Question: Hello Dr. Ditah, I had asked you a few questions a week or so ago about my children possibly having the flu. You had felt that they did not have the flu and likely just colds. It seems your advice was correct as they both got over their sickness.

Unfortunately, we have all been sick around here the last 2 weeks. Just as one if us gets better another one gets sick. My 9 year old son was sick over the weekend of Feb. 17 (which I had asked you about). My 3 year old daughter is finally getting over a cold and low fever that lasted a week (which I had also asked you about!)

Yesterday I came down with a sore throat, fever and body aches.

Today my 9 year old son came home saying his legs hurt, he had a headache, he was very tired and he had a fever of 101.8. I took him to the doctor and he said he is not sure if we have all been passing germs back and forth, and that my son has a cold but since his legs hurt, he said he may have the flu. The doctor gave him tamiflu just in case. This has me very worried. Unfortunately I have a lot of anxiety around health issues and with all of the scary news stories about the flu, I have been terrified that my kids will get it. My son said that at school today they had Physical Education outside and that he did a lot of running in his boots. That was when he noticed the pain in his legs. He thought his legs hurt from running. I guess the doctor was just concerned that the flu could cause the leg pain. Anyway, I would appreciate any advice you can give me about how to care for him if he has the flu. When would I need to take him to the hospital? The doctor told me to bring him back in 3 days if he still has a fever. Also, do you know if Tamiflu has any side effects, especially in children? Thank you!

Dr. Ditah, as I mentioned I came down with a sore throat (does not hurt too much), a fever and aches yesterday. This evening as I am going to bed I am having waves of nausea and body sweats when the nausea. The odd thing is that I have had very little to eat or drink today. I can tell my stomach is empty and when the nausea subsides, my stomach will rumble like it is hungry but I really have no appetite. I am wondering if I could have the flu but honestly it has felt more like a cold overall. Does nausea often accompany flu in adults? If so, when would I need to going to the hospital? Could the nausea possibly be coming from the fact that I had very little to drink or eat today and I have had a fever? I must admit too that my nerves are not good. I am very concerned about my son. I am trying to remain calm and relaxed.

Is it possible that I have caught a stomach flu as well as a cold or the flu? I keep getting the waves of nausea every few minutes.

Hi Dr. Ditah, thank you so much for your help. I just want to give you an update. When I woke up this morning my throat hurt much worse than the past two days, my stomach was upset and I felt awful. I went to the doctor and tested positive for strep throat. She said that could explain why my stomach was feeling sick in the night. I have been put on 500mg of amoxicillin 3 times a day. Do you know how long it will take before I start to feel better?

While I was there I mentioned what my son has been going through and she asked me to bring him in to be tested for strep since I was positive. He ended up being positive as well which may explain why we both got sick within days of each other. She debated about what to do because his throat does not hurt but he has had a fever, chills, cough, decreased appetite but does not seem as ill as someone with the flu. She decided that since he tested positive for strep she would treat him with amoxicillin and asked us to stop giving him the Tamiflu as she did not want him to be over medicated. Today he has pretty much been himself, although not as hungry or active. I am a little nervous about stopping the tamiflu although I agree that he does not seem as ill as you would expect someone with the flu to be. If all he has is strep, I am assuming he will start to feel better in a couple of days? If he is not better by Friday should I take him back? Also, I was just wondering if it is common for strep throat to upset your stomach either in adult or child? Thank you!


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Hello again Dr. Ditah, I just have another question about my strep throat. I have only had 2 pills so far today so I am sure I cannot expect to feel better yet. I still have a fever, aches and my throat still hurts. My stomach is still upset as well. Can I expect that all of my symptoms will start to clear up as the medication starts to work or will they potentially persist for a few days? I am just not sure when to revisit the doctor if I am not seeing an improvement. Thank you


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Hi Dr. Ditah, thank you for your help and advice. This morning my son woke up with a fever of 101.8 He said his legs, head and stomach hurt. I gave him Tylenol but he vomited it up. The doctor had told me to take him to the hospital if he is vomiting so my husband has now taken him to the ER. I am hoping they are able to help him. The one thing I did not give him this morning was his amoxicillin as I was worried he would throw it up.

As for me, my throat is still sore but not quite as bad as yesterday. I also woke up with a fever of 101.8 and have body aches. I am taking Advil to help my fever and aches. My stomach is not quite as nauseous as the other day so I will try to drink and eat better today. I hope I will start to feel better tomorrow.

Thank you again for your help and advice.

Well the doctor at the ER actually thinks that this is likely just viral and advised us to stop all meds and just give regular Tylenol for fever. When my son tested positive for strep yesterday the doctor thought that possibly he was just a carrier because his throat did not hurt. I am nervous to stop the amoxicillin in case he has strep but I have heard strep can heal on its own. I was wondering what your advice might be? Thank you

I forgot to mention that my son normally tolerates amoxicillin and it does not usually upset his stomach so I don't think it would have caused him to vomit this morning. If we take him off his meds, what symptoms should I look for to take him back to the doctor?

Hi Dr. Ditah, thank you very much for all of your advice.

Thankfully my son has been doing better the last couple of days. He has been without a fever now for 24 hours which has been good to see and he is mostly back to himself. His legs are still sore though, off and on. Apparently there is a boy at his school who has similar symptoms to him including sore legs so maybe something is going around his school.

I had a follow up with the doctor on Thursday and she said that my throat was looking normal so the amoxicillin must have been helping the strep throat. She said I must have caught a virus on top of the strep throat, likely the virus my son had. As of yesterday I finally started to feel a little better. I finally had an appetite and was able to eat a little better and my fever stayed below 100. Today is the first day my throat is not hurting. At this point my symptoms are a runny/stuffy nose, a cough with mucous and fatigue.

I just have two concerns. The first one is that as I am starting to feel better, I had the diarrhea twice this morning. I am a little concerned as to why that has happened. I don't usually get diarrhea from amoxicillin however I have had loose bowel movements on other types of antibiotics in the past so I am not sure if that is what is happening. I am not sure if I am worrying too much here, but I am concerned about pneumonia as I have heard you can have diarrhea with pneumonia. The doctor had listened to my lungs on Thursday and said they were fine. Is the diarrhea cause for concern? Should I be seeing the doctor again about it or give it a little time?

My other concern is my fatigue. I have been extremely exhausted while sick this week which is to be expected. I tried to get as much rest as I could. Although I seem to get a little better each day and now have an easier time waking up and getting out of bed, I find that I get worn out quickly. For instance, if I make the bed or put dishes in the dishwasher, I get tired and need to rest. Do you know how long it could take for me to get my energy back? It feels like it is only coming back very slowly.

Thank you!

Hi Dr. Ditah, I am writing for 2 reasons. First to let you know that my children and I are all feeling healthy again and that we got over our viruses/ strep! Thank you for your advice on that.

Secondly I have a new question. I asked a similar question to another doctor on here about 2 months ago but it has changed a little and I need your advice.

I have a very small hernia about 2 or 3 inches above my belly button which was diagnosed by ultrasound several months ago. Back in November I was having constipation troubles and noticed what felt like a lump in that area which did not hurt and would sometimes feel very prominent and at other times I could hardly find it. The doctor sent me for another ultrasound and they diagnosed it as the same hernia which they said had not increased in size. I am quite certain they said it is 3mm. I have been told it is too small for them to correct it. I notice this lump can feel more prominent when I am having constipation troubles. Two months ago I became constipated. As my bowel movements became easier to pass I started to have pain in the middle to left side of what felt like my bowels. I was able to trace the pain to the lump which is where my hernia is. The lump was prominent again and sore to the touch. The pain/soreness lasted less than 10 minutes. I had a bowel movement about 5 minutes later which was not terribly soft but fairly easy to pass. The pain/soreness then subsided quite a bit. The lump felt less prominent and when I touched it, it was no longer sore. I asked another doctor on here about it and he advised I see the doctor. The doctor said my hernia is very tiny, nothing that needs treating and that the pain and prominent lump was likely due to stool passing through. It has been fine since then.

Well, today I am having the same problem. I have been having stools thatare harder to pass for the last week or so which I know I need to correct with better diet and drinking water. I started to feel that same pain around 9 hours ago. I can trace it back to that lump which feels sore and prominent again only this time the pain has lasted over 9 hours. I had a bowel movement a few hours ago and have had another bowel movement this evening. Since this is the same pain and a similar situation as last time I have assumed it is the same thing. However I am scared that it is lasting longer today. When I have constipation issues I also get a pain in the far left side of my bowels which I am used to. I am starting to get the pain there now too. It is now evening here so if I need to see a doctor I have to go to the ER.

I have been advised that if my hernia gets sore or painful I need to see a doctor. I was told that if I continue to have pain and am unable to pass gas or have a bowel movement I should go to the ER. I am not sure if it hurts because my body has been passing bowel movements today or if something is wrong. I am just wondering if I should go to the ER this evening to have my hernia checked out. I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

Hi Dr. Ditah, thank you for your response. The pain comes and goes and is more of a soreness. It is also sore to the touch. I would only give it a 3 or 4 on the pain scale (certainly not the worst I have ever had) and it is the same as two months ago only lasted longer.

I have been trying to sleep. I had to urinate. When I was finished I came back to bed and checked the lump. It is no longer prominate or protruding or nearly as sore to the touch. So for about 30 minutes I have been laying in bed. The pain has subsided and the lump can no longer be felt like it was before. I feel like my bowels are gassy so I get some twinges of pain which I think are due to that. This is exactly what happened two months ago. I had 2 bowel movements within a few hours of each other and about 3 hours later the pain subsides and the lump goes back down. I just don't understand what the lump is and why this happens. I was told something about this being a fatty hernia (I am probably getting that wrong but they mentioned the word fatty). I also had one doctor tell me because I am thin, when I laid down and he checked me, he could feel the stool in my bowel where the lump is (it didn't hurt that particular day).

I am wondering what I should look for if the pain and lump comes back and when to go to the ER? What number (1-10) of pain requires ER visit? If I stay like this now for the night, should I see a doctor tomorrow to discuss this?
Thank you for your help.

Thank you for your response. The pain has been gone for 8 hours now and the lump is not prominent or sore anymore. Thank you for explaining it to me and for letting me know that a 3mm opening would not normally allow for my intestine to get trapped. I have been told before that it is very rare for that to happen, but I still find it scary, especially now that I have had pain in the area twice. I wish they would surgically correct it but they have told me that is not necessary. It seems that the pain and sore lump seem to start up when I have had several days of hard stool/constipation. I will definitely try to watch my diet to try to keep myself from getting constipated. I also take Wellbutrin which is unfortunately constipating so I really need to watch my diet and fluid intake better.

When the lump is bulging, hard and sore, is that stool I am feeling or the fat? I also find that the lump can stick out but is not usually sore if I am bloated as well but goes away when the bloating settles down. I have to admit I find it all a little confusing and wish I could see a diagram of what is happening! They say my hernia is so small at 3mm but the lump is much bigger than that. It feels like at least 2cm or more, especially when it is bulging. When I saw the doctor when this happened two months ago, after the pain was gone, he pushed down on my hernia and had me lift up my upper body and push so he could feel it. He said"oh it is very small". I guess I don't fully understand why the lump feels so big but they say the hernia is so small.

Thank you so much again for your help. I know I ask a lot of questions which is likely due to my anxiety issues. I have a lot of fear around health problems. Thank you for your patience! I should have become a doctor so I would know the answers!!

I feel like another bowel movement may be coming soon and I have been getting the pain a little here and there for the last hour. Do you think I could be dealing with this until I get my bowel movements back to normal?

Hi Dr. Ditah, I have been doing better in the last 24 hours. I think you are right. I worry a lot and over think everything which does make my problems worse! I am trying to not worry about it, correct my diet and drink more water so I will keep my bowels functioning better. Thank you for your advice.