which gives me hope that it’s not something dangerous. Dh is borrowing his dad’s stethoscope so we can listen to her lungs and rule out pneumonia/bronchitis.
It is a helpless feeling, all of us mothers know how you’re feeling, Geri. The medical community wants to allay all our fears and are all too willing to prescribe things that our kids don’t need (sometimes they do, don’t get me wrong)…but! Anyway.
Deborah, what a relief to know that it’s not just my kid having hallucinations w/high fever. At that point did your mom cave and give a fever reducer, or just try natural ways to bring it down? We’ve tried the baths, cool washcloths, etc. Thanks so much for praying, and coming here to encourage me!
Hm…thanks for the article! That is very interesting. I didn’t give him the double dose. I’ve been hesitating with the Tylenol alone. I gave him some before bed and then today he was having a really hard time getting to sleep for his nap (he kept biting me and pinching…which is unlike him) so I gave him some more thinking he might have been achy. Other than that though I agree with you about giving that much to a child, let alone an adult!
So good to hear your 7yo is feeling better. I hope you both get a good night’s rest tonight and I will be praying for you both too! And thank you for listing your plan of action here…gives me a wealth of advice for when my LO’s older if he ever experiences any of this!
I know James is not a pharmacist yet, but there have been an occasion or two were Tylenol has not brought down big sisters fever. He has gone ahead and then given her Ibuprofen, but not one right after the other. We give the Tylenol at least an hour if not two. Before administering the Ibuprofen. You have to be very careful that you do not overdose each medication. I usually write down what time I give her the different meds. Tylenol is every 4-6 hours and ibuprofen every 6-8 hours. Ibuprofen is usually more effective at reducing fevers. He usually has me give her that first. I tend to gravitate more to Tylenol. I’m not sure why. If you would like more information I can have him send you an e-mail. He can look up things at school.
Glad your girl is not running such a high fever anaymore – it’s miserable!!!! My girls did the same thing – for a solid week. One got better and one spiraled down into ear infection & pink eye. So just watch her, but I wouldn’t be alarmed yet about how long it’s lasting. Motrin seemed to work better on this particular fever for my oldest as well. We missed you at the shower yesterday – you too Andrea! You’re in my prayers, I understand all too well, since I’m sure it’s the same thing mine had. Hope your other two hold strong!
Btw, when my oldest was born, the “current wisdom” from my doctor seemed to be that it was OK to alternate Tylenol & Motrin, every 2-3 hours. (Which I never did) Since my youngest has been born, he has instructed me infatically (wow – sp?) that you SHOULD NOT do that – leads to overdosing way to quickly. Duh, huh?
Hi MaryLynne,
I thought I’d google your “sweaty and disoriented, hallucinating” words to see what I could find. Probably my ignorance about how things work but did you know the first option that came up was Home-Steeped Hope seeing things.
You mom keeps me up to speed but I haven’t heard from her today yet. R&B and I are praying with you for your little one.
Love you A.Ruth
Lots of prayers are going out to you, M.. I can’t say that I have ever had the hallucinations experience.. but your motherly instincts (and God’s prodding) will let you know when it’s time to take her to the Dr.
My girl’s ped. told me it’s okay to alternate doses, but no double dosing.. that really alarms me.
this too shall pass, no? 🙂
Well, here’s the latest…she just can’t shake off the 103.4 temp! Her mornings start out all right, with a 101 degree fever, but she soon is wiped out and the fever escalates. Her headache does seem better today, and she’s more able to talk to us, rather than just lying there and looking half-alive. The Motrin has been giving her a good night’s sleep. We listened to her lungs, and they’re clear, so I’m just thinking it’s a bad case of the flu. One of my favorite books, Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child says that with influenza, the high fevers can last up to 4 days. Tonight will be the fourth day. She really doesn’t have any other alarming symptoms, other than the fact that I’m still carrying her to the bathroom and she’s not eating anything. Well, we did get 4 saltine crackers down her today…and all she’ll drink is water, since the past two times she’s vomited after drinking juice. Amazingly, she is still sweetly thanking us for all the TLC. I just love this little girl so much! It strikes me so deeply, how we take our children for granted. That they’ll always be a part of our lives, forever and ever…but we all know that their lives are in God’s hands and timing.
Geri, we did get a good night’s sleep compared to what it could have been. Got up four times with her for simple things….twice to help her into dry jammies, the Motrin broke her fever hard, giving her the sweats, once to add another cover, and another time to help her to the bathroom. I sure hope your little guy is better today. Colds can hang on for a good 10 days though. Aren’t you glad you can be home with him and aren’t stressing about having an outside job to keep up with? I think of all the moms who have no choice but to put their kids on antibiotic so the daycares will take them back. Even in the sick times if we look hard enough we can find a blessing! And speaking of such, because my 7yo’s been so sick, I’ve spent a lot of couch time with her rereading one of my favorite series, the historical one by Liz Curtis Higgs I recommended to you? It is SO good. Hope you get your hands on it soon… 🙂
Andrea, I was curious as to what James would say on the double dosing. Thanks for sharing that. When my older girls were little, our doctor told us the same thing that Haley mentioned, that we could alternate the Tylenol and Motrin for good results…and like Haley, I never did it. I’m so thankful for their availability, the Motrin has saved us these past two nights, but I fear them more than I revere them! Especially interested, Haley, in knowing that your doctor has changed his advice! I know that more and more I’m hearing and reading that too much Tylenol causes liver damage. And it has always had such a reputation for being hospital/doctor recommended and totally safe.
Haley, I’ve been wanting to call you and ask about your girls’ fevers and how long they lasted…a solid week!?! I knew they were sick that long, but didn’t realize their fevers lasted. Sounds exactly like some others’ experiences that I’ve heard of recently, so that’s probably all it is with 7 yo. Which means we might have another 3 days of this stuff. How is your youngest dealing with pink eye? We’ve been praying for her and you! I’m so glad you didn’t have to miss the shower, we hated missing it. I’ll have to send your sister’s gift your way, you’ll see her before I will.
Dear Aunt Ruth, thank you for your prayers, and R&B also. We so appreciate them. I keep meaning to google that myself…in fact, I’ve got a page up on the computer right now on “prolonged high fevers in young children” which bears investigating! Fun to hear that Google has indexed this post of mine already. 😉
Teresa, thank you for the prayers and the reminder! “This too shall pass” has always brought me comfort. Is your family doing well? Last time we talked you were all pretty sick, so hard to have that hit around the holidays…
I will have to look for that book (the health one)…I just ordered one called “Mommy Diagnostics” that is supposed to have a more natural approach to mothering and children’s health. It was so hard to find! I saw it recommended on a Christian web-site so then I looked on Chapter’s for it but they are sold out…so then I looked on Amazon and they wouldn’t ship it to Canada…so then I googled it and looked at every store I could find with it and only 1 I found would ship it to Canada…so of course the harder it was to find the more determined I was to have it! But it’s on its way now…have any of you heard of it or have it?
And yes I am waiting to go into town to look at the local bookstore to see if they have the series you recommended…can’t wait to read it! It looks so good! If it’s not there then I have a massive wishlist (and growing!) at christianbook.com with it on it and so I would love the excuse to order a few of the items off my list!
Glad to hear she’s doing a bit better…hopefully she is on the recovery now. She’s so lucky to have a Mom like you to get up with her during the night! I, too, think of all the Mom’s out there who miss out on so much with their kids (and I know it’s not always their fault) due to work. And Dr.’s nowadays just seem so eager to hand out the antibiotics…my nephew, I think, had some infection that needed the antibiotics because it would have gotten worse and worse without them. I like to steer clear if possible, but I though going to the Dr. would help ease my mind. But now after her suggestion of Tylenol and Advil together it didn’t make much difference…however it didn help ease my mind that it wasn’t anything serious.
I’ve never tried the Infant Motrin…my Mom was a strict Tylenol person growing up so that’s just what I bought, but hearing about the liver damage makes me a little scared. I will have to pick up some Infant Motrin next time I’m in town! Luckily, last night I didn’t have to give LO anything. He hasn’t had the fever anymore, but his cough is still really hoarse and chesty. He was, however, up at 3 AM (and me too!) and we stayed up, since DH had Sunday morning hockey at 8 AM, and while he goes to that, LO and I go into Church…as soon as we got home me and LO had a big nap together! We were exhausted! Hope all you are having good weekends!
I’ll have to look up the Mommy Diagnostics book, especially if it’s from a natural perspective. Maybe you can write up a review of it to post on my site, once you’ve read it? 🙂 I’d love that.
My middle girlie is so much better today! Whew! I’ve been taking her temp all morning, holding my breath, and it’s always been about a degree below normal. Now my oldest and youngest are feeling crummy, but no fevers yet. Maybe they just need more attention now that the danger has shifted off of 7 yo!
As far as preferring Motrin over Tylenol, I don’t know that one is safer than the other, I just know that Motrin has always worked better on my kids. I think my doctor said once that Motrin works better on fevers, and Tylenol for achiness, or something like that. I like to avoid either if at all possible! My dh used to get horrible headaches, in fact, when we were first married, he had them all the time which really struck me as odd, because headaches weren’t common to me or my family (not back then anyway!). And dh would pop 2 Ibuprofen tablets with each headache. It got to where they wouldn’t even work on his headaches anymore. He drove me crazy taking way more than the recommended dosage, thinking it would help and it never did. And yes, he tried Advil and Aleve, and all sorts of other ones but nothing worked for him as Ibuprofen used to. So he stopped taking them altogether and just suffered through the headaches. Not long after that he stopped having headaches. To this day, years later, he rarely has headaches. ??? The moral of the story is whatever you want to make of it. But they obviously didn’t do him any good once his body built up a resistance to them. And, they aggravated his stomach so much that he was sure he had ulcers. Again, no problems in that area since he quit taking them.
oh dear…it’s scary when our children get sick. Hope and pray she’s on the mend.
Thanks, Amy, she is much better this morning! Hoping she doesn’t overdo it…
Mary-that’s funny you say that about your DH and the ibuprofen…maybe it’s slightly addicting or something, or it gets your body to rely on it. When I worked (a couple years ago now!) I would get awful headaches and I would take 2 Advils anytime it would get unbearable so that I was taking it several times a week usually. Then it would get to where they wouldn’t help so I would have to go out and get an extra-strength Advil or the Liqui-Gels…then finally they were bad enough I got the Advil Migraine Relief…that was when I was working and going to college and didn’t have time (or the knowledge or cares at that point) of worrying about what it would do to my health. Finally, later on when Wade and I planned to have kids I thought I should not take any of those unless I had a really really bad headache. And sure enough, slowly I was getting fewer and fewer headaches. Now I maybe get a bad headache every 6 months or something, where I actually take ibuprofen for it, but I think my body had built up a sort of tolerance level for them before and so any time I had any head pain it would seem worse…I don’t know but it makes you wonder what they might be putting in them to make them like that.
Hope your girls all get better soon! Must be hard having a sick household. We’re still praying for you all!
And I would be honoured to write up a review for you once I look over the book! It is coming from the US and most things with International shipping take awhile…so I don’t really know when to expect it but when I get it I will let you know. I’m hoping it lives up to the reviews on the web-site where I first saw it-I really hope it’s got the more natural approach because every Mothering book I have bought since I was pregnant has the same old “See a Physician” line for things that could (with simple self-help) be taken care of at home and without drugs. So I am excited to see what this will be like.
I just checked Amazon.com looking for Mommy Diagnostics by Shonda Parker. They had 16 copies, ranging from old to new and priced from $12 to $19.99. Wonder if she’s written any other books?
I’m not too sure. I found it on Amazon too, but none of them shipped to Canada, but I would have saved huge if they did!
I’ve never even heard of her, but love the idea of a book like this. The one I mentioned in this thread (Smart Medicine, etc) is unique in that it has several treatment methods outlined for every illness. It covers the traditional/medical approach, the natural/homeopathic approach, the accupressure points, and something called Bach Flower remedies. It’s wonderful. I bought it at our health food store last year right after our influenza outbreak.
That is eerie that your headache experience almost mirrors my dh’s. Sad that we’re so dependent (b/c of our rat race lives) on pain alleviators that we might even be causing our own pain and not know it!
Yes it is sad…and there was another girl at work who had the same problem as I did…so I think it is fairly common. I know of the Bach Flowers rememdies…I ordered their Rescue Remedy (which is apparently for stress) because it was called for in this “milk-making” recipe for while I am nursing. Once I got it though, I realised it was for stress and trauma so I was a little hesitant and I still haven’t used the 2 bottles I ordered (from Africa!! They cost me a small fortune, I wish I had read more about them before ordering).
From Africa, really? I read those sections in the book and my eyes cross. Some of it sounds pretty weird. Maybe you could resell the bottles, or perhaps they’ll come in handy yet. (hope not!)
I believe I have a book by Shonda Parker – I can’t double check, because it’s on loan to my sister – it’s called the “Naturally Healthy Pregnancy”. Some of her remedys seemed pretty vague, and didn’t seem to offer any real help, but she had a whole section on breastfeeding, and I loved her perspective on that. A good resource, but definitely not an “end all” book if you know what I mean. The “Mommy Diagnostics” sounds familiar – it’s probably the same author.
Good to know this, I know I devoured books on pregnancy during all mine, especially the first. Would have loved one from this approach. Can’t wait to hear how Geri likes Mommy Diagnostics.
Oohhh I will have to check the Naturallu Healthy Pregnancy out…and yes Mommy Diagnostics is by Shonda Parker. I am the same way Mary…I got a bunch of books when I was first pregnant and now have had a chance to sift through them a bit and find which ones I like and which one I can part with. I liked the “What to Expect” books but I would have liked a bit more info…lots of the time it seemed to say “check with your practitioner” rather than have ways to deal with it at home.
Yes, I noticed that with those books too, but they are the ones still on my shelf!
Yes I’ve kept them too, since they are really nice to have for reference…and if they tell me to go to the Dr. now I usually check online to get a bit more info. before booking a Dr. appt.
I remember my Mom had one called “Natural Home Remedies” (which I am going to go and look up and see if they have a newer issue of it) that was a wonderful compilation of exactly that-natural home remedies…basically “old wives tales” and stuff handed down through the centuries…some of it worked and some maybe not but it was a really interesting read and I found a few things that worked for me.
This is going to sound silly Mary but what does this CommenLuv thing do? LOL I know…I am very computer-illiterate!
Glad you asked! The Comment Luv is a new plugin for my site, which got updated last night to the latest version of Word Press…which is why some of my readers here got a page requesting a password when they tried to access this site last night. 🙂 If you have a blog or website, then you can click on the Comment Luv button and enable it to grab a link to your very latest post. So that the rest of us can see what you’ve written and if it intrigues us, a simple click of your link will take us right to that post.
For those, like you and several others, who don’t have blogs to link to, it really doesn’t matter! I’m excited about it, and hope it catches on.