How do you determine when to go to the doctor?

[cleo27]

I mean this either for yourself or for your child. The last 2 times I have gone for myself, I have been told it is just a virus. Also, the last time I took DD, I was told the same thing. With DD, she ended up getting a lot sicker a week later and was prescribed an antibiotic. Today ,I went to the doctor for me because I was running a fever of 100.5 last night and have had a bad cough and sore throat for a few days.

I hate feeling like I am wasting the doctors time. I don't think I am a hypochondriac, but I feel like if there is a fever involved, or if there is (TMI) greenish colored nose/throat secretions, that is when I assumed we should go to the doctor. Also, my work is very inflexible about calling in sick (we get occurences for each time we call out, that are part of our evaluations), so maybe I feel like if I call out, I need to "make the most of it"?

What is your personal criteria for calling the doctor, for yourself or DC?

Thanks!

[Lynnie]

Mine are like yours, although generally I'll let the fever be higher than 100.

And then, I get tired of being told its a virus, rest and drink fluids, so the next time I wait TOO long, and the doc scolds me for not going in sooner. These days if I am on the fence, I try to talk to a nurse first, and describe my (or more often the case, my child's) symptoms and kinda let her make the call.

[Momof3Labs]

My rule of thumb for myself is 7-10 days of yuck, or a couple of days of being so sick that I am stuck in bed. I'm a little quicker to bring the kids in (moreso for an infant) but still don't go in too fast; IMO they are exposed to too much crud when they go into a doctor's office, and usually what they have is something that they can shake on their own (virus, etc.). If a fever comes down with Tylenol, or they are acting pretty normally even with a fever, I won't take them in. We haven't had problems with ear infections, but if I saw signs of one, I'd be quicker to go in. Dehydration is another big worry; I'd take them right in for that.

It's a judgement call, really, and depends on your level of comfort, too!

[kijip]

My rule of thumb is to call the doctor/nurse line whenever I am unsure if I should or not. They can usually help me decide over the phoine if it is worth a visit.

[hudsonam]

I personally only go if I'm having unusually horrible symptoms, more than a standard fever, runny nose, sore throat, etc, because otherwise it's just going to run its course on its own.

For DS, I go when he's not eating, not acting himself, or of course has a really high temp.

[sidmand]

I've been trying to figure that out myself! I'm slower to go in for myself, that's for sure. And many times I figure what is the doctor going to do/say that I'm not already doing (taking Tylenol, sleeping, liquids, etc.)?

But for DS I'm not too sure yet. Right now he has a fever that I think is a reaction to getting shots. He had it yesterday and if he had had it today too, I was definitely going to call. If it had gone higher I would have called too. But until then, I figure, again, they are going to tell me infant Tylenol, make sure he doesn't get dehydrated, etc.

If he wasn't acting like himself (which he is kind of) or showing signs of dehydration or his fever spiked, yes. It's a tough call. I think calling the nurse and running through the symptoms is a good idea to see what they think. Of course they can't always tell either. When DS had salmonella we called with his symptoms and they told us he sounded sick and just...give him Tylenol, make sure he didn't get dehydrated, sleep. In their defense, who would've expected an 8-month-old to have salmonella, but that's to say I think mama instincts are pretty darn good when something is really wrong.

Debbie
http://b2.lilypie.com/BI7Tm5.png

[chlobo]

I wish my DDs nurse's line was that good. They *always* tell me to come in, no matter what.

[Lovingliv]

For the baby, I call almost everyday. Ok, not everyday but I swear it feels like it. Anytime she has a cough that does not go away in 5 days, or if she may be getting dehydrated...I call. Then the nurse will triage her and if she thinks the baby needs to be seen, we go in.

For myself, I go in only when i am miserable.

[ajmom]

For the children, if I'm really concerned, I'll call and let the pedi make the decision. Our pedi. is good about not asking us to come in every single time if he thinks the illness is viral. Generally, if my children run fever (even high fever), but have relatively few other worrisome symptoms, it's typicaly viral and a trip to the pedi would be a waste of time. If I do call, he'll give me an honest opinion, but ask that we call back within a certain number of days if the symptoms are not improving or appear to be worsening. I do take them in if they get bad sounding coughs that don't improve after a few days- we've had bouts of RSV and had to purchase a nebulizer, so I'm careful about respiratory illnesses. I also call if the children have been sick and it's near the weekend. Our pedi works some Saturdays and the other pedi in the practice is there the other Saturdays, so if we had an emergency I could go in, but I try to take care of it before then, just in case- I don't want to wait 2 extra days if I think it's really something.

For myself, I'm really not ever sick enough to go in- if I run low grade fevers, runny nose, sore throat, etc. I just self-medicate! If my throat really starts to get bad, I'll go in. Back in the fall, I had several bouts of vomiting and diarrhea with dizzy spells and severe nausea and I went in for that, but since then, mostly I only go to my regular OB appointments!

[rsgmommy]

I have a different perspective on this, as my dh is a doctor (Family Practice- sees alot of Peds patients) and from listening to him talk to patients on the phone, this is what I've gathered:

There is no magic temp,or symptom; it is more a general "feel" of how your child is doing. And you, the mom, should be better equipped to determine that than anyone. My dd can run a pretty high temp, but she acts fine- I know not to worry. If one of my dc gets lethargic, blurry eyed, just "off", I know we have a problem.

But, as dh tells worried parents at 3 am "If you have any question, take them to the ER- better safe than sorry."

HTH,

Rebekka