It was a Sunday night. I woke up amidst my sleep because of some moment beside me. My son was shivering. I put my hand on his head and I found out that he was having fever. It was the beginning of the illness.
His voice was a little changed for a few days which was a sign of sore throat. He is asthmatic and changing weather always causes him allergy. That’s why I thought that the allergy was the reason behind his illness.
I took him to the doctor next day. He gave his own mixture syrup (the one that doctors prepare at their clinic by mixing several medicines) and recommended an antibiotic medicine.
In his life journey of 7 years, my son has taken too much antibiotics, so I avoid giving him such syrups as much as possible. I gave him the doctor’s syrup only along with a syrup for cough. It proved enough for dismissing his fever.
The next two days went pretty well. In the evening of the third day his body started giving symptoms of tiredness which was followed by fever the next morning.
The returning of the fever made me think that there was a need of antibiotic. As soon as I poured the syrup in his mouth, he vomited. He cried that the taste was so bad and he wouldn’t take it again. His complaint for the taste was strange in a sense that he has taken the syrup many times before but he never reacted with this much disgust.
Along with fever, he developed complaints of chest pain. Actually, the pain that he was claiming to be in chest was actually in upper abdomen. He vomited several times that day.
The vomits and the abdomen pain alarmed me that the illness might be Hepatitis A (Jaundice). I could read those symptoms because my (9 years old) elder son had had the illness a month ago. Even my elder son told me, “Mamma he is having the same complaints I had. I think he has jaundice.”
I examined his eyes. They were not pale. I asked him about the urine colour which he said was yellower than normal. It was enough to ensure me that the illness was Jaundice.
I took him to the doctor again. I told the doctor about yellow-coloured urine, vomit, abdomen pain and my doubt about the diagnosis. The doctor examined his eyes and said that it was not Jaundice. I told him about the alteration in sense of taste. The doctor said it happens in Jaundice but there are no signs in eyes or body. Anyways, he added a syrup for vomiting and also recommended to continue the antibiotic.
Blood test is a way for the diagnosis. I didn’t want to go for it. I had a scary experience with my elder son the previous month. He fainted during the test. The previous year there was a blood test of my younger one. It was arduous too. He cried and resisted a lot. So I didn’t go for any test. Neither doctor had recommended by then.
Though there were no signs of paleness in eyes but the experience with my elder son had guided me that it takes about 8 to 10 days for the paleness to appear in eyes. That’s why I didn’t wait for such a symptom. The other symptoms were enough for me to believe that the illness was Jaundice.
That’s why I didn’t give antibiotic to him despite the doctor’s recommendation. Antibiotic medicines are prohibited in Hepatitis A as they effect negatively. Instead, I started treating my son with the medicines used by my elder son during his illness.
The following days proved me to be right. The paleness started appearing in his eyes followed by skin.
I had a tougher time with my younger son as compared to the elder one. He had initially refused to take the medicine that proved to be the most effective in the treatment. (I will share soon in another post which medicine that is and how I discovered about it). Also, he was not taking the needful food like fresh juices and boiled vegetables. His symptoms had worsened but thankfully later he agreed to take the effective medicine. It helped in the recovery.
In this case, a mother (I) diagnosed and treated the illness herself without any lab tests and doctor’s recommendations. In fact, you can see the doctor’s recommendation of antibiotic was even a wrong measure.
Self medication is often portrayed as an unhealthy habit. Nevertheless, I have observed cases where mothers prove to be better at the diagnosis and treatment of their kids' illness. My mom once treated the typhoid fever of my brother herself.
Self-medication can be a bad idea, but sometimes doctors can make mistakes too. It's important to trust your own knowledge and judgment when you have symptoms and decide if the treatment they suggest is right for you.
■■■■■☆■■■■■
Image by publicdomainpictures on Pixabay.com