OT - Strep "Throat" as a Stomachache

[adamsamuel]

My daughter rarely has a sore throat when she has strep - usually just vomiting and an upset stomach and sometimes a headache. It took a while for her doc to think of taking a strep test. Now every time she gets an upset stomach w/ vomiting we know to take her to the doc and have strep test taken.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My kids have different symptoms with strep - and we've had a lot of strep. Dd8's tonsils were removed last spring break and she's been strep free since. She always got the sore throat but otherwise seemed fine - maybe a low grade fever but not always. Ds10 however, gets really sick - high fever and vomitting - but has never had a sore throat with it. Amazingly since dd's tonsils came out, ds hasn't had it either.

 

[Fjobe]

My DS had strep repeatedly, and usually the first symptoms were vomiting and fever spike. The only thing that helped was getting the antibiotics and clearing up (or subsiding) the strep for a little while. It kept coming back, so after a year of battling strep (with about a 4 month break in the middle of that year), he had his tonsils out. That worked like a charm. The one thing I always thought was strange is that no one else in the house contracted strep from DS.

 

[mommyjam]

We had a child in my preschool class last year that kept tesiting positive for strep even though he didnt have a sore throat, and it turned out he was a "strep carrier" he always had strep in his mouth even though it was not causing an infection. He could be perfectly healthy or even if he was sick with something else, he would always test positive for strep, even though it was not the problem.

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

When I was a kid I actually had a case of strep infect my abdominal lymph nodes. I was doubled over in pain after throwing up for 24 hours. The cure was a huge shot of penicillin followed by the regular routine course of anti-biotics.

It was the worst case of strep I ever had and never had the sore throat. It took the extra drugs to cure it so it might be worth another trip to the Dr. to have it looked at if he is still not better.

 

[clanmcculloch]

For those who see a rash with strep, it's not all that uncommon. Scarlet fever is a rash that is caused by strep.

DD13 is difficult to catch strep in. She doesn't get a sore throat or even a fever. She gets joint pain and MAJOR irritability and her autistic issues are more prominent. She's actually right now on a 4 month course of antibiotics for it and has a tentative diagnosis of PANDAS which is a form of OCD caused by strep (can you believe that strep can do that?). Never a fever or sore throat though, but a definite strep culture and antibodies. There is no single presentation for strep, but the most common presentation is the one people think of as the only one when it's not.

 

[rapunzelmom]

I am a pediatric nurse pracitioner (20yrs) and strep throat has five symptoms:
head ache, fever, abdominal pain, joint pain and sore throat. You can have any combo of the above... as for why abdominal pain, it is because the lymph nodes in your abdomen become inflamed along with your tonsils which are lymph tissue.

 

[NYEmomma]

I don't have any advice as far as treating strep throat but the only times in my life I have EVER puked has been when I've had strep throat. Thank god I've been lucky and have only had it twice because I am so terrified of vomit!

 

[noahdove]

More times than not, children have a tummy ache and headache, maybe not both but one or the other. They also may get a rash, nothing to be alarmed about, it's just a "strep" rash. My one daughter had strep and had no syptoms and I knew something was wrong where as the other one had fever, red throat with white spots. Also, their breath smells awful. I can it strep breath. I learned these things from working in our health office