What Could These Symptoms Indicate?

One of my first "ah ha, I am really an adult now moments" was when at college (I was 18) and I was sick and took myself to the doctor, then they wanted to draw blood and I walked to the lab calmly and waited and allowed them to take blood and then drove myself home...no muss no fuss...

That was when it hit me that I was "grown up". Took myself to the doctor and got bloodwork alone.

He needs to grow up...he is 19 and sick...you can read this to him if you want...is he a boy or a man??

He needs the bloodwork done...remember that blood test I was just talking about...it showed my red blood cells were so low I could have started bleeding from my nose, eyes and other places if they had waited...I got back to my dorm to a message from the doctor to get back to the clinic asap. I needed to be monitored aka hospitalized...I did that alone too until my friend got home from class and met me...then my mom drove up to be with me.

So you mom...get his butt back to the doctor and get the tests run!!!! it could be any number of things...mine was a mono like virus (never tested positive for mono...but it mimicked the symptoms and was a very bad case!!)

Possibly Mononucleosis "Mono". I had it at 18 and it's miserable, I had all those symptoms, the swollen and sore throat was awful. His/her doctor would need to give him a bloodtest to determine. Could also be strep. With a fever of 104 I'd get him to a doctor soon. Tylenol and Ibuprofen should help with the fever and pain.

Despite the age -- if this is someone living under your roof, enforce YOUR rules: You do what the doctor says, period. Whatever the symptoms indicate, the behavior indicates this is a child, not an adult. Take him in hand and tell him nothing else happens in his life until he is diagnosed and treated. End of story. It does not matter if he would "go for that" as you put it. Your roof? Your rules.

This kid needs to be back at the doctor today, not tomorrow, not in a week. Yes, ask for a butterfly needle as someone said. Also see if you can get word to the doctor that this kid is very resistant to having bloodwork and that the doctor needs to be aggressive about insisting on taking blood at that visit. Make sure the doctor understands this illness happens repeatedly, which is a huge, waving red flag that more than a single bout of the flu is going on here.

I'd tell this kid, you are going to end up in the emergency room, extremely ill, and emergency treatment is exceptionally stressful; you may even need emergency surgery to remove tonsils or serious bloodwork or even transfusion if this develops into a blood infection (it could). So either get a little blood drawn NOW or figure on having who knows what done to you in the emergency room. Which do you choose? In other words, scare the heck out of him. Frankly, for a fever as high as 104, I might have had him at the emergency room already.

Sorry, I have no patience with a kid this age who is miserable and won't be grown up enough to do what must be done to get the help that is so readily available. I feel for him and I know he's probably scared to death but he needs to see that he must not go on living with this month after month, possibly doing himself permanent harm and stressing you out as well.

Your son is being silly.
Because you say this infection keeps coming back - he needs to be tested. I'd say you request not just a mono or strep test but a very comprehensive culture and sensitivity essay throat swab.
And yes a blood count and a culture too.
My youngest child just recovered from two throat infections caused by different pathogens and my oldest one was not filling well, was tired with slight cough, I insisted on these tests and they came back positive for some horrid blood infection that he was on IV antibiotics for a week.
If the stuff coming back it means that the bacteria made a home in a body and the body cannot fight it effectively.
What, 19 y/o is afraid of a blood test?

Added:
My goodness, that IS a cranky 19 year old.
At least you got the strep test done...

I'd call back tomorrow and ask if they have a butterfly needle. That doesn't hurt NEARLY as much as a regular one. Seriously, mom, I'd take a beloved THING away from him, be it cell phone, computer, ipod, etc. Hide it (even over at the neighbor's) so that he cannot find it. Tell him that the moment he goes and has that blood test done, you will give it back. (Maybe you should take all of them.)

You would never forgive yourself if this was something that could be handled early, and because this personal battle of his was allowed, he ended up not being able to be cured.

You are still the mom. You should be able to call some shots if he lives with you. Take the reins here and get that blood work done.

Original:
I would have taken him to the doctor already. 104 temp is HIGH for an adult. You should take this seriously.

Dawn

A temp of 104 in a 19 yr old is pretty high. I would head to urgent care.

How long has this been going on, exactly?

It could be flu, strep, etc.

I would say flu or strep, and a trip to urgent care warranted in case antibiotics are necessary. My nephew, 10.5, was like this last week, he went to the doctor Monday morning and he has a very serious case of pneumonia.

My friend had a high fever, head hurt and severe aches - no cough or congestion.
A blood test confirmed that she had Lyme. She never had a bull's eye.
She never saw the tick.

Could be anything. Get him/her checked for strep.

Take him to the local urgent care place (don't tell him he is going there until you pull up), walk in and tell him he is getting care and he can't go home with you until he does. You have the keys. If this is going on for several months in a row off and on, he needs to figure out why.

Strep could lead to meningitis... A blood test sounds a lot better than a hospital stay!

Hi,
Didn't read your other responses yet, but have you ruled out Lyme Disease?
The symptoms are all over the place. But you do need a blood test. Your son needs to "man up" and get a blood test. ;)

"Grams"
from the Pocono Mts. of PA

If this is becoming a recurring thing, he needs to work with the Dr's office to find out the cause and get it cured before it does him some serious damage.
He walked out of the Dr office over drawing some blood?
Unacceptable.
I'm sorry he's not feeling well but he needs to quit acting like a child.
If it is Mono, it can have serious complications and can sometimes be life-threatening (if it enlarges/ruptures his spleen).
Come down on him hard and get him back to the doctors office.

Herpangina and a few other things is going around at the clinic I work at.

Any temp higher than 102 is a serious concern. usually It is indicative of a virulent infection of some sort. A blood test can usually find an infection,but it is also important so that they can check his electroytes. What you sure dont want to do is have those out of whack. Since it is continuign to come back monthly it is a chronic condition and must be dealt with eventually. It will be easier to deal with it now that later when it gets worse.

Check at WebMd. They have a symptom checker that is pretty cool. Maybe an alergic reaction or just a cold?