She's home again today. She has been sick off and on for over a month now. It started with strep throat. I was treating with belladonna 30c and she was recovering, but we kept our dr's appt and I decided to do a round of abx because strep has permanently scarred two of my grandparents. I treated myself too.

Two weeks later, the strep was back. Treated again with abx.

Throughout all of this we have been supporting her homeopathically and herbally and nutritionally.

Went back after 5 days on the abx - strep was negative, and they did a CBC (complete blood count) that showed everything normal. Her iron is 12.6 - normal. They said she had a virus, too.

It is a week later and she is still totally wiped. I sent her to school most of the time and she was fine, but she lays around a lot at home and she is cranky and listless. Not her usual self at all. She begged to stay home yesterday and I sent her because I had to get back to work; I have missed so much because I have been sick, too. She begged harder today and I let her. Always in the morning her ear temp is 99.8ish - normal for her is 98.0ish.

She has dark circles under her eyes which I know can be from seasonal allergies. I'm wondering if her other symptoms could be mostly allergies. They are stomach aches, "my hands and feet ache," "my legs ache," mostly. She does have a clear runny nose and itchy eyes and skin a lot. Right now is peak allergy season.

Sigh. I'm taking her to see a classical homeopath on April 9th. How do I get through until then? Today I will make her chamomile/catnip/lemon balm tea and possibly alternate with a nourishing tea like red raspberry/nettles/alfalfa. I have elderberry syrup that we were using for a while there. She eats well, though is picky/eats less lately.

Lauren, I'd take her back to the dr.

Strep is pretty nasty and it can cause other body systems to have problems.

If she were my daughter and just had strep, I'd take her back.

:big hug:

Mono??

Suzie, when I took her a week ago, they assured me she still didn't have strep. She says her throat doesn't hurt anymore, today, anyway.

Bethany, I am wondering about mono. My dh has been feeling awful and actually collapsed at work on Friday. He refuses to go get bloodwork done; he asks, what's the point? But I'm wondering if we all have mono...my spleen has been a little achey and dh says he can "feel" his there, even though it doesn't hurt, so it might be enlarged. We both have had mono before - I had it so bad, I was on my back for two whole months and was sick with recurrent strep for about a year afterward. (I was twelve.)

The blood draw last week was so horrific, I don't know if I can go through it again, or if we should just wait it out, assuming it's mono.

I think if her labs were normal last time, I wouldn't go through it again unless her symptoms get worse or fever goes up. I'm guessing something viral, and we all know there isn't anything allopathic we can do to help that except supportive care. I think once you've had mono though, you have immunity, so that doesn't explain your symptoms. Being sick for so long is such a drag!!

Suzie, when I took her a week ago, they assured me she still didn't have strep. She says her throat doesn't hurt anymore, today, anyway.



After a strep infection, the kidneys can get inflamed.

Acute Glomerulonephritis (AGN).

This is followed by a strep infection. It usually affects children ages 3-7 yrs.

Does she have swelling in her lower extremities, dark urine, overall feeling terrible? Of course, this could be a million different things....but since she has just had strep and is still feeling bad...???

I would get checked for mono. A typical blood test does not show it. You also mentioned she is back on gluten. Remove it. That could also cause some of her symptoms. Also, de-yeast her.

I'd treat her for seasonal allergies. Allergies together with getting over being sick could totally wipe you out.

Dh uses this brand for seasonal allergies, works great:
http://www.myhealthcare21.com/brands.asp?brand_Id=80

She does have bad seasonal allergies and yeah, she is back on gluten and it's going to be a fight to remove it again. :(

Thanks for the link to that product, Allison. I think I might give her the single homeopathic remedy that most closely matches her symptoms, from the list that's in that remedy, today to see if that helps any.

I am so tired myself right now. She went to lie down. I just want us all to feel better already. This stinks.

:big hug: :big hug: :big hug:

Hope you all feel better soon.

Sounds like mono to me. You may want to check her liver and spleen and see if either are enlarged or tender....

Thanks...Denise I did check her liver and spleen, they seem fine. As I said, mine is twinging, but it could just be my autoimmune stuff.

At one point they thought my autoimmune stuff might have been sparked by a strep infection, so I am worried about that with her. She rested *all* day, really she spent 70% of the day in bed, and tonight her temp was normal again. (I'm not a tempature taking freak usually, but I'm using it as an indicator of whether her body is all revved up or not.)

So I'm a little concerned she could have the same thing - some sort of autoimmune process - going on. Here is how she describes the past week to me: "When I wake up my feet hurt, and my legs a little, my hands and right HERE" (she points to her inner elbows). "I feel so achey and tired in the mornings. Then I feel better, and in the afternoon my stomach aches."

If it were just seasonal allergies, I'd think she'd feel better in the mornings, because she sleeps in a sealed allergy-proof room with a HEPA filter. She wakes up sick, and starts to feel better as the day goes on.

She is very itchy and has a runny nose so there are definitely some allergies going on.

I'm not sure about the mono. Could be, but then dh and I, who've had it already, why would we also be pooped?

I guess it's probably a mysterious virus...

Oh and yeast...we definitely fought that with her for most of 2004. For her it shows up vaginally right away, and is definitely correlated with horrible, nasty behavior. We treated with everything possible but what finally got rid of it was pau d'arco tincture in the bath AND most importantly, thyme EO, just a drop or two of red not white, in a tbsp of sweet almond oil. She applies this anytime she feels it getting itchy and it's kept it well at bay for several months now and through the recent double round of abx (she's only had abx one other time in her life). She also takes probiotics daily. It still could be flaring up, but I'd be surprised if it did in the absence of her feeling itchy down there.

I did give her pau d'arco for a few days internally as well, when we were fighting yeast, which just jogged my memory, that it is good for both viral stuff and autoimmune stuff, and she likes it in tea with elderberries. I think I will make her some for the next few days. ;)

If she's just through this big of an ordeal, her body just might be taxed out, and vulnerable to "sub" infections- not quite clinically obvious, just not pleasant. And even if she hasn't any sub- infections, disease takes it out of you- you don't run a marathon, and then sprin back into training the next morning.

Anyway, you've read enough eighteenth century literature- the hero or heroine fights off an infection, and then takes a rest for a while- a fortnight visit to some dull haunt, or the seaside, or something? Then they eat well, take occasional hikes, and just kind of revive? You might want to consider something like this? Send her to a grandmother, invent a family emergency, and send schoolwork with her? Something?

That's why penicillin was such a miracle- not just living through things, but the quick turn around, and teh springing back to vivid health. Fifties black and white films with the cheesy revival scene- it really was dramatic and amazing, not silly and taken for granted.

ari

Your daughter has the exact same symptoms I experience whenever I eat anything with wheat or gluten. I have celiac and experience these symptoms immediately whenever I have eaten any.

I would take her off of the wheat and gluten and see if helps her at all.

As far as the yeast is concerned it can manifest itself not only vaginally but systemically.

Here is a great website that you might want to check out.

I hope your dd is feeling better soon.

www.wholeapproach.com

Naturesmom, thank you, I am wondering about gluten, since she has been off of it and is now back on. She's terribly skinny, too, and I'm wondering if I ought to push for testing for celiac now that she is at least eating gluten and has been for a few months. It just seems like her reaction is very delayed - it takes several months of eating gluten before she shows symptoms, it seems. (We have been off and on it a few times now.)

I know that yeast can be systemic, but my experience with her is it always shows first vaginally/externally, then eventually she shows systemic symptoms, so I'm having a hard time attributing her symptoms to yeast now. It just doesn't fit with her yeast symptoms in the past.

I really appreciate all the ideas and input. Thanks for the link, too.

well here is another link that might help you.

It breaks down candida and gluten symptoms

http://www.candidapage.com/cccomp.shtml

Thanks, that helps. Especially this:
Low grade fever - Not a known celiac symptom.

It is raining today - pollen levels are down to 6 out of 12 vs. 10 out of 12 on the scale - and she feels much, much better. So my best guess at this point is seasonal allergies combined with getting over a major bout of strep, being on major amounts of antibiotics for the first time ever, and a nasty virus that came on the heels of all that. Put like that, it sounds like enough to knock anyone out. I'm sure consuming a suspected allergen isn't helping though.

Lauren, are the orange trees blossoming where you are? I think that is the reason I feel so achy and tired. It happens every year; we're a big citrus town. I took a Claritin today and feel much better.

I hope all of you feel better soon!

Kimberly

:monkeydan

Glad she is feeling better today.

Thanks Suzie. She is still feeling better, so I hope it's over, whatever it was! Although again it's a lower-pollen day.

Kimberly, citrus is done here...it flowers Dec-Feb here. It's the live oaks that are flowering now, and dropping pollen everywhere. We have 50 of them in our yard.

Just an update...she's better. But I think allergies complicated her recovery, for sure. And I forget that I was sick and she was well, she was well and Jake was sick, and then she was sick and we were all trying to get back into the swing of things, probably too quickly.

Anyway I am taking her back off of gluten, and I have her on Singulair now to help with allergies.

:thumbsup:

So glad for the update. I've been thinking about her.

:big hug: