# High fever and fast pulse in toddler?



## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

The night before last my daughter woke up with a very high fever. We gave her a bottle and put her back to bed. But since then she has continued to have this 103-104+ fever. She's drinking tons, barely eating (which I know is normal), and just laying there looking half alive. The poor thing keeps trying to pretend like she has energy, but she just doesn't. She just looks really aweful (glassy eyes, pale skin, red cheeks, ect). Anything that I should be concerned about or looking out for? She is 19 months, unvaxed, I haven't given her any Tylenol, and she's really skinny so I always get extra nervous when she's sick. Thanks

Btw, I forgot to mention before that her heart rate has been really fast since this fever started. Is that a normal way for her body to fight the fever? Or should that big a big clue to me that something is really wrong? My husband keeps assuring me that she's fine, but her pulse just seems so fast on top of everything else. What should I do?


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## littlest birds (Jul 18, 2004)

Well, definitely not for no reason! Though I guess that's not exactly what you meant.

Clearly, she is fighting something off and the primary or first symptom is the fever.

I don't know if this is relevant, but I have noticed that my son will get higher fevers with fewer other symptoms and a shorter total duration of illness, when the other children will get less and lower fever and more mucous and other symptoms, and often have a longer duration of illness even when it is clear that they are catching the same virus. It is as if his body favors fever as an immune response more than other individuals. He often gets high fever and gets very flushed and dazed when the others don't, and sleeps a LOT more when he is sick. He gets better faster, usually.

The high fever at the beginning is usually a flu symptom, I think, and may go along with head aching/general body aching that you don't perceive. I don't know of any vaccine-preventable diseases it might indicate.


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## littlest birds (Jul 18, 2004)

I would be nursing a lot and giving her lots of water as you already are, and helping her rest. A damp, cool--but not cold, washcloth on her face might be comforting, as are lukewarm baths if she is in the mood.

I personally do give fever-reducers when I feel that it makes a big difference in how comfortable my child feels with an extremely high temperature--though I don't do so constantly during an illness. I don't know your feeling on giving them, or whether parents who avoid them would have other good advice. I hope they will add their voices and wisdom.


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

Well she has looked pretty miserable, but hasn't been fussing or anything. So I haven't seen the need for Tylenol yet (though I rarely find a need to give it). She seems content to just sleep on daddy. I'm pregnant, so I know that I'm extra emotional and irrational. But she's just freaking me out looking so sickly. I mean, she just looks bad. I'm sure that she's fine though. No cold symptoms or anything like that. I did feel achey/fluish yesterday and have been a tad queasy today. Maybe we do have a small flu? Thanks for the advice.


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## Justhere (Apr 3, 2006)

Small children tend to get fast hearbeat/pulses when running a high temp like that. Its normal, she should be fine.


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## supercrunch (Jul 9, 2004)

I think we're fighting something similar. My ds has had a fever since yesterday morning. Last night it got up to 105.3







. I woke him up to give him some tylenol and he was responsive and wanted water, so we decided to give it a half hour before taking him to the ER.
Luckily it went down to 104.4 within a half hour, and was down to 101 within 2 hours. I made an appointment with the ped today to see what's going on in his little body.

He doesn't have any other symptoms, other than an enlarged lymphnode on one side of his neck. When his fever is under control, he is happy an playing.

I hope your little one is feeling better soon!!


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## Annelina (Feb 16, 2003)

Well I've always though fever is a good thing and have not medicated it unless my children seemed to be in a lot of pain. My son (16 months, he also very small, under 20 pounds) seems to have a tendency to get high fevers so when he got one last week I was not concerned. His pulse was also very fast.

Unfortunately he went into a febrile/fever seizure and it was horrendous. We ended up calling an ambulance because we didn't know what it was and his pulse was 160 and his temp was 104 at arrival to the hospital. He got some Tylenol at the hospital and I felt like kicking myself in a major way that I didn't give it to him at home, we could have prevented the seizure and all the other unpleasantness. Now that he's had one seizure he is more likely to get more. So in your case I guess I would not hesitate to give her a pain reliever/fever reducer.


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