Help with Leg Pains

I wonder if she has a potassium imbalance. If she's able to eat a little, possibly give her a little banana or potato to see if that will even things out and relieve the tightness/soreness that she is feeling.

Call the doctor. That sounds more than just growing pains....

Something very similar happened with our son when he was about that age. He too had had a recent cold and had been drinking mostly water. We eventually ended up in an ER (we were out of town and couldnt get to our regular dr) and they ran all sorts of bloodwork. Nothing was dramatically out of whack... but while waiting for the results, we gave him a Powerade and some crackers. He drank half and when the hospital staff came back with the test results (which were inconclusive) he was completely back to normal!!

We decided that his electrolytes were out of balance, even though his bloodwork did not show any significant level problems. The doctor had said that it wasn't entirely accurate for children... soooo....

Try giving her some powerade or gatorade or some sort of balanced electrolyte drink and see if she has improvement.

Just fwiw: in our son's situation, he did not have any pain when he wasn't trying to stand or bear weight. You could push/poke/prod and no problem/complaints... he just couldn't stand.

added Wednesday: So how is she ?

My daughter got the flu when she was 7 and again a couple weeks ago (she is now 13). The first time she got it the first symptom was her not being able to walk because her knees and legs hurt her so bad. Two days later positive for flu. A couple weeks ago she was at a volleyball tournament on a saturday and in the middle of the game she started complaining about her knees and legs. She stayed in bed from the time she got home on Saturday and all day Sunday and I took her to the Dr. on the following Monday morning. Positive for flu. They said lots of fluids and switch out with tylenol and ibuprofen every couple of hours. She was feeling better by the end of the following Tuesday. I would call the Dr. and see what advice they can give.

Maybe she is dehydrated or low on potassium and getting muscle cramps? I know this is a stretch and very scary, but if she has been immobile, possibly blood clots? Please, if she is in this much pain, call a doctor asap. Best wishes to your little one!

Calf pain is also highly associated with blood clots; honestly don't know how common this is in children, but very common in adults who are sick and don't move around much during the illness. Definitely get her in to doctor ASAP.

You might want to take her to the emergency room. I had a friend who daughter had problems with walking complianing about her legs and it turned out she had fluid on her hip. She had to stay in the hospital a few days while they drained the fluid.

S.,
It sounds like toxic synovitis, an transient inflammatory condition that can occur after the flu. Our son came down with it out of the blue, so the doctor ran tests to rule out anything dire. You may not need to do all of the tests because your daughter just had the flu meaning it is even more likely to toxic synovitis. This is good news because although it is very painful, she should recover quickly and fully. Call your doctor to be sure though!
Jen

is she eating bananas? sounds like she needs calcium and potassium.

Get her to the dr ASAP. Especially if she's running a high fever.