Strep symptoms

[jeaniebueller]

Has your child ever had strep with weird symptoms? DD tested positive for it today, no sore throat or fever, throat was a little red. She has been having nausea and stomach pain at night the last two days and anxiety attack like symptoms, feels cold but no fever. The doctor tested her for strep just because of her red throat and other kids locally having it. Anyone else have an experience like this?

[mccallister84]

Yes stomach ache is a common strep symptom in kids.

My younger DD gets classic strep symptoms - high fever and sore throat, my older gets the stomach ache and nothing else. DD2 is more susceptible to it so usually she gets it first and then when DD1 starts with the stomach pain we know to get her tested.

[livinitup]

I’ve tested positive for strep 2x with no symptoms except fatigue (I tested twice when DD had full blown cases). It never progressed to a fever or throat pain, etc. I didn’t get prescribed antibiotics. And I could still be contagious. It’s not unusual for kids to have a range of symptoms while their bodies are fighting the infection. You’re smart to be on top of it and to keep an eye on the symptoms and treat those for comfort. With nausea, I’d be worried about oral meds but they might tolerate it well with some food.

[countthestars]

Yes, this happened to both DS and myself a couple of years ago - only stomach issues, no throat pain. I hope she feels better soon!

[sdlaura]

Yep! I have had strep 3 times ever, twice in the past year. Our pediatrician says it’s been really bad the last couple years. We all have different symptoms, including stomach ones for the kids.

The first time I had it this year, my throat didn’t even hurt. I just had insane fatigue. Like I was cold while laying on the couch and couldn’t will myself to move 5 feet to grab the blanket on the other side of the couch. And achiness. The second time I had it I felt like I had razor blades in my throat but the rest of me felt perfectly fine.

The good news with strep is the test is so fast and if you/uour kids get on antibiotics you/they feel great the next day. I’m also afraid of missing strep since it can cause heart and neurological issues if untreated.

[jeaniebueller]

Sept 3, 2024 20:55:44 GMT -5 livinitup said:

I’ve tested positive for strep 2x with no symptoms except fatigue (I tested twice when DD had full blown cases). It never progressed to a fever or throat pain, etc. I didn’t get prescribed antibiotics. And I could still be contagious. It’s not unusual for kids to have a range of symptoms while their bodies are fighting the infection. You’re smart to be on top of it and to keep an eye on the symptoms and treat those for comfort. With nausea, I’d be worried about oral meds but they might tolerate it well with some food.

I thought she was having panic attacks and just brought her in to rule out anything physical. I never in a million years thought it was strep. It’s interesting.

[joy]

Yes!

I had strep like that myself in my twenties. The anxiety was so bizarre.

Last year, my daughter was having low fevers off and on for about a week and a half. I brought her in and they did a whole check and found nothing of note. We discussed tick-borne illnesses and how far we should go down that rabbit hole. Before leaving, she said she’d do a strep and flu test because why not.

I got a call thirty min later that she had strep and the antibiotic script was sent to the pharmacy. Floored.

[redpenmama]

Yes, my kids have had nausea/stomach pain and minimal sore throats from strep, typically when they were younger. I recall our pedi saying strep can pass as gastro issues in younger kids.

My oldest had it over the weekend and it was a terrible sore throat and nothing else, but she's had a lot of fatigue/aches in previous cases (with less of a sore throat). It feels like it's a different set of symptoms every time someone gets it in our house, and we, unfortunately, have it often.

[janegold]

My kids tend to get primarily GI symptoms with viruses; even with COVID, their only symptoms were vomiting.

My youngest had a little bug a month ago and vomited, and the pedi tested her for strep; she said it's a common symptom.

[hermione]

C's strep always presents as a headache and/or stomach ache.

[waverly]

DS's strep presented as throat clearing. I took him in the first time because it was right before his heart surgery, so I needed him to be well for the surgery.

The second time he started throat clearing, I took him to urgent care and told them that he has strep. They didn't really believe me, but they swabbed him and sure enough strep.

[osulori]

Both my kids had it last year. Kid #1 had the headache, fatigue, and decreased appetite, and started the fever overnight. I wouldn't have thought to get him tested if my sister hadn't pointed out that my nephew's symptoms had been similar when he had it a few months before that. He never had a sore throat, and was fairly disgusted that I took him to get tested because he was convinced he didn't have it. The joke was on him, I guess. His tonsils were a bit swollen but the urgent care doc didn't think he had it.

Kid #2 had the fever, fatigue and stomachache from the get go, they came on pretty suddenly. It was a few months after Kid #1 had it so my spidey senses kicked in and I had her at the pedi the next morning. She had super angry looking tonsils with the white patches and all, but swore her throat didn't hurt-she was 4 at the time but good about telling us if something hurts so I believe her. The pedi said if her rapid strep hadn't already come back positive those tonsils would have been a dead giveaway.

I hope she feels better soon!

[Susie]

I learned on this board that it's pretty common for strep to present in kids with nausea/vomiting.  I always had it as the "feels like swallowing shards of glass" sore throat as a kid.

As an adult I had it a few summers ago and it was initially mis-dx'ed as an ear infection.  I went back when it didn't clear as expected, and they dx'ed it as strep.  

In sum bodies are weird.

[meanie]

I know someone who's kids get strep a lot, they always have weird symptoms like nausea and throwing up. 

You should have the results back soon though if they did the rapid test.

[felicity]

Yes, I think it's somewhat common to have strep without the typical throat symptoms. The one time DS had it, he vomited once on the first day, and then several days with the only symptom being fatigue. No fever or throat symptoms. I finally took him to the doctor when the fatigue wasn't getting better.

[karinothing]

My kid gets stomach pain and a fever.

[pierogigirl]

Yes. DS1 has never had "normal" strep. He's had Scarlet Fever and never had regular strep symptoms. He's never really had a sore throat with strep. When he was little, we knew if he had a fever that could not be well controlled to bring him in for a strep test. Both kids complain of stomach aches with strep (but DS2 always gets the sore throat).

[jeaniebueller]

Update: she missed 3 days of school. Her stomach/nausea was her biggest complaint. She still felt not 100% all weekend, went to school Monday and was fine. My H started feeling under the weather Saturday afternoon, and it developed into noravirus (as far as I can tell) and he’s still recovering. So it’s been an exciting week.

[waverly]

We played the is it strep or is it norovirus game a while ago. It was norovirus which was my least favorite.

[whattheheck]

Wow. I was just in the ER last night with DD. I was convinced she was having a panic attack - difficulty breathing, chest pain, etc. when she got to the ER all her vitals were normal and the doctor was basically treating her for a panic/anxiety attack. We had been there less than an hour when she spiked to 103 and itchy. Doc started testing for a bunch of stuff and gave her an ekg and heart ultrasound. Everything came back negative including strep but she’s on a strong antibiotic for a skin infection so maybe that affected the test. I’ll keep an eye on things.

[lillaguma]

Both my kids (and H) had strep this summer at different times, and neither had a sore throat or fever. Both had a dry cough that wouldn't go away as their main symptom.

[pugz]

My kid has had a recurrent strep rash since June. I am losing my mind. It just keeps returning.