Has your child ever had pneumonia?

[circa1978]

Henry has had pneumonia five times - all before the age of three. In all cases, it was detectable by the pedi by listening to his lungs and verified with a chest x-ray. It always came on suddenly with a very high fever (104+) and rapid breathing.

I would say, I knew something was off every single time he had it, even though it seemed impossible he'd get it so many times. I'd trust your gut and take him in this morning so the doc can at least take another listen to his lungs to see if anything has developed.

[broadsheet]

My DD1 did when she was 3. She was very low energy and had a bad cough, but wasn't so sick that we knew it was pneumonia. i would ask for the X-ray.

[read247]

My oldest had walking pneumonia once. I don't remember how old she was, and I'm not much help with symptoms as they were bad enough for a ped. visit but I just thought it was a bad cough and fever...I never suspected pneumonia at all until she was diagnosed. So if you're concerned, I say trust your feelings and either ask why an x-ray is needed (my DD was diagnosed without one) and/or get one.

[revolution]

DD had it in August.... She was 7. Hers was a horrid cough, fever and she just laid on the couch for days and days. I had taken her in and the pedi gave her an antibiotic for her cough. And it just kept getting worse. I took her back and they did a chest X-ray and saw the pneumonia. Switched her meds and she was on the mend shortly after that.

Sorry he's feeling bad. Id go in and get a chest X-ray if you haven't yet.

[revolution]

This has been going on since Sunday? I'd take him back in especially if his temp has been up there the whole time. And tell him you'd feel ok with the radiation from a single chest X-ray.

[Deleted]

Yes, and it came on without any symptom other than an insane fever.

[statgirl]

My son had it at 3 months. He wasn't sleeping well, wouldn't nurse, had some congestion, and spiked a fever that disappeared. The ER Doctor thought I was over-reacting but did a chest X-ray despite his lungs sounding clear. It was pneumonia and he was hospitalized for a few days. Since then, he gets chest X-rays when he "might" have pneumonia. He hasn't since.

If you are worried, take him in.

[obladi]

DD had it at 15 months. I would definitely take him in. Untreated pneumonia scares me more then the minimal risk of radiation exposure from only one chest x Ray. Although DD has had countless chest x rays in her young life so I might not be the best person to evaluate this risk.

[closertofine]

My 3 year old son has had it twice. The first time was Rsv gone worse, and the other just developed from a bad cold. He had x-rays both times. It cleared up easily, thankfully, once he got the proper treatment.

He's also had two sets of ear tubes and has asthma, so upper respiratory issues are his thing.

[gennyu]

May 5, 2016 5:23:57 GMT -5 read247 said:

My oldest had walking pneumonia once. I don't remember how old she was, and I'm not much help with symptoms as they were bad enough for a ped. visit but I just thought it was a bad cough and fever...I never suspected pneumonia at all until she was diagnosed. So if you're concerned, I say trust your feelings and either ask why an x-ray is needed (my DD was diagnosed without one) and/or get one.

Similar situation here. DS had pneumonia at age 4 but it presented with a low-grade fever and mild to moderate cough. I never suspected it was anything more than a cold and it was about a week before I finally took him in. Dr. was confident it was pneumonia based on listening to his lungs and determined we could skip the x-ray and just treat it.

The treatment will be the same whether he gets an x-ray or not so I would consider asking your Dr's opinion on skipping it if that is important to you.

[asoctoberfalls]

DS had it last November at 4. The first symptom was him complaining that his stomach hurt. He did this for several days before he developed a low-grade fever. A couple days after the fever started, he was wiped out. He wanted to sleep all the time and you could tell he just felt awful. We took him to the doctor at that point, and they didn't need to do an x-Ray - they confirmed it just by listening to his lungs.

The first antibiotic didn't work. We had to take him back and get another. Once he had the right antibiotic, he was feeling much better within 24 hours.

[jeaniebueller]

My DD did when she was 6 months old. It came on within hours. She had 103 fever, was lethargic. The ER doctor couldn't hear anything in her lungs and sent us on our way, telling us it was a virus. Luckily we already had a ped appointment scheduled for something unrelated that day and my ped ordered an X ray and that was how she was diagnosed. She was so, so, sick. It was really scary.

[jeaniebueller]

May 5, 2016 6:10:26 GMT -5 statgirl said:

My son had it at 3 months. He wasn't sleeping well, wouldn't nurse, had some congestion, and spiked a fever that disappeared. The ER Doctor thought I was over-reacting but did a chest X-ray despite his lungs sounding clear. It was pneumonia and he was hospitalized for a few days. Since then, he gets chest X-rays when he "might" have pneumonia. He hasn't since.

If you are worried, take him in.

Yeah, our stories are very similar. my friend (who was an ER nurse at a different hospital) could not believe the ER didn't do a chest Xray for an infant who presented with a high fever like that.

[statgirl]

May 5, 2016 8:07:53 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

May 5, 2016 6:10:26 GMT -5 statgirl said:

My son had it at 3 months. He wasn't sleeping well, wouldn't nurse, had some congestion, and spiked a fever that disappeared. The ER Doctor thought I was over-reacting but did a chest X-ray despite his lungs sounding clear. It was pneumonia and he was hospitalized for a few days. Since then, he gets chest X-rays when he "might" have pneumonia. He hasn't since.

If you are worried, take him in.

Yeah, our stories are very similar. my friend (who was an ER nurse at a different hospital) could not believe the ER didn't do a chest Xray for an infant who presented with a high fever like that.

The ER doctor just did the chest x-ray to placate me and because my son had meningitis at 2 weeks.  I went in and said that I thought something was up and to please just err on the cautious side because ds had a history of illness.  The ER doctor said he would do a chest x-ray but no bloodwork because that might just confuse the issue.  Well, after the x-ray, we got bloodwork, and after the bloodwork, we got admitted.  Twice since then I have asked them to be overly cautious and once was a virus and once was a double ear infection.  My kiddo stays really happy and doesn't present sick at all, so when he seems "off," I really worry. 

[revolution]

May 5, 2016 8:28:45 GMT -5 googled said:

Liking all your posts in commiseration and gratitude for sharing, not because your kids were sick, btw

How are you guys making out today?

[cuddlyevil]

DD had it back in 2009, she woke up one Saturday morning totally fine. But as the morning went on, I noticed she was acting weird. She told me her head hurt, but then she'd play for 20 minutes then go sit down and rest then play some more, then rest, over and over. It was after the pediatrician's office closed so I took her to UC at our children's hospital--the ED doc took her temp and listened to her chest, said she was just barely sounded "crunchy" (apparently her lung sounds were indicative of pneumonia) so they felt an x-ray wasn't necessary and put her on antibiotics. She was easily tired for about two months after and they said she probably wouldn't be 100 % for almost six months.

[pitta12]

My DD had a bad cough and fever when she was a toddler that they thought was pneumonia but in the end she got diagnosed with viral-induced asthma. Apparently the presentation is pretty similar, but steroids cleared her up right away. She did daily inhalers for a while but now only needs them if she gets a really bad cold, maybe 1-2x a year.