Can it really be COVID??!!

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Forum -> Children's Health

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amother

OP ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 11:55 am

My 4-year-old was acting very aggressive and suddenly showing ADHD symptoms the past few days (he did have strep last month, but he refused to take the medication every day since he didn't like it and I had a hard time with it.)
Also, his sleeping is not what it used to be.. now he wakes up every night and comes to my bed (bh he goes right back to sleep) .
Also, during the day he is so tired and can't keep his eyes open.
So, I went to the doctor thinking that it's pandas and after checking for strep and it's negative I asked her to do a panel to check for Pandas. I have no idea why I didn't realize but she did a nose swap. (please no judgemental I never went this route before) I thought I'm getting results today but she calls to tell me that I'm sorry but your son has covid. Huh?!? Only then I realized that the panel was never done and now I have to wait until it passes. But, can someone help me understand? My son is not coughing, he doesn't have a cold, he never had fever, he's not nauseous, his appetite is perfect, like nothing!!!! He's totally not sick!!!
(Even his eczema cleared up)
So the question is, could covid be so quiet and only affect behavior??? Did anyone have this experience with their child???

NotInNJMommy ↓

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 11:59 am

My ds had covid in January 2022 when he was 16 and had no symptoms at all. I only tested because we had a symptomatic positive at home and he’d had some exposures that week. I only had anosmia in autumn 2022 when I got it. I believe it. My dd has had it a few times and usually barely any symptoms.

amother

↑ OP

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 12:28 pm

Ok but I'm asking specifically in this time, how is covid showing up?! And could my sons sudden behavior problems be connected to it?

amother

Vanilla

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 12:35 pm

I find sometimes sickness shows up in behavior. They don't know how to express what's bothering them, or it could be so low key that they don't even realize they don't feel good, and it shows up in their behavior..
We had a virus past couple weeks, didn't test, but assumed it was covid... I had one kid who the only hint he was sick was that he was suddenly so kvetchy about everything, ask him how he is feeling, answer is good What

Another who was acting totally himself during the day and crashing at night. Both coughing only a little. So I can see it showing up as hyperactivity and crashing.. Just not feeling himself and acting up..

amother

Lavender

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 12:36 pm

My son gets memory loss when he has/had covid. No other physical symptoms. And I have two relatives who got type 1 diabetes after having asymptomatic covid (within a a few weeks and tested positive because they had to quarantine because of classmates)..
So covid can and does trigger autoimmune diseases and flare ups (as can any virus or bacteria).
Pandas/autoimmune encephalitis is autoimmune inflammation of the brain...
As an aside, even.if he doesnt have strep now (did you culture it? Do bloodwork to see strep titers?), the original strep infection could have indeed triggered pandas/autoimmune stuff...

cookier

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 12:58 pm

I could see it being Covid. This info is from last respiratory season already, but we were told it was showing up in a lot of little kids as just irritability and fatigue. Brain fog has also always been a symptom so that could contribute to the irritability and also mimic ADHD-type symptoms. And not sleeping could be because he’s not feeling great even if he can’t verbalize it, or it could be because he’s getting too much daytime sleep.

amother

Cognac

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 1:00 pm

I currently have covid and literally just have a splitting headache for 3 days. I can see it effecting behavior.

amother

Olive

Tue, Sep 24 2024, 1:21 pm

Any infection can technically be asymptomatic, and show up just as neurological symptoms.

Fwiw, neuro symptoms triggered by an infection isn't just an "alternate presentation." It's generally thought to be a misdirected immune response, aka autoimmune reaction where the immune system attacks the brain instead of the virus or bacteria.

All that said, if you know your son had strep a month ago that wasn't properly treated, I'd sooner suspect the strep than the random asymptomatic covid positive nasal swab.

However, it could also be both. Once an immune system is dysregulated, it can react the same way to all infections.

↑ NotInNJMommy

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 8:57 pm

Covid is generally milder than it was 4 years ago, but ranges from ending up in the hospital (yes I have a friend who just ended up in the hospital with it) to headache/congestion/cough/fever for days to maybe a slight sore throat/sniffle. Huge range of how symptoms manifest even for folks who had it before.

amother

Peach

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 10:17 pm

Those tests were faulty even 4 years ago, why is anyone still using them

marineparkmom

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 10:30 pm

It could be COVID

Any virus or bacterial infection can cause behavioral changes

But it’s also a problem that he wasn’t properly treated for strep. As a mom if he isn’t taking his antibiotics please tell your pediatrician. Sometimes they can change the antibiotic or do an antibiotic shot instead.

Raizle

Thu, Sep 26 2024, 10:44 pm

Covid seems to have so many different symptoms in different people it wouldn't shock me if it was the cause.

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