BG Medical/BG Parents

[Ksandra]

Starting right off to say, yes we went to the doctor, please read everything before responding.

So about last Wednesday my daughter (18 mo.) got a runny nose. Nothing bad, no fever, normal poops n' pees, just the runny nose. She, like any toddler, gets these now and then, and figured it was nothing to worry about as she was acting and playing completely normal.

Come this Monday, things have gone upside down. I could not put her down all day on Monday. She would scream to high heaven if I did. I just thought she was tired since Sat and Sun she had a big day (early thanksgiving for sister-in-law on Sat, swim lesson on Sun). She ate normally though so, ya I just thought a bad mood day which can happen.

On Tuesday though it started again, I tried just letting her cry it out on the floor and she would calm down after awhile so I am thinking it's the terrible twos rearing it's ugly head. But she wouldn't eat. At all. I couldn't get her to eat or drink anything in the morning. I gave her a bath around 10 and she fell asleep when I was combing her hair afterwards (she normally doesn't nap until around 2 and sleeps 1-2 hours). She slept and slept and slept, until maybe 3 o'clock when I woke her up to try and get her to eat. I got some water in her and about 4 ounces of milk, but that's all she would take. Again, insanely clingy and cranky. I took her out shopping hoping maybe getting her fresh air and stimulation would help. My daughter is usually an extremely outgoing kind of baby. Waves at everyone, points at everything, tries to grab everything. At target, she didn't seem to give a shit about anything. Didn't respond to people, didn't seem to care about looking around. Just very reserved.

When we got home I was able to get her 8 oz of milk before she fell asleep around 7 (normally I put her to bed at 9).

Wednesday it seems like it's going to be the same routine, so I call the nurse advice line through Kaiser to see if I should take her in. We get to a part where the nurse is asking me to get her to stand up and walk, and my daughter just flips her shit. Wouldn't stand, wouldn't walk. So the nurse asked me to call 911 in case there is something wrong with her legs.

Paramedics come, check her, can find nothing wrong with her. Legs look fine. So they tell us to take her over to Kaiser so the pediatrics can check her. Go there, same deal, doctor checks her up n' down. Legs are fine, no bruises, no ear infection, lungs and heart sound good.

Doctor says it's probably something viral and to just wait it out.

She is barely eating though. She is mostly on an all-milk diet now since that's all she'll take. All the normal foods she likes she won't eat. This morning I made eggs and she refused to eat them. my husband got her to put some in her mouth by putting it on a fork, but then she spit it out right away. He got her to eat some bacon though (something she never gets to eat).

Now, my daughter has been sick before. And it's never been like this. She can get groggy and grouchy, but this is the extreme. When the paramedics came she broke out in hives from screaming so much. She isn't acting her regular "sick" mode at all. The screaming is the part that is really worrying me and the fact she doesn't seem to be improving. I am terrified that she somehow ate something poisonous or a toy or something since she is so disinterested in eating. Her poops are almost non-existent, but that really doesn't show anything since she only wants milk.


So my questions are, have you seen this before? Am I being over paranoid about this? Should we get a second opinion? Can this be normal for a viral infection? Doctor made it sound like to only come back if she gets a fever, but do you think there's a point where if she is still acting like this I should take her back anyway?

tl;dr: f you, if you don't read the whole thing, please don't respond.

[Blubbartron]

Wasn't there an episode of House where a woman went fucking crazy, and had cravings for milk? I think it ended up being something like eating slightly moldy bread (she was a hippie and bought the organic stuff or something), and the mold made her trip balls. I imagine a toddler tripping balls could cause a severe emotional/behavioral change.

[Ksandra]

Could be possible I guess, though not sure how accurate a TV show is.

I can't for the life of me imagine what she would have ate that was moldy though. And would it even last that long?

[Meresgi]

Has she had a bowel movement lately? Nephew used to not eat anything and scream and shit and it was due to him having acid reflux or was intolerant to something in the food. He's fine now so it just kind of passed, but I know he also had issues where he wouldnt eat because he wasn't taking a shit and it was just backing up inside him.

[Ksandra]

She had normal ones on Monday, none on Tuesday, and just a little wednesday. But considering she only wants milk, that is probably normal.

[Aragon of Odin]

Niece was like this when she had pneumonia, but her fever was spiking way high so it was obvious that her body was fighting something. If it's an infection just watch for the fever and take it from there, and there's nothing paranoid about being a parent, so don't sweat it. When Sydney had pneumonia, it took 2 x-rays a couple days apart to find it, the first one had come back negative, so a couple days later when things hadn't changed we took her in again, and voila it showed up. Best advice I have is just keep doing what you're doing and watching her, if things don't change don't feel like you're being paranoid about bringing her back in.

[Seraph]

Doctor says it's probably something viral and to just wait it out.

Welcome to the wonderful world of toddlers getting viral infections (head/ears/lungs/GI/etc.) and acting like total shitbags because they don't feel good. The doctors/medics/nurses won't be able to do anything for her, assuming she is not showing any sort of serious symptom. If the kid starts bleeding, excessively coughing, has a fever, or passes out you can get worried. Otherwise, there is a 99.9% chance that she just feels terrible and her way of expressing it is not eating and being excessively antisocial and clingy. She has't pooped because she hasn't been eating. Despite popular belief, kids can only shit as much out as they take in.

Keep her hydrated, try to keep her sleep levels up, don't overexert her. Save calls to the doctors for serious stuff, because all that will happen is they will either do nothing (hey look, you already burned some co-pays going that route, color me shocked!) or just prescribe her an antibiotic (if you bitch enough) that will do nothing but send her GI tract into more of an uproar than it already is. Antibiotics do NOTHING for viral infections. They can possibly even make things worse if your daughter responds poorly to them. Just keep an eye on her, and use your judgement if you feel that her behavior is extremely concerning. I'm not talking temper tantrum levels. I'm talking "I think she might actually be dying".

Don't Panic. This is perfectly normal First Child Syndrome™ on your part. Go enjoy some turkey, and in between plates check to make sure daughter is still functioning at acceptable levels.

[Glowstickthetaru]

Welcome to the wonderful world of toddlers getting viral infections (head/ears/lungs/GI/etc.) and acting like total shitbags because they don't feel good.
Go enjoy some turkey, and in between plates check to make sure daughter is still functioning at acceptable levels.

Pretty well sums it up. Mine went through similar around 24 months, lasted a week or so, and went back to normal. Dr said the same thing as well~

[FNH]

She had normal ones on Monday, none on Tuesday, and just a little wednesday. But considering she only wants milk, that is probably normal.

Did they check to see if she might be constipated?

[Ksandra]

Welcome to the wonderful world of toddlers getting viral infections (head/ears/lungs/GI/etc.) and acting like total shitbags because they don't feel good. The doctors/medics/nurses won't be able to do anything for her, assuming she is not showing any sort of serious symptom. If the kid starts bleeding, excessively coughing, has a fever, or passes out you can get worried. Otherwise, there is a 99.9% chance that she just feels terrible and her way of expressing it is not eating and being excessively antisocial and clingy. She has't pooped because she hasn't been eating. Despite popular belief, kids can only shit as much out as they take in.

Keep her hydrated, try to keep her sleep levels up, don't overexert her. Save calls to the doctors for serious stuff, because all that will happen is they will either do nothing (hey look, you already burned some co-pays going that route, color me shocked!) or just prescribe her an antibiotic (if you bitch enough) that will do nothing but send her GI tract into more of an uproar than it already is. Antibiotics do NOTHING for viral infections. They can possibly even make things worse if your daughter responds poorly to them. Just keep an eye on her, and use your judgement if you feel that her behavior is extremely concerning. I'm not talking temper tantrum levels. I'm talking "I think she might actually be dying".

Don't Panic. This is perfectly normal First Child Syndrome™ on your part. Go enjoy some turkey, and in between plates check to make sure daughter is still functioning at acceptable levels.

My concern is that it isn't a viral infection. If it was then ya I wouldn't be as upset. (I know anti-biotics do nothing for viral, she really can't take any anyways since she's under 2). Outside of the runny nose she has no physical signs of having one. Just a runny nose would be a sign of something minor, and for almost a week she acted normal with it. (Well, normal for her when she has a runny nose). I am concerned about w/e might have escalated it, as it would seem she is getting worse, not better, and it was a huge jump. If she did somehow take something poisonous I would think she might display the same behavoir, and the poison would go ignored from not checking deeper.

I also don't give a shit about co-pays/going to a doctor over minor things. I am not overbearing in the "demand a medicine type." But many years ago my dad had a minor heart attack one night and refused REFUSED to let us call 911. Insisting he was fine. Next day he had a severe episode, and there was a blizzard outside meaning it took about 4 hours to get him to yale hospital since they couldn't fly copters. In a nutshell, the minor attack almost destroyed his heart and for the rest of his life he has been a very weak individual.

I'd much rather go and be told it's nothing for anyone, then to assume it's nothing and have something get worse when it didn't have to be. Especially when it comes to a toddler that can't tell you what is wrong with them.

Did they check to see if she might be constipated?

no, just vital signs.

Pretty well sums it up. Mine went through similar around 24 months, lasted a week or so, and went back to normal. Dr said the same thing as well~

This is good to know at least.

[Meresgi]

I'd check for constipation, seems like it could be something like that if she's in a lot of pain when walking or people touching around her stomach. I know when I get pains in the lower intestine and shit, I get doubled over in agony.

[Tyche]

As a father of three and medical professional that admittedly knows nothing about peds, I'll concur with firstchilditis. I'd say the chances are better than none that the pediatrician and/or medics put a stethoscope on her stomach and at least palpated it. Just make sure she's pooping and peeing. Watch for changes. Fever, stool/urine changes, something grossly off baseline. The reserved, cranky nature likely isn't anything other than feeling like shit. Worry if she's unable to be soothed at all with non-stop incessant screaming as if she's in uncontrollable pain, not if she's simply reserved.

[Xantavia]

I noticed you said she has swim lessons. Is this relatively new, or has she started putting her head underwater recently while swimming? I know that i very easily get water in my ear and if I don't get it out, I feel like crap. Don't know why it works, but I put a few drops of rubbing alchohol in my ear, keep my head tilted for maybe a minute, then let it drain and I'm all good.

[Dimmauk]

Sounds like inner ear issues. Have yall tested for allergies?

[Talus]

A lot of what you're describing is consistent with an ear infection.

With kids what starts as a simple rhinovirus can lead to sinus infections and ear infections as well. Ear infections are particularly problematic.

I'd echo what Seraph said, keep her hydrated and keep an eye on her. Most of these kinds of things if viral will run their course within two weeks. However, that doesn't offer you much relief from a screaming toddler.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Sounds like constipation to me. Is she taking any meds?

Ear infection also sounds likely. Either way, keeping her hydrated is very important. dark pee is the most obvious (though not infallible) indication of this.

[Jakson]

You said she had swimming lessons; maybe she got something there? I'm assuming public pool, which are typically full of chemicals, but you never know what kids can get into. If you think constipation, my son once, around the same age, had to get UV (?) light machine because he wasn't getting enough sunlight and it had something to do with getting constipated, maybe Tyche knows what I'm talking about (I can't remember if the two were or were not related); I had to take him to his doctor and she gave him some glycerine suppository. I had no idea those things worked so fast.

[Ksandra]

Was gonna post in the morning but getting a lot of feedback so here goes:

@ Tyche, doctor never checked her stomach, I even pointed out my concern and she kinda brushed it off. She only checked her lungs. Also you mentioned the screaming, and yes I can't calm her down when I put her down. And her screams are insane. Definitely not her normal kind.


@ Ear stuff: She did get water in her ears on sunday (they use saline in the pool fyi not clorine, the place is specifically designed for baby lessons). I could tell because once we got in the car she had her head bent down in the seat with her fingers in her ears. However, the doctor did look at her ears and said she saw no sign of an infection. She has also been swimming since June (think someone asked that).

@ constipation: I really don't think she is. She did have a poop today which was very liquidy, but again, considering she is basically on all milk, that should be normal.

Went to thanksgiving dinner with family tonight and things got more interesting. Daughter still didn't want to really eat but took a bottle. When my sister-in-law showed up I found out that her son has very similar symptoms. I had forgotten to mention above that she has this small rash on her back. My nephew has one on his chest, he also has been sleeping a fuckton and has a runny nose, but no fever. So yes either they a. caught the same bug or b. it is something they both ate at the dinner. we were able to finally get her going at the party when there were a ton of kids there, and she finally would let us put her down so she could walk around. Happiest I've seen her in the past four days. We'll see how she is tomorrow around the house.

One of my husband's cousins is a RN, and she said she thought it was viral, too. However, my daughter started having these two red marks appear under her eyes (started around noon today). I don't know what that means. Sister-in-law is planning to take her son to the doctor's on sat if things are still bad, so it'll be interesting to see what comes of that.

[Airenn]

Good luck, keep us updated! <3 Love that kid.

[Silenka]

I guess she's too old for baby colic? Some of the symptoms match... We carry some kind of Gripe water thing at the store I work at which just reminded me of this. But other than that... I mean 99% of weird stuff eventually heals on its own anyway.