3 yr old child always ill- advice please, feeling desperate

[peachypips]

Hi everyone,

DS2 is ill about 75% of the time. He normally has a week in every month when he is well. He has tonsillitis most of the time with the occasional sickness bug. He had bronchiolitis twice when he was a baby and it has been going on since then really. His older brother is hardly ever ill.

We have just got rid of the muslin he chews to go to sleep as we thought it could be re-infecting him, but it has made no difference. We have tried vitamins and probiotic powder.

The doc says it's just a virus every time we go, and that he'll grow out of it. I want to believe her but I am worried he is going to keep getting ill all the time when he is at school and fall behind.

When he is poorly he cries most of the time and his behaviour is awful. When he is well he is a sunny, jolly little boy. It is very upsetting to see and I am getting to the end of my rope.

Is there anyone out there who has experienced this or can help?

[3littlefrogs]

What treatment has he had?

Ds2 had bronchiolitis when he was 4 months old and wheezed thereafter till he was about 15 years old. Research has shown that children who get RSV bronchiolitis wheeze for an average of ten years afterwards. DS2 had to have inhalers and occasionally a nebulizer. I know that Asthma is not diagnosed under the age of about 3 nowadays but for all intents and purposes, that is what DS2 had probably as a result of the bronchiolitis.

The tonsillitis is a different problem and I would expect your GP to have taken throat swabs to ascertain whether this was viral or bacterial.

How many attacks of tonsillitis has he had?

Does he eat and sleep well, is his weight and growth ok?

Is he in an environment where he picks up lots of bugs?

I am so sorry you are going through this. It can be very hard to get anyone to listen.

[3littlefrogs]

Oh - meant to say, do you have any pets? DS1 was always terribly ill when we stayed with certain relatives - terrible headache, nosebleeds, swollen glands, cough, cold, swollen tonsils etc. Turned out he was allergic to the cat.

[peachypips]

Thank you for responding!

Each time they have said it is viral with no swab taken. Then when it hasn't gone after a week I go back, then they give me antibiotics and it goes within 24 hrs.

He doesn't wheeze- it seem to be only his throat. He regularly says that his mouth hurts.

He has had more bouts of it than I can count. Since July he has been well for about three weeks in total.

He doesn't sleep well at all and wakes every hour crying throughout the night, but settles after a drink. He doesn't eat properly at all as it hurts him to swallow- he didn't take much milk as a baby either. Writing this down makes me realise the severity of it- if I was reading this from someone else I'd be telling them to push to see a consultant.

I am a SAHM, mainly because my DH is away a lot and it was getting impossible for me to work as I kept having to take time off, as DH can't. So DS goes to preschool two mornings a week but otherwise is with me.

[lyndie]

Is he at nursery? The 'normal' number of bugs per year at this age is 10-12 which basically means as soon as they've got over one the next one comes along. They do grow out of it!

[peachypips]

We have just got cats- so recently that it can't be that I don't think.

[3littlefrogs]

I would be pushing for an ENT consult.
Difficulty swallowing and frequent tonsillitis might mean he has very enlarged tonsils.

What about his growth?

[incywincyspideragain]

I was thinking ENT too, does he have glue ear? Not all children get ear infections that cause perforation (my 3 didn't) but could be low level infection especially with swollen glands, glue ear can cause the discomfort an behaviour issues you are seeing too
Hope you find out what it is or it passes x

[peachypips]

He is slim but not short. Not worryingly thin though. We have noticed that his development slows when he is poorly then accelerates when he is well.

I think I need to get serious with the doc.

[peachypips]

I've had his ears checked and she said nothing...

[peachypips]

A massive thank you to those that replied- it really made me realise how bad things have got.

I took him to open surgery this morning and was very clear about how he has been. She looked at his tonsils and said they were so big she couldn't see beyond them. She gave me a ten day course of antibiotics and said she will refer him to the ENT specialist at Exeter hospital. She thinks that the reason he never sleeps well is because his tonsils are obscuring his airway so he jolts awake.

Thank you so much for making me realise I needed to push harder!

[3littlefrogs]

Thank goodness for that. Sometimes you have to be a little bit pushy

What she said makes perfect sense. If your Ds is struggling with lack of sleep/disturbed sleep it is no wonder he succumbs to every bug going and is miserable and tired. He has probably had these massive tonsils since he was born. That would explain a lot.

Good luck with the referral.