Coughing
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Coughing
Sept 2008
My six-year-old gets a typical number of colds per year. After a few
days of regular symptoms, his cold becomes congestion and a
rumbling/rattling/phlegmy cough that will last for the next two or
three weeks. The poor guy is miserable during that time (as are we
all, due to lack of sleep), and I'm embarrassed sending him to school
because he sounds and looks so gross. We have seen both pediatricians
and allergists and his lungs are completely normal and healthy -- it's
just the way his colds go. I'm wondering, though, if anyone has any
ideas for how to make the cough move along faster? I'm a little
desperate because he just got finished with a summer cold and it has
reminded me of how terrible this winter is sure to be.
Lung Boy's Mom
My daughter had the same type of coughing episodes starting at
about 2 years. Always starting with a cold, and the cough stays
for weeks. Her twin brother would get the cold, be sick for 3-4
days and be fine. We too, were exhausted, and I really thought
she would not be able to attend Kindergarten because it was so
bad. She was miserable - sick from October thru February all
the time. She looked terrible, too. pale skin and circles under
her eyes.
My daughter was first diagnosed with asthma, and given the
usual asthma meds - inhalers, singulair, steroids when she got
lung infections from aspirating the mucus she coughed. The
asthma meds did not work for her, and did not stop the cough.
We were told by her pulmonologist that the asthma meds are very
effective and if they did not work for her, she probably did
not have asthma.
Finally we were referred to an allergy doc. He told us to try
taking her off of dairy (she didn't have a lot of dairy, been
drinking rice milk since weaning at 17 months) for 8 weeks to
see what happened. It was hard to do, but we were at the end of
our rope. we went off of all dairy - cheese, yogurt, everything.
That was four years ago and guess what, worked like a charm.
She is now eight years old, and is healthy as a horse, rosy-
cheeked and beautiful. She is now allowed dairy in small
amounts, but during cold season we are careful. She also always
gets a flu shot.
It's worth trying the ''no dairy''. There are a ton of dairy-free
products, and really what do you have to lose?
anon
Take your child off of cow dairy for a while. I'm willing to bet
his cough will clear up. You can use goats milkl.Meyenberg
brand is a good brand that doesn't smell/taste goaty. I don't
recommend soy milk. good luck.
been there, figured it out.
I've had very good results seeing Charlene Leung, L.Ac. for
Chinese herbs that helped stop my cough. The herbs she prescribes
are powders you dissolve in some warm/hot water and drink for a
period of a week / 10 days. It really helped me once when I had
a cough that would not go away, and the next year when I had
another cough after a cold, I went to her immediately, and it
helped again. Now, whenever I have friends who have lingering
coughs, I send them to Charlene, with good results. She is
caring and knowledgeable, and kind with children. Her office is
in Albany off Solano ph: 559-9038. I hope this helps your son.
Anon.
Hi,
My son went through the same type of thing. What we found worked
for him was an air purifier (target, about 85.). We use it all
of the time and love it. Added to that check list of things to
try was the cold humidifier. This works really well for my
daughter when she has congestion.
Another footnote, I was giving my son a cold medicine that made
him more phlegmy (word?). It really just thickened his mucus.
I don't know why, but it did get better faster when I stopped
the over the counter medicine.
good luck
hi,
Both my kids have had lingering coughs and chronic coughs. We
went the same route you did--allergists, pulmonary specialists
and got the all clear. Last year a friend who's a homeopath told
me to try a spoonful of raw honey (we bought ours at Whole Foods)
at the start of any cold. It totally worked! It curbed the big
illness and kept the cough at bay. Now we all go for a spoonful
of raw honey when we feel that itch in our throats. Try it!
heidi
I am sure you have read or heard what I am about to say but I am
just underlining the importance of the old-fashioned answer:
steam. Steam steam steam. Block the crack under the bathroom door
with a towel, turn on the shower on full on hot water and sit in
the bathroom with your child. Using steamers in the bedroom.
Making steam tents with sheets.
This was the only thing that worked for my mom when she went
through similar times with me as a child. Then I had to do this
with my son. It keeps the phlegm coming out, feels good, and
makes for less scary coughs. I promise he will look so much
better at least for awhile. When my mom did it for me, I actually
thought it was fun. (Note for croup you want the opposite--cold
air). Hope this helps.
sharr
It sounds like your child may have cough variant asthma. This
is a type of asthma that doesn't wheeze, frequently has a clear
chest and responds to asthma medicines. You should see a
Pediatric Pulmonologist because this is missed my ER docs,
Pediatricians, and allergists all the time. The children
usually respond to the meds and get over the cold in a normal 3-
5 days rather than 2-3 weeks.
Been there done that
We also suffer from our son's lung-related viruses. It seems that
every cold he gets goes straight to the lungs and stays there for
weeks. We finally spent the bucks for a really good humidifier
[which has definitely had a better result than the 3 cheaper
versions we'd previously tried], which we leave on all night long
during the entire coughing run. We occasionally give him a
prescribed codeine based cough syrup, but only at bedtime, and
only when it's so outrageously bad that we're all about to fall
apart from lack of sleep. The really bad part of the cough now
lasts only a couple of days at the most, although the daytime
aspect of it still must be largely self-controlled [slowing down,
getting water, trying to breathe warmed air on cold days]. I
should say, he only gets 2 or 3 colds a year, so it's manageable.
-jmf
There are a couple of typically non-Western things you can try:
homeopathy and herbs. There are a number of good homeopaths and
herbalists in our area and they have a wealth of knowledge. You
could even visit a practitioner at Elephant pharmacy (look on
their website first to see who is there and on what days).
A little mullein tincture, or some other lung tonic herbs will
surely help, I know they've helped me many times in the past. I
also successfully used homeopathy to treat a lingering cough when
I was 8 months pregnant and didn't want to take any medicine.
Give it a try!
herby mom
Lingering phlegm coughs are the worst. I am a local
acupuncturist who sees a lot of this type of cough in adults.
Generally, with Chinese medicine and acupuncture, it can be
treated. However, I don't treat children. Although, I would
highly recommend trying my daughter's acupuncturist Jenny French.
She is wonderful and does both invasive and non-invasive types
of acupuncture, pediatric massage, herbal medicine, diet and
nutritional counseling. Jenny's practice is 90% pediatrics.
She is used to dealing with children and is very clever in how
she gets them to accept treatment. She has done a lot to help my
daughter with her health issues. Jenny works on Peidemont Ave in
Oakland on Tuesdays and Saturdays. You can contact her via email
at jennifer@pearlmoon.us or phone: 510-759-3598. Her website is
www.pearlmoon.us.
bina
My son was the very same at that age. Things improved as we
slowly ripped up the wall-to-wall carpet in our house and when
we got a housecleaner who comes every other week, and perhaps
being older helps (he's 11 now). My son seems to like having a
cool mist machine in his room at night.
Donna
My kid has the same issue and I would highly recommend
acupuncturist/herbalist Julia Carpenter as someone who could
treat your son's lingering cough. Julia, who has 3 kids of her
own, can use tuning forks rather than needles, and knows all
about how to get the necessary herbs and tinctures into a kid.
She has helped all members of our family, kids and adults alike,
through various ailments. Julia is a lovely person and a very
gifted healer. You can reach her at 510-488-3572. (Her office is
in Central Berkeley.)
Jessica
One thing that has made an almost 100% improvement when our
kids come down with a cold and the inevitable cough is placing
a humidifier in their room at night. I can't tell you how
significant that difference is. They practically don't cough at
all. It doesn't handle the lingering cough that you describe
during the day, but it does allow their bodies to relax at
night which may facilitate and/or speed up the healing process.
Worth a shot....
JOJ
Besides the good old vitamin C (lemonade made with stevia is a
favorite), zinc, and avoiding sugar and white flour, you may want
to explore food sensitivities. I, and a number of my clients
suffered from regular colds, which disappeared once we identified
and avoided food sensitivities at the IgG level of the immune
system. Technically these are not allergies, I don't know why
these tests aren't administered more broadly. Hopefully
traditional medicine will catch up eventually. Meanwhile, more
alternative health practitioners such as myself will do our best
to spread the word. Check out this article on my website:
http://www.eatbetterfeelbetter.com/index.php?id=53
Best wishes,
Ilah
Sept 2008
My boyfriend's son, who lives with us 4 out of seven days a
week has been coughing every day for the last 9 months. It
started off as a cold, then the doctor said asthma and gave a
bunch of inhalers and allergy meds. Those cleared up the
constant coughing but he still coughs pretty consistently
during the day and night. He has had allergy testing and the
only thing doctors say he is allergic to is dust mites. We did
everything possible aside from putting him in a big plastic
bubble to clean and eliminate as many dust mites as possible.
Doctors still calling it allergy induced asthma. My question
is: can this cough thing be managed? Has anyone else had a kid
coughing for 9 months straight and no meds/inhalers/ allergy
meds helping? Has anyone had success with any kind of TCM or
other alternative therapies? Has anyone had experience with
something like this and it turned out to be something totally
different? He is 2 and a half by the way. Thanks for any
advice/suggestions.
sarah
i am so sorry to hear about your boyfriend's son. My son gets
an asthma cough and I know how irritating it can be for the
child and for those who have to listen to it! I wanted to
suggest you ask the doctors to look beyond asthma and allergies
to an alternative source of the cough. I have a friend who had
a similar experience with her son when he was about 3. After
pushing and pushing the docs they finally went down his throat
into his lungs with a scope (sorry I can't be more
specific/clinical). When they were down there they found he
had inhaled a small piece of twig that was stuck in his lungs.
They were able to extract it during the same procedure and he
was fine after that. Keep pushing and looking for answers,
especially if there is no relief at all from the meds. Good
Luck!
Jennifer
My daughter coughed so hard and persistently that she ended up
vomiting. Nothing we did at home could ameliorate her coughing.
We were in the pediatrician's office many times where she was
given prescriptions for asthma and allergies. After months of no
improvement we went to Jim Nickelsen for allergy testing, etc.
He looked at her, tested her lungs, and said she did not have
either allergies or asthma, but rather she had whooping cough.
You may want to get this checked out. He told us to expect at
least eight to nine months of coughing which is what happened.
Good luck.
Paula
My daughter is 2 and has had a persistant cough almost since she
was about 6 months old. She is otherwise completly healthy.
The coughing does not effect her sleeping nor her play time but
it really is a nasty, mostly wet but sometimes dry cough. She
had x-rays a few months ago to check for asthema and her lungs
were completly clear. Her pediatrician recently suggested we
try an over the counter alergy med but I haven't started her on
it. We put an air purifier in her room which did not really
seem to have much effect. I go back and forth between being
really worried about it, and being not so worried about it.
I'll be curious to see what others responses are to your post.
I'm curious...where do you guys live? We're right on the
Oakland/emeryville boarder...
M
It does sound like an allergy and dust mites is a really nasty
one because it is so hard to avoid them.
My daughter was diagnosed at 10 months but her trigger is
seasonal so she gets a yearly break.
With asthma, the key is to get it under control with albuterol
and the like, and then to KEEP it under control with preventative
medications - usually inhaled steroids like pulmocort and H2
stabalizers like singulair.
The preventative medications have to be used consistently - daily
or twice daily as directed whether or not there are symptoms present
Once symptoms start, if they are off the meds, it will take 2 to
3 weeks of consistent use for them to be effective again. In the
meantime you hope the albuterol is enough to keep them out of the
hospital and give them some quality of life.
If, after a month of consistent preventative meds, he is not
better, then it's time to try something new or something in
addition.
You say you have him 4 days a week, so all his caregivers need to
be on board with this and consistent with his meds.
I have very little experience with alternative meds but I have an
adult friend who swears by her alternative meds. She sees Marcy
Zelner at 1500 Oak View in Albany.
It is important to remember that if you decide to change meds or
treatment in anyway, not to do it suddenly and to follow the
instructions of your healthcare professionals. Asthma is an
airway disease. Air means oxygen means brain function. Asthma
attacks can be deadly if they are severe enough and not
controlled fast enough. It is especially important that asthma is
controlled while people are young so that growing lungs can
develop well and keep the asthma from following them into
adulthood as much as possible.
I strongly suggest an asthma record with a place for meds,
symptoms and possible triggers plus any other non-asthma related
symptoms he might be having. We have noticed patterns that have
been very helpful in dealing with my daughter's asthma by keeping
a journal. It also helps us keep straight what she's gotten and
what she needs when we are rushing around getting to work, sleep,
etc. ours is very simple and one page is worth about a month of
records.
Ask the moderator for my email and I'd be happy to send you the
document to use for your own kid.
she has asthma but it doesn't have us
My older son (now 17) had a constant cold from the time he was
aboaut 2-3 or so...untill I figured out he had a dairy allergy.
He'd start to get a cold...it would soon turn into a cough,
he'd have the cough for a few weeks, it would almost be better
and then it would start all over again. It drove me crazy. I
never put him on antibiotics cause I did't believe he had a
bacterial infection and the Drs. couldn't tell me what it was.
As soon as I took him off of cow dairy it stopped. We used
Goat's Milk instead (Meyenberg brand). When my younger was
weaned I immediately put him on Goats milk and never even gave
him cows milk. He is actually dairy sensitive so we still use
goats milk. My older son eventually grew out of
the ''sensitivity''...it wasn't an actual allergy, and now can
have dairy.
Same symptoms can also be a sign of gluten allergy. If it is
truely a dust mite allergy (me too), you can give supplements
to boost the immune system so his body doesn't react so
strongly....but check out dairy/gluten first. Good luck,
June
If the little boy is coughing through the day and especially through the
night, it is
almost certainly asthma, and my guess is that it is almost certainly a
reaction to
something in his environment. Our daughter was diagnosed with asthma
from a
very early age - before she was one year old. For the next year, she was
on oral
inhaled steroids almost consistently. Almost nothing made the coughing
go away
completely, but the controller drug (in our case QVAR, but FLOVENT is
the other
popular one) taken 2x/day definitely helped.
Finally, we did three things simultaneously: we pulled our daughter out
of a day
care we loved, but that may have been the source of an allergen, we
pulled all of the
rugs out of our house, and we banished all the animals an outside house.
I can't tell
you exactly what solved the problem, but I can tell you that she hasn't
needed her
asthma medication in almost a year now. Within a month of doing the
above, her
chronic coughing was gone. No more inhaled meds, nothing.
Some people think it was the dogs. Her pulmonologist believes it was
more likely
the day care that was the culprit - maybe old carpeting, maybe mold.
It's impossible
to know. It's confounding, for sure - but doing everything you can
possibly do to
eliminate the cause of the breathing trouble is the best way to start.
In the
meantime, a stabilizer might be a good idea - especially now heading
into cold &
flu season when kids with asthma are more likely to have colds escalate
into
something far worse if their coughing isn't under control.
Stephanie
I have had similar symptoms myself and recently started using a
nasal steroid spray along with allegra. It seems to help. My
doctor had another suggestion which was I might have a hard to
diagnose bacterial infection (related to pneumonia) which would
require a long course of antibiotics. You may want to ask your
doctor about these options. Good luck.
allergy sufferer
Indoor air pollution can aggravate asthma and allergies. Reduce
exposure to perfume, smoke, etc. http://segal.org/asthma/
anon
My experience is with my own coughing. I think most doctors treat
symptoms, and you have to figure out what's working best for you.
I was prescribed inhalers and all sorts of allergy medicines, and
I was told that my cough was a lingering cold, non-existent, etc.
I really only had a bad cough at night, and when I was allergy
tested, dust mites was my only issue as well. I got on Verymyst
(which is fluticosone furoate, or basically the same thing as
flonase, but with a different propellant, as the flonase gave me
headaches). Soon I was sleeping without benadryl (which I think
I was growing dependent on), and I ordered dust-mite protective
pillowcase covers and a mattress cover (not plastic!). What a
difference! After a month or so on it, I actually forgot the
verymyst on my vacation but brought my pillows with me. It's too
expensive to just buy on its own (or even to waste, since it's
not in the formulary), so I just did without it for a week. I
know the allergy places tell you to basically sterilize your room
and wash everything in hot water constantly, but I will say I
live in dust-mite heaven (piles of books in the bedroom, ''stuff''
everywhere), but I can tell you that I sleep well now. No or very
little coughing. The docs also say you're not supposed to stop
the fluticosone, since it's a nasal steroid, but at the moment I
can't think of any reason to re-start (stay tuned for future
complaints?). I think using it helped my poor nose & throat to
heal. BTW, the albuterol states that it can increase congestion,
which it did with me, so I don't use it unless I really cannot
breathe in my lungs. You might try that also. I also
occasionally suck on cough drops (not even to finish them), just
to give my throat a break. That helps too. I have a HEPA air
filter, which may or may not help, and a HEPA vaccuum, which the
doc says probably helps the person vaccuuming...
Bottom line is to deal w/ the dust mite issues that you can
(pillow covers, mattress covers), get the poor kid a little bit
healed (maybe a nasal inhaler?), occasional cough drops, and
whatever else you think works. (more power to you if you can keep
the dust down and get rid of ''stuff''.) And keep trying something
different if that doesn't work (don't automatically assume that
another medicine is the right answer, but if it works, go with
it!) Good luck.
janet
Hello, My son is severy allergic to dustmites. All the bedding
is covered with the special encassement against dustmites. We
have no carpet anywere in the house, a leather couch and wood
only chairs. I change wash his bed very often. No pets, our cat
is now an outdoor cat only. We have a fish.... He takes flovent
every morning, benadryl when necessary and Prednisolone, when is
really bad only about one a year to get in out of the coughing.
He doesn't have a lot of playdates in other people's house. All
his friends come to our house mainly or in parks.... Good luck.
June 2006
My 2 year-old is coughing all the time. Last night she was kept awake by her
own coughing for about 2 hours in the middle of the night. Obviously we
didn't get much sleep either. As heartless as it seems, I would love to put in
earplugs to block out the sound of her coughing, but I cannot because we have
a newborn who I have to listen for during the night.
Her coughing seems to be caused by a constant stream of snot that she is
producing. It drips down her throat and she coughs. It also comes out of her
nose all day long. She doesn't seem to try to calm her own coughing, and I
don't know how to teach her to do this. Sometimes it seems like she sort of
makes herself cough even more, but this could be my imagination because I
am so frustrated by the constant coughing. My husband thinks she may be
allergic to pollen, but it seems to me more like she has different little colds
from daycare and this is the way her body manifests them. This has been
going on for months now. The pediatrician recommended the saline spray, but
just the suggestion of putting some ''medicine'' or ''water'' in her nose sends her
into a screaming fit, and the spray seems to designed to clear a stuffy nose,
which is not her problem. I am reluctant to take her to an ENT doctor or
allergist, because I don't want them to run a bunch of tests on her, and I am
not sure she can take any antihistamine-type medicines at her age anyway.
Has anyone had similar symptoms in a toddler, and any success in dealing with
them without resorting to traditional medicine? I am starting to get a little
desperate and would love any suggestions for helping her get better.
Need some quiet nights
Have you thought about that your daughter might wake herself up with
coughing?
This could be the reason for her not sleeping through. My son did cough
at night and this stopped when I took away the sheep skin he was
sleeping on and the crip bumpers.
If your child is only coughing at night, but not during the day, you can
also try to eliminate a few things before seeing an allergist, eg. try
changing the laundry detergent etc.
Kathrin
Try over the counter liquid antihistamine and see if it makes a
difference. I know chloraphenaramine and probably claritin
(lortadine) come in good-flavored versions for kids. If it helps, she
has allergies. Try different ones and see what helps the most.
If this problem is constant and allergic in nature, you may have to
get rid of pets and work hard on house dust(because it doesn't sound
seasonal, so it isn't pollen, or at least it isn't only pollen). Dust
mites eat skin flakes and therefore accumulate in bedding and stuffed
animals; some people react strongly to them (actually, to their
excrement) and if you can eliminate them where the allergic person
sleeps, you give their
allergies an enormous lift. Wash her stuffed animals and
bedding in hot water and eliminate feather quilts or pillows, if
you are using them. Spray her mattress before re-sheeting with
Fabreeze anti-allergy stuff (or better yet, get a special
hypoallergenic mattress cover that you regularly launder or vacuum.
These covers have only microscopic holes--stops the dust mites from
invading the mattress.)
If this makes a difference, you know the problem without having to go
through the skin testing with an allergist & hopefully can deal with it
with attention to special cleanliness and OTC medications when
necessary.
If not or it gets worse, do see an allergist. The skin tests and shots
are miserable but not nearly as bad as the constant allergies. Three
people should not be miserable over this.
Good luck. Poor family.
Allergy queen
Have you taken your daughter to the pediatrician? Why are you and your
husband trying to self-diagnose? Your daughter may well have allergies
or asthma- or allergy induced asthma. I would strongly urge you take
her to your pediatrician, explain your concerns, and then potentially
follow up with an ENT and an allergist.
Your pediatrician could help sort this out. Asthma is not to be ignored
nor its impact on quality of life minimized. As an asthmatic, every
time I get a cold, my asthma kicks up and coughing is one of the biggest
symptoms. Additionally, I have a 2 year old and our pediatrician said
it was OK to give claritin or benadryl for allergy symptoms, so don't
know where you get the idea that your kid can't take antihistamines.
But I wouldn't medicate without first seeing the pediatrician anon
At two years old, your child can definitely take Children's Benadryl (an
antihistamine). Both my 7 mo old and 2.3 yo have the same symptoms -
congestion, coughing, runny nose - (is it a series of colds, is it
allergies, who knows??) and take it at night and it definitely helps dry
up the nose. In fact, the doctor who suggested it might be allergies
said I could give it to them every 6 hours (seems a little much during
the day). I generally don't like giving medicine if I don't have to but
my daughter's drainage problem has coincided with ear infections so
while I'm not sure what is causing what, I think getting the nose dried
helps prevent/keep the ears dried. Side benefit: for many kids, it
knocks them out and everyone sleeps better.
forget the ear plugs!
here is the link to the miracle cough syrup i gave my two and a half
year old son ''apitherapy honey elderberry extract''.
he had a similar problem last month and it's the only thing that helped
him.
we bought it at elephant pharmacy. it tastes great, and aside from a
nominal amount of alcohol, it's completely safe for people 2 years and
up. note: it contains honey, so if your daughter is indeed allergic to
pollen, this may not be the thing for her.
http://www.honeygardens.com/syrup.htm#el
hope you all get some sleep soon
I think it's likely that it's caused by allergies. Another possibility
- could she have asthma? My son has asthma, and it mostly manifests as
coughing. When we treat the asthma, he has much less coughing.
I would definitely get her tested for allergies, even though you're
reluctant - we did this with my son, and it was just one blood test, not
the big scratch test grid they do with older kids or adults. And it
helped us rule that out - we found that no, he wasn't allergic to mold
or dust mites, so that wasn't our problem.
Also - your toddler CAN take children's benadryl, if you think it may
help. Also try a vaporizer or humidifier - that works well for my son.
anon
She is absolutely not too young for antihistamines, and it sounds like
she desperately needs them. You can try benadryl which may work well but
may knock her out. There are non- sedating antihistamines as well. Take
her to an allergist. If they recommend tests you don't want all you have
to do is say ''I don't want that, is there anything else you can
recommend?''. Likely they'll recommend a trial of medications first
before worrying about tests. The saline spray sounds kind of silly for
the severity of her symptoms -- if you were going to do anything in her
nose it should be steroids, but if she can't tolerate that there are
alternatives. Kate
I would urge you to see an allergist. Aside from the discomfort your
family--especially your daughter--is experiencing at the noise of the
coughing, the coughing may be a sign of something seriously wrong with
your daughter.
When my daughter was about a year old, she started having lengthy
coughing fits that lasted longer than the two weeks the doctor said was
normal for a cold. (And she had cold after cold after
cold.) It turned out that the coughing was a sign of asthma. I was on
the lookout for this, because my son, who is 3 years older than my
daughter, had been diagnosed with asthma (although his never manifested
itself as coughing; he gets plain old wheezing).
I would encourage you to see an allergist. Yes, it's a pain. And yes, an
allergist would probably want to test your daughter for allergies. It's
a lot to ask of a 2-year-old. But the testing (skin pricks and/or blood
being drawn) lasts for only a few minutes (your daughter's crying may
last longer). And the information the doctor can glean from it is
invaluable. Also, with a toddler, you can allay a lot of her fears by
explaining everything as you go along (trust me, it's a lot harder with
an infant).
As far as the possibility of asthma, the doctor will listen to your
daughter's lungs with a stethoscope and possibly check her oxygen
absorption with a monitor that clips to the finger or toe.
These are really easy for a toddler to handle. Asthma is a serious
condition that all too many kids get these days. It can kill. But it
also can be managed. So your kid can be healthy, and the whole family
can sleep better.
For my daughter, the change was immediate. Once she was diagnosed and we
put her on a regimen both to combat the attacks and prevent new ones, my
daughter's coughing subsided. When she does cough now, we ramp up the
asthma treatment. We also do give her over-the-counter pediatric cough
medicine to ease her discomfort Gwynne Young gwynneyoung@sbcglobal.net
nighttime coughing is one of the most common symptoms of asthma in young
children. please ask your pediatrician to rule out asthma. your daughter
is not too young to consider this diagnosis nurse and asthma advocate
My daughter used to have massive coughing attacks also. Coughs that
would last forever. It turned out that she was allergic to several
things. I took her to someone who did NAET. It's an allergy elimination
technique that uses accupressure. It REALLY WORKS!!! You should try it,
there are no side effects, it's painless and it gets rid of the
allergies, not just keeps them at bay. It's based on Chinese methods of
putting the body back into balance. If she is getting all these colds
her immune system must be low too. I think you will find referals on the
BPN for an NAET practitioner. The person I went to doesn't work on
little little children. It might take a few times, and hopefully you can
find someone who doesn't charge that much. It's SO worth though!! lots
of luck. (BTW-NAET stands for Nampudripad's Allergy Elimination
Technique. She is the one who developed this.) anon
You may want to have your child evaluated for asthma. I don't want to
scare you, but this is how my son was with colds for about six months
and ended up in the hospital twice before we found the right medication
for him. Often, asthma presents itself as a cough, *especially* a
nighttime cough (this is when the body creates the least of its own
steroids, which help control inflammation of the airways).
Please ask your doctor.
Asthma mom
My just turned 2 year old daughter had a constant runny nose and cough
at night from January through April. At first, I thought it was just a
series of colds, one after the other, especially since it was winter.
But I finally went to see the doctor in April, and she said it's been a
particularly bad allergy season and that perhaps she had an allergy.
She said to try children's claritin (and to skip benadryl - something
about the active ingredient in that wouldn't work she said).
The trick the doctor said is that you have to give them the medicine
EVERY NIGHT, not just when they have symptoms, and that it can take a
week or so to see a difference. Well, it worked. We gave it to her,
and after about one week, the coughing stopped and after two weeks, the
runny nose totally stopped. I stopped giving her the Claritin for a few
days a couple weeks ago, and the snot started up again! I felt weird,
and still feel a little weird, about giving a 2 year old Claritin every
night, but I much rather do that than have her cough and suffer all day.
And if she is that stuffed up in the nose, I am sure it must give her
sinus pain and other side effects as well. Maybe you could ask your
doctor about allergy medicines True believer in little kid allergies!
Your daughter may have a pollen allergy (grasses are blooming and
EVERYONE'S allergies are worse than ever before ...mine are!!.).
OR she could have a dairy allergy. VERY common in little ones and would
produce exactly the symptoms you're talking about.
You might try to eliminate dairy from her diet for a few weeks and see
if it changes. My son (now 11) had a dairy allergy when he was 3-4 ish.
We thought he kept getting colds at daycare.
Nope!!! As soon as we took out the dairy he stopped.
He's grown out of it now but we had him on goat's milk instead of cows
milk. No cheese, real ice cream, etc. It wasn't such a big deal except
at bd parties. Good luck anon
You *almost* answered your own question! You really do need to stop the
runny nose...you need a decongestant. Stop the production of phlegm
that is running down her throat and the coughing will stop. I went
through the same thing...cough medicine after cough medicine until
finally someone told me to clear up the running nose! We never know if
we're dealing with a cold or an allergy but it's a safe bet that if the
mucos is clear, water-like, it's an allergy. If it's yellow or green,
it's likely a cold.
Good luck and know that we're going through it too! We're in good
company ---hacking, hacking, hacking!
I found your message a little odd. You seem more irritated by her
coughing than concerned enough to really get to the bottom of it. You
won't do what the pediatrician recommended- just because your 2 year old
doesn't want you to? You won't take her to another doctor because you're
not sure she can take antihistamines at 2. Wouldn't a doctor (or just a
little
research) clarify this? Take her to the pediatrician for her own
good- and I suppose yours as well!
another mother
To the mom of the Coughing 2 year old, my 2 year old son exhibited many
of the same symptoms and we did choose to go the traditional medicine
route so I hope my experience helps you, even if it is not the advice
you were originally seeking. Our doctor disagnosed our son with
cold-induced asthma. We took him to a pulminologist who confirmed the
diagnosis. When he gets a cold he ALWAYS gets an ''attack.'' He never
has had an attack without first having a cold. For him the attacks
rarely result in audible wheezing, but always result in the persistant
cough, like one ''bark-y'' cough every 15 seconds. To help with this he
has an albuterol inhaler and a flovent inhaler (steroid). Now, I assume
your doctor has ruled out asthma based on listening to her chest.
If not, check that out again. If so, other things to try are making
her sleep on her stomach (hard to do, but with reminders and turns from
mommy and daddy they eventually get it), humidifiers and sometimes walks
outside for cold air in the night. Asthma is always worse at night, I
can't remember why, but I feel your pain and hopefully she will out grow
this.
Jennifer
Hi, Mom of the cougher,
I understand that night-time coughing can be a sign of asthma (asthma
can take the form of coughing, not only wheezing), allergy, or
post-nasal drip, none of which can be controlled without medication,
although you can certainly make a room more allergy-free. Also, I
understand that if a child is denied REM sleep - deep sleep - they don't
make growth hormone and of course there is the obvious thing of being
irritable and cranky the next day. 2 year olds can take
anti-histamines, Advair, etc. I understand your conservative approach
but I feel like this must be torture not ohly for you but also your kid.
A smart allergist or ENT doc can help you.
P.S. One of my children is an especially big night-time cougher after
she's had a chest cold and the cough lingers like mad. Her doctor puts
her on a short-term course of Codeine and a longer course of Advair.
Works like a charm Mother of a former cougher
It's allergies. Classic symptoms and kids can take antihistamines at age
two. In fact, Benadryl is an antihistamine that actually works great
except it may make him drowsy or amped up, depending on his genetic
make-up. Maybe try it for a week or so. The thing about allergies is
that prevention is key, you can't just give a dose of antihistamine
after the kid has already had a histamine release in his body and expect
it to clear up. It might make it a little better for a while, but as
soon as the medicine wears off, and the offending agent is encountered
again, another reaction takes place. The medicine has to be taken every
day as a preventative. Sometimes people just need to take allergy meds
in the spring (like my husband) or another season, or they need it year
round. If you've ever had allergies bad enough to make it seem like a
continuous string of colds, you would know how bad your kid feels and
treat him. You can also try alternative meds or allergy shots if you
are not into medicating every day.
Generally anti-meds but also anti-suffering
Our son also coughed and coughed all night (and day) long every time he
got a little cold, and was finally diagnosed with asthma. Like your
daughter, he has a post-nasal drip thing going, which makes the snot
settle in his lungs, and so every cold ends with up coughing, coughing
and more coughing. The saline spray helps A LOT, and his nose is never
stuffy, but the spray seems to clear out the post nasal drip. He also
uses preventative asthma medications daily, including singulair, which
is supposed to help with this exact issue when the root cause is
allergies. It is really hard on kids that young to cough so much- they
don't want to cough just as much as you don't want to hear it, but they
need to do it just to breathe.
At least for my son, it's not something he could ''learn to
calm.'' Also, antihistimines just make the cough / cold worse
and can be dangerous if the cause of the coughing is asthma. As for
your question about dealing with this in a non-traditional method, some
people swear by NAET treatment for asthma (if that's what your daughter
has). That's the only non-traditional treatment I've come across, and
I've been looking for a while.
Hope this helps
Mom of Cougher
I don't understand your reluctance to take your daughter to an ENT or
allergy specialist, because I think that those sorts of specialists
would be ideally placed to figure out what is going on with your
daughter and her health. If the coughing is keeping you up, imagine
what it's doing to her sleep cycle. I can't imagine it's good. I would
rethink your stance, and get her to a doctor.
FWIW, I've found the saline helpful to me, with my allergies and
occasional colds, because keeping my sinuses washed out helps dampen my
body's reaction to the allergens/irritants. You might try to rinse your
daughter's nose despite the screaming, and see if it helps the sleep
issue (for everyone).
Good Luck
Donna
You can try giving her Robitussin. Don't give her the kid version, give
her the regular one. It's Robitussin Cough DM. It works great. I have a
2 year old too who gets coughing spells.
Give her 1 tsp. I asked my doctor & it's fine to give to a toddler.
No more coughing in my house!
I don't deal with the little ones. but I know about coughing due to
snot.
you need to get the snot out. or dry it up. The way to dry it up is
antihistamines.
and it seems mainly a problem at night. so you could use over the
counter diphenhydramine. (which should knock your kid out, though some
kids have a ''paradoxical reaction'' and ''get hyper''
Not sure on the dose for a 2 year old. but call your pediatrician's
advice line?
during the day, over the counter pseudoephedrine. again, ask your
pediatrician for dose Sophia, adolescent medicine MD
It must be hard to listen to all that coughing. My husband sometimes
gets very long lasting coughs during the winter. He talked with a nurse
at Kaiser about some non-drug thing that he could do for it, and she
said drink lots and lots of water (and herbal teas). It worked. He did
drink a lot though, and it took several days of this as I recall. It's
simple and healthy and I hope it works for your daughter :) Miriam
My son and I both get pretty irritating post nasal drip every time we
have colds. Out of everything I have tried, the two most effective
treatments I have found are homeopathic and made by Boiron and Boericke
& Tafel. I have matched these against over-the-counter traditional
cough medicines and the homeopathic treatments win by a landslide. From
Boiron I get their pellets in the little blue tube labeled ''post nasal
drip''
and I use that in conjunction with the cough syrups for children made by
either Boiron or Boericke & Tafel. Both are honey based and taste just
like honey, so my 3 year old is more than happy to eat it (it took about
1/2 hour of convincing the first time since he didn't believe me!). The
post nasal drip pellets recommend 5 tablets each hour but I give my son
3 tablets each 15 mintues for the first hour until the effect kicks in.
This combined with a warm bath in a REALLY steamy bathroom before bed
usualy does the trick for my son.
Honestly, I have tried the Simply Stuffy nasal drops for kids on myself
and they clear my nose very well, but it takes both my husband and
myself sitting on my screaming son to get them in, and by then, he's
having another coughing fit and the neighbors are calling Child
Protective Services. So I gave up on that :-) mom of a cougher
I'd recommend going to an allergist, I know you said you're reluctant
because ''I don't want them to run a bunch of tests'' but all they did
in my son's case was a scratch test. My son was having problems with
constant drip/cough/stuffy ears and it turns out he has a bunch of
allergies (including pollen, dustmites, and cat dander). He did very
well with the testing which consisted of bunch of little scratches that
were all done simultaneously.
We also went to an ENT who did no testing, he just looked into my son's
ears (this was to determine why he was experiencing hearing loss, which
was due to the constant mucus). We did not discover this problem until
my son was four, I recommend having your daughter looked at now in case
she does have allergies. It's much better to intervene early. amanda
My daughter went through something very similar to what you
describe: a string of colds that she picked up at daycare and the park
and every place else we've gone where toddlers sneeze. But the main
problem was her incessant coughing that seemed to mostly arise while she
slept. We called the advice nurse and took her to the doctor. They
told us that it was a lingering post-nasal drip that caused the coughing
due to all the colds and possible allergies. They didn't want to do any
testing, but they did prescirbe Albuterol - an asthma medicine. We gave
her 2 doses and the coughing and daily sniffles have totally subsided.
I don't like giving medicine and drugs when she only has a cold or a
cough because I believe it's healthier for her to work through her
symptoms, but this wasn't going away. I strongly recommend visiting the
doctor just to see if it's not a simple thing like what we experienced.
What finally motivate me to take our daughter in was that I realized if
her cough was disturbing our sleep night after night, she must have been
missing her super-important rest too. She's been much happier since
she's slept through the night without coughing!
Jenny
Take her to an ENT or allergist. It doesn't make sense -- you want to
avoid going to another doctor or some tests for the sake of her comfort,
yet she has been in obvious discomfort every single day for months.
You're the adult and parent, be strong and take her to the doctor. It's
like brushing her teeth -- she may not want to do it but it's for her
own good. She is probably getting inadequate sleep and that's not going
to help her get over whatever it is she has. I think medications, such
as antibotics, were over prescribed in the past and as a result our
local culture has a knee jerk reaction to any kind of western medical
intervention.
I have learned my lesson about second guessing what looks like simple
cold or allergy symptoms in my son. Last year he was coughing and
coughing for over a month. Sometimes he'd cough and then lay down in the
middle of playing to rest. I just assumed it was a lingering cold and he
was tired. I finally took him in and it ends up he was having asthma
attacks. He was coughing because he couldn't get enough air! And the
laying down was because he wasn't getting enough air to even continue
playing and he had to stop to breath. It's viral asthma, which means he
only gets it about once a year after a cold. The inhalers are a much
better alternative to his brain not getting enough oxygen.
And recently he had an excema rash that we were all assuming was
seasonal allergies. I was giving him homeopathic remedies which
alleviated the symptoms but he'd still have bad flare ups. I finally
took him in after a month -- ends up it is a severe bacterial skin
infection that only antibiotics will cure.
So don't play doctor with a very young child. Go see an expert and get
real advice. If it's allergies, then you can explore alternative
medicines. If it's bacterial or asthma, then that's another story anon
I had a two-year-old with a chronic cough and seemingly never-ending
colds. A couple of times we ended up in the ER for wheezing. I was told
to put my son on albuterol and Flovent every time he got a cold. There
was no way I was going to do that, so I did a lot of research on line
and ended up at Dr. Randall Neustaedter down in Redwood City. He treated
my son with chinese herbs and a couple of other supplements and we've
essentially had a cold/cough-free year. It's really quite amazing. His
website is www.cure-guide.com. I'm happy to communicate with you about
his strong and weak points. tosha
Hi there. My son has had allergies since he was a 1 year old.
He's now 6 1/2. He's seen an allergist during the whole time.
I couldn't imagine him not going to a a specialist. Please, please go
see a specialist. It may help you understand what's happening to your
child and help the symptoms and then help your frustrations. Why would
you not want to have her go unless your afraid of what the outcome might
be? She may have a food, environmental or other allergy that could be
helped. And you have another adult that you can talk with. Many of us
with children with allergies go see Dr. James Nickelson in Berkeley.
Best of luck
mom of allergy kid
I was floored by the reponses of parents unwilling to put their children
on medicine for asthma. We've found great relief using Flovent and
Albuterol (and its varieties). My twin daughters had
''coughing-asthma'' practically from birth but not until we could see a
chronic history, about 18 months of on-and- off coughing, were they
finally diagnosed with coughing asthma. What a relief because we then
started treatment, sometimes aggressively. When flu season struck, we'd
spend the fall and winter with a girl who coughed all night, or for
days, or until she threw up (and sometimes all of the above). Last year
we were in the emergency room at least once a month and one daughter was
hospitalized briefly for low blood oxygen level. But, we could not have
made it without the medicines; they would have been so much worse
without then during flu season. We'd have gone into the emergency room
150% more. The times we managed to get an asthma attack under control,
we could all ''breath easy'' (pardon the pun). Not getting in front of
an attack can exhaust a girl. We are grateful for the interventions.
I understand the hesitation to give steriods to a child; I had them.
But we're talking a potentially life threatening disease. I don't
understand the tendency to assume ''alternative'' therapies as better
simply because they are either Eastern, or not-medicine. Go with the
meds if that is what you have decided. I'd suggest adding to that any
alternative you want to try. But the obvious stuff, like removing pet
dander (we got rid of a cat), dusting and keeping floors clean(we have
no carpeting), no smoking, etc help tremendously.
Our girls are doing very well. No side effects, and this winter, their
fourth on our planet, their lungs started to show sings of enough growth
that their symptoms are subsiding Twins don't cough anymore
Hi, Mom of the cougher,
I understand that night-time coughing can be a sign of asthma (asthma
can take the form of coughing, not only wheezing), allergy, or
post-nasal drip, none of which can be controlled without medication,
although you can certainly make a room more allergy-free. Also, I
understand that if a child is denied REM sleep - deep sleep - they don't
make growth hormone and of course there is the obvious thing of being
irritable and cranky the next day. 2 year olds can take
anti-histamines, Advair, etc. I understand your conservative approach
but I feel like this must be torture not ohly for you but also your kid.
A smart allergist or ENT doc can help you.
P.S. One of my children is an especially big night-time cougher after
she's had a chest cold and the cough lingers like mad. Her doctor puts
her on a short-term course of Codeine and a longer course of Advair.
Works like a charm Mother of a former cougher Anon
Oct 2004
My 8 month old son has had an ongoing cough for 6 months now. We
have seen pulminary specialist, done allergy test, CF test,
changed his environment, and given him medicine for both asthma
and acid reflux. Unfortunately, none of these have given our son
any relief. Luckily, he is a happy healthy kid on all other
respects. We are running out of ideas. Has anyone gone through
this? Any information would be extremely helpful! Thanks.
mom in need of help...
When my younger son (now 9) was a toddler he had a cough for
almost 2 years. We tried antibiotics, acupuncture, allergy
testing, vacuuming a lot, homeopathics, etc.
We finally discovered he was ''sensitive'' to dairy products''. You
can have a sensitivity to substances without having an actual
allergy. And by the way, allergy testing is not always very
accurate in young children, I found out.
Once we took him off of all diary, his cough stopped.
He was able to tolerate goats milk (which is closest in
nutritional make up to human breast milk), sheep feta, goat
cheeses, soy products, etc.
Eventually he grew out of it and now can eat cow dairy with no
problem although our whole household drinks goats milk
(Meyenberg brand is tastiest) and he doesn't like cows milk.
Your babe could also have a wheat sensitivity...VERY common, and
unfortunately in MANY things we eat.
Check these out by elimnating one of the two for a few weeks and
see what happens. Good luck. It's very frustrating...been there.
June
hello,
We had the exact same coughing problem with our daugher, who is now four. Went
through all the tests you did, put her on Zantax for possible acid reflux, had a chest
xray, blood tests for allergies, elevated her crib mattress and nebulized her twice a
day (for possible asthma). Nothing worked, except for her getting older. At about 16
months, the cough was GONE and hasn't returned. I think a lot of kids out grow this
type of cough. Good for you for checking every possible avenue. I know a constant
cough in your baby can be really disconcerting.
heidi
I could have written the same letter 5 years ago. Our otherwise
healthy and happy 10 month old also had an ongoing barking cough.
We went to all the specialists, had a CF test (very stressful),
treated him for asthma, tried albuterol which just made it worse
- nothing worked. Then he devleoped an ear infection which was
unrelated - he was put on an antibioitic and within 3 days his
cough was gone (it had been going on for 4+ mos!) It was finally
dtermined that he had a minor sinus infection the entire time
that was causing drainage that was making him cough. It
obviously wasn't bad enough to make him feel bad, but it was just
enough to keep him coughing. Evidently it is very hard to
diagnose a sinus infection in a small child. Anyway the
antibiotic for the ear cleared up the sinus problem and the cough
went away never to return. Good luck!!
kristi
our son went through the exact same process of elimination for
his cough when he was about 18 months old. none of the different
medications, x-rays and scpecialist visits turned up anything.
he has been healthy for about 4 months now so we are hoping he
has grown out of whatever was causing the cough. i don't have
any answers except to let you know i feel your frustration for
not knowing what could be wrong with your child. one of the
radiologists told me once that some kids are just very unlucky
and happen to catch every little bug that comes there way. good
luck!
May 2004
Recently our 14 month old daughter had a bout with a
runny/stuffy nose that lasted about 10 days. She did not run a
temp, and after giving her some over-the-counter meds
recommended by her doctor this seemed to run its course. Toward
the end she developed a cough that has hung on for about 2
weeks. It is not really a productive cough, she just sounds like
she needs to clear her throat (not easy for a 14 mth old!) Our
doctor has attributed it to drainage down the back of her
throat, and since my husband and I both suffer from allergies,
we thought allergies might be the cause.
The main problem with this is that our daughter may go all day
without a single cough, then she wakes in the middle of the
night with a fairly severe coughing fit. We have tried giving
her Benedryl and Triaminic Night Time before bed (at our dr's
suggestion) but nothing seems to help. She will wake up,
sometimes coughing so much that she spits up, then after maybe 5-
10 minutes, it's over and she goes back to sleep. She also
coughs a lot when she first wakes up in the morning.
I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and if
so, what can be done to lessen the coughing?. I have thought
this might be a sign of asthma but she has not had any trouble
breathing.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Danielle
Your child may not have bronchitis, but still, I think the
advice at this website about limiting exposure to aerosols and
lung irritants may help.
http://www.well-net.com/prevent/bronchit.html
sunsol
This sounds like it may be night time asthma. Our son developed
a non-productive night cough at about 16 - 18 mos. He never had
any trouble breathing during the day. They thought it was a
lingering sinus infection, but antibiotics never cleared it up.
After almost two months he ended up getting terrible bronchitis
and walking Pneumonia and had to have breathing treatments. At
that point they determined that he most certainly had a mild form
of asthma - his was aggravated by a smoking bar-b-q (cedar chips)
We began using albuteral and within a few weeks the cough went
away. Now whenever he starts the night coughing, it is not
frequent, we give him one or two albuterol treatments and it
seems to go away. We are also very good about vacuuming and
dusting his room abd keeping windows closed when it is very windy
or htere is a high pollan count.
Good luck
kristi
Sept 2003
Hi. My 16 month old daughter has been coughing only at night
for the past almost FOUR months. Out of the four months she's
only had probably about 3 nights of peaceful sleep. When this
first started, I took her to the doctor and they didn't seem
very concerned about it. They just said some children take
longer to recover. The doctor also said maybe it could be
allergies. Three months has passed and she is still coughing in
the middle of the night.
I take her to the doctor for her 15 month check up and I let the
doctor know she is still coughing. She says to try giving her
antibiotics (Amoxillian) for 10 days to see if it'll clear up.
If it doesn't try giving her Aubuterol (asthma inhaler) every 6
hrs. Well, the antibiotics didn't clear it up and now I'm
trying to give her the inhaler. It seems a little hard for her
to inhale it because she doesn't like the mask over her little
face. I tried to let her inhale it after she has fallen asleep
and it seems to work but the cough is still there.
I'm wondering if anyone out there has experienced this and if
you have any advice for me? It's been a very tiring 4 months
for both her and I. We'd just like to have a good night sleep.
Thank you!
Jane
My daughter had allergies (unbeknowst to me) at about ten months.
She would get this cough that wouldn't go away. I finally went to
a homeopathic practitioner, after trying some horrible cough
medicine from Kaiser that affected her nervous system. Read up on
homeopathy. It's a really interesting form of healing, pretty
tried and true. My daughter has reacted sucessfully to treatments,
even now when she's 12 years old. There are no bad reactions, if a
remedy doesn't work, it doesn't work. Beware though that the first
visit will cost quite a bit as it is longer. They ask A LOT of
questions about all aspects of the child to determine what the
right remedy is for the child. The remedies themselves are not
that expensive and follow-up visits are normal prices. There is
the Hanhneman Clinic in Albany (I liked Matt Vuksinich and a woman
named Christine-not sure if they are there anymore), and many
other practitioners in the Bay Area. Please try this and good
luck.
Nadja
Several possible things come to mind regarding your child (4 months is a
long time for both of you to suffer):
1) eliminate potential allergens in the BR (dust mites, synthetics, poor
air circulation, animal dander, chemicals, stuffed animals. etc.)
2) wash down all surfaces, including mattress cover, with black tea and
place in the sun to kill any mites
3) evaluate the diet carefully as responses to foods can take only 1 minute
and up to 72 hours. What ever was introduced 4 months ago may have to be
eliminated
until her gut is more developed.
4) probiotics, decimated by the antibiotics and Allbuterol, can help
rebuild your daughter's colon bacteria, an integral part of her immune
system. Babydophilus by
Jarrow may be helpful.
Nori Hudson
is it possible that
there is dust or mold or something like that which is the
problem? i don't konw what you do about mold, but for dust
you can perhaps borrow or rent a hepa vacuum and do a thorough
attack on the dust. also perhaps an allergy to your laundry
detergent if it is scented, that can sometimes irritate the
lungs?
good luck!
anon
Please get your child evaulated for asthma. My 5 yo daughter
had the same chronic nighttime cough for more than six months and
we received the same diagnosis from the doctors (allergies,
lingering cold, postnasal drip). Just this week she had a severe
asthma attack and was nearly hospitalized. The pediatrician
reviewed her charts and immediately diagnosed the kind of asthma
that manifests as chronic coughing and throat clearing (rather
than wheezing, which I think is more common). If your toddler does
have asthma, you can learn now how to manage it now and get the
medications you need to treat it at home, so you will be prepared
if an emergency situation arises. This is, as my pediatrician
stresses, a potentially fatal disease, so it's really important to
find out if that's the problem.
Also, with the inhaler issue--I think--but am not sure--that
Children's Hospital has some sort of support group for families of
asthmatic children. (I'm not sure because this is all very new for
me!) Perhaps there's someone at that hospital who can check your
technique or give you tips.
Susan
My son coughed for about 6 months only at night. We followed
the same medicinal path you have and it did eventually go away.
The most difficult part was the abuterol mask thing, but
eventually he got used to it and used to like walking around
with it on his face. I have a lot of allergies so I assumed
that was what was affecting him. So... I washed his sheets a
lot, vacuumed, etc. Not sure if it helped though.
Good luck.
anon
Ugh, that is just awful. I wish your doctor(s?) would work with
you more proactively on this. You and your daughter deserve
better sleep!
As for the albuterol--are they only giving you the clear tube
with the mask, with a small puffer? That is really hard. I
remember when I started giving asthma treatments to my little
guy, at 9 mos. He HATED it.
It did help a lot to put on a video while we did treatments. It
also helped that he got the albuterol from a nebulizer (which is
probably warranted for your daughter at this point), and that one
wonderful tech showed me how to use the adult equipment with a
little one--mine hated the nebulizer mask most of the time, too.
This other way is called a ''blow-by'' and is far more effective
than using the mask on a crying child (I was told that they
breathe more shallowly when they cry). With blow-by, you set your
child up watching a video, and aim the vapor at her mouth. Mine
even grew to like holding the adult mouthpiece in his teeth.
Sometimes he would breathe from that end and then the
flexible-tube end.
In the end, you need more ideas and options. Take care.
Jennie
Our 2 yr old son had chronic coughing at night for several months
in a row, but is fine now. He had pneumonia twice as an infant,
one of which was only diagnosed on a 2nd opinion, and this may
have made him more susceptible. Your child may have asthma or
alergies if the coughing is truly chronic. What helped our son
sleep without coughing was simply putting his mattress on an
angle, with his head at the highest end. You can do this with a
foam ''wedge'' pillow, or make your own ''ramp''. For more serious
coughs, a steeper incline helped. Over-the-counter cough medicine
was also useful during the serious bouts.
JWIL
If you think it may be asthma, try to reduce triggers, such as
dust and dust mites, perfume, toxic cleaning products, new
carpet, pets, etc. Here is a link about triggers:
http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/asthmatriggersandmgmt.stm
Because the coughing happens at night and because we spend a lot
of time in our bedrooms, it is helpful to keep the bedroom
especially clean. However, exposure to triggers during the day
could manifest in coughing at night.
anon
I am not a doctor, but it sounds like your child may have
what my son was diagnosed with when he was about two
years old, which is reactive airway disease. It is not asthma,
but can be a precursor to asthma, if it's not treated
effectively, says our doctor.
In my son's case, often after he'd recovered from a cold, his
coughing would continue for almost a month, especially at
night, or after he'd been running outside a lot. I've learned
over the years that the cough has a different sound than the
cough he has when he has an actual cold--more
spasmodic sounding--so it's gotten easier to figure out
where the cold stops and the reactive airway disease
begins.
In my experience, regular MDs don't show much of an
interest in this fairly common condition until it's
full-blown--i.e., until Albuterol is a necessity. We sought out
a good homeopathic doctor instead--Christine
Ciavarella--who prescribed a homeopathic remedy that he
took once a month for quite a long time. He seemed to
respond well to this treatment--the combination of the
homeopathic remedy and our learning the sound of a
reactive airway cough (which was the trigger for using other
homeopathic remedies as well) lessened the ocurrences of
coughs moving in the direction of reactive airway disease.
He also had a prescription for Albuterol, which we've had to
use on occasion, but my feeling is that we did not have to
use it as often as we would have had he not been on the
remedy. He's 7 now, and it seems like we're out of the
woods, for the most part. We're very happy that he did not
develop asthma.
I hope your child has a healthy early childhood, but if he/she
is anything like our son, we found early on that we needed
extra help that a regular medical practice isn't set up to
provide--that of proactive treatment for all the little
things--colds, flu, etc. Good luck!
madwig
have you tried a humidifier?
Judith
Get a referral to an allergist. Many pediatricians don't have
the training in this area. My son had the same problem so I can
relate to how you miust be feeling. It turns out my son has
allergies to dustmites and mold. His coughing was particularly
bad on foggy nights and windy nights, and often was at its worst
between the hours of 2-5am. Apparently certain types of mold
release their spores around this time. He takes a low dose of
the allergy medicine Zyrtec at bedtime and we are all sleeping
much better! Try to get to an allergist if you can. Good luck!
No more coughing
Hello Jane,
I understand just what you are going through. My daughter who is
now 13 experienced this same sort of cough when she was about
that age. It was not untill my husband and I took her in to the
doctor many times about this cough, yes they prescribed
antibiotics of (Amoxillian) for her as well which did not work.
This cough was very depressing to her and I and she was so
young I was up endless nights listening to her cough I was in
tears. One Sunday I took her into urgent care and the attending
physician on duty that day saved our lives. She immediately said
this chid has asthma I thought to my self no way I don't have
asthma and neither does her father, however my mother in law was
a chronic suffer of asthma which I had totally forgotten. So he
suggested a breathing treatment for her which was done in the
office on the table for about 30min, after that treatment my
daughter had regained her little life back and from this point
when the cough would occur I would make an urgent app. and tell
the doctor that she needed a breathing treatment. There is also
a few other precautions that I would take when she was little was
keeping her neck and or head covered on days like this if you
live in the bay area mornings and days like this seem to activate
that terrible cough for them. She resisted but I would say to
her remember that ugly cough that kept you up all night and she
would be ok. I literally made her wear a hat on her head if days
were like this it was very important to keep the head and neck
covered when she was exposed to air. As she got older and the
cough would occur I would get her to use her inhaler every two
hours for about two days and she would be just fine. She has
grown out of it but she was just coughing yesterday and I said to
her get your inhaler and use it!
I hope this helps you out! I know just what you are going
through.
Good luck
Tris
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