Child Has Fever And Rashes All Over Body. Feeling Weak And Chest Pain. What's Wrong?

Posted on Mon, 4 Mar 2013

Question: Hi, my daughter has been having some very bizarre symptoms lately and we can't figure out the cause. She is 11. About 4 wks she had a fever of 102.5 for 1 night, then lower next day, then it was gone. She was very weak and tired easilly for about 2 wks afterwards. One day her left arm was numb and hurting for about 30 mins. The weakness continued and she had a rash on her body, and especially on her upper arms and legs, esp when she ate food like pickles. Doctor sent us for blood tests and said maybe she 's been too stressed. Blood tests showed low levels of Vitamin D, her energy seemed to resume. Then on Friday she woke up to a burning pain on left side of chest, also her face and ears keep getting red. I don't know what to do?

Answered by Dr. Gopal Krishna Dash (2 hours later)

Hello,

Thanks for posting this query.

I have noted all your complaints. Please find my response below.

From the outset, I feel your daughter suffered an episode of viral infection. The rashes and symptoms before and after fever are likely to be related. However there may be other reasons for those individual symptoms. A few conditions which I associate are:

1. Fever with left arm numbness can be due to neurological cause. It could have been due to compression of a nerve. A remote possibility of demyelinating disease secondary to viral infections exists. I hope the symptoms numbness has resolved. Else it warrants further evaluation.
2. The rash which you have described may be related to allergy or the same viral infection.
3. The burning pain in the chest, face and ear, especially when it has become red can point towards an allergic process.

In brief, should any of her complaints persist, I would suggest you to visit a medical centre with multidisciplinary facility for detailed evaluation.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need further assistance.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Gopal Krishna Dash (46 hours later)

Thank u for your answer. It makes a lot of sense. What bothers me is that she keeps complaining of different symptoms all the time: head hurts, eyes feel funny, upper chest paIn, some unexplainable dot on the palm of her hand,stomach pain. She is constantly crying and tells me she just can't stop herself from worrying, she gets these worry feelings that she doesn't know how to control. None of my reaSsurances seem to help much. People keep telling me and her that she looks sick. Meanwhile all her bloodwork was fine and doctor listened to her lungs and heart (pediatrician). Are there other tests I should request? Or is it more psychological now. I don't know what to do. She's clearly miserable and worried. I have trouble sleeping myself and keep worrying about her. Do u have any advice for me?

Answered by Dr. Gopal Krishna Dash (8 minutes later)

Thanks for the update
I have noted your observation
All these look like psychological to me
I don't feel that further investigation will yield
My advice will be to get the opinion of a psychologist/psychiatrist who will help her
Best wishes

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar