4Mths When Got Sick an He Still Hasnt Recovered...

Looking up RSV (at the CDC and emedicine)... it appears that while in otherwise healthy older children and adults it *only* takes 2-3 weeks to recover from it, it can take several months for infants to recover AND is the #1 cause of inflammation of the bronchioles &/or pneumonia in infants under 1yo.

Aka, RSV is generally more serious and longer lived than whooping cough... hence why the docs would have been dismissive of it. Also, pertussis (aka whooping cough) didn't come back as positive in his labwork, RSV did. There is no specific treatment for RSV, and hospitalization of infants is not always necessary, although it is fairly common. Esp. in cases of rsv-> pneumonia

Put something under neath his mattress so that the head is slightly tilted up and also get a cool mist humidifier in his room and run it when he sleeps. This will help him feel a little bit more comfortable.

What are the chances that he went from having RSV to sequing directly into having summer allergies, without a break in between? Just something to consider . . .

Hi, WOW I thought I was alone there for awhile!! My God I had the same issue with my son when he was four months old... He is eight months now and was out of the "woods" around 6 1/2 months. Boy was he sick, coughing, runny nose, gunk in eyes, fever, so not himself!!! The wost was the cough!!! I saw my Peds atleast eight times in two weeks and left each time with no answers. At first they said cold...then cold on top of cold...tested for Step...negative...left there went to new Peds...they said fluid in lungs and gave me a nebulizer (had no clue what one of those were) was told to use every 4 hrs with meds in it....did that like a champ..didn't work...went back they said Asthma...gave prednisone steriod in liquid form...two weeks that....no better.....kept going back there... said Asthma use nebulizer and prednisone...no better..Strep test was positive!!! Yay gave Amox. for 10 days..much better....1 day off Amox. and he got sick again....cough back...fever of 104!!!!! Went to ER (at 11:30pm)!!
nasal secretion test...Chest X-Ray....Nothing!!!! Went home next morning...ER called my home and informed me that they found fluid in my sons lungs that was called "Left Lingular Infiltration" meaning that had the early stages of pnumonia!!! ER told me to see Peds. Called Peds they were not concerned and scheduled me an appt for that week. Meanwhile I called CHOP and spoke to thier Pulmonary Dept. I explained everything to the head nurse there and she told me to come straight to the ER Immediatly!! I took my son to the ER at CHOP and his "Blood Saturation Level" was so low that they admitted him!!! Yes finally help!!! Or so I thought...Saw a Dr. that I now learn was not the attending but an intern!! She ordered blood work to be done on him he was monitored around the clock...test came back nothing...They did Chest Xray and saw fluid but saw nothing of conern...on the last day I asked to see the attending and he he told me that my son tested positive for the Rhino-Virus and that it could take a up to a year to fully get better!! WHAT!!! They sent me home with an inhaler for Asthma!!! WHAT!!! Of course I was desperate.. I used the inhaler when needed and slowley he got better. I finally all out refused to use it anymore...my son did not have asthma. He was in our bed for atleat 2 months!! Hes is better now...although he just tested positive for Step again on Thursday and I am so scared that this will be another episode. So far Amox. is working...its after that I am worried about.

Sorry I really didn't have many answers for you...I would get a Chest Xray though...and if you are not happy with your Peds. you have the right to go elsewhere! remember you are the mom, your child needs you to stand up and get him better!! Whatever that takes...YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!!!

Good luck and any questions I am here!!

I would go ahead and make an appointment with another pedi, or, just go ahead and go to the ER at the Children's hospital. I almost lost my oldest at 8 months, turns out she had pneumococcus. The doctor's would not listen to me, but, I knew something was wrong. I went from doctor to doctor for weeks, maybe months. It was underlying, and, by the time we got her to the hospital, it was almost to her brain, she had 105 temp, and, she was so lethargic that she could not move. It took them almost an hour to get an IV in, and, she almost died. (much of this, I learned after the fact.)

We learned a lot during her week long stay in the hospital pumping antibiotics the entire time. She got better, and, relapsed a week later. At that point, we were running more tests in the ER. Turns out, her (and I), are immune to immunizations. Meaning, they do not work on us. So, she was exposed to something, and, it started out as just what seemed like a simple cold to the docs, (most likely, not enough of an exposure to put her down for the count, but, enough that she could not fight it on her own. I was breastfeeding, which probably helped, but, stopped about the time she got really, really bad.). My mothers' instincts kept telling me something was not right. (horrible cough at night that would not go away.) Something else, she had this smell. It was almost like a smell that only I could smell. I guess it was nature's way of saying, "hey mom, fix this kid!" The smell would not go away. I smelled it on her the whole time, until she was finally better. I've had 2 more kids, and, never experienced anything like that again. It wasn't like it was a dirty smell, it really was like nature was alarming me to fix her.

Anyway, my point is, fix him momma. Get another opinion ASAP. You know best, your instinct is saying something is wrong, you have concerns. Get him somewhere NOW, and, insist they run every test if you have to, (or, have someone look at what was already taken so he doesn't have to be poked anymore, although, babies seem to take it really easy), until they can figure out what is wrong.

I hope he gets better. Keep us updated. :)

Bring him to Mott's Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. They are the best, saved my life when I was a baby and they saved my daughter's right after her first birthday. Good luck!

RSV is a virus and since his mucus is clear (usually means no bacteria), antibiotics will not help him. It can take up to 2 weeks to see improvement. As far as I know, there isn't any medication that will cure it. The breathing treatments should help.

Hi,
I would see if your Pediat. or get a 2nd Pediatric opinion if you can. If not ask for a referral to an pediatric ENT Dr or ped. Pulminologist for a full exam for him if possible asap. You may need to get pushy with the Ped. to get the referral, but remember you have to be the advocate for your little guy. Good Luck Mom

If you don't feel comfortable with the doctor's diagnosis, perhaps you'd feel better seeking a second opinion. Maybe your little one is showing signs of reactive airway. You might want to approach your doctor about the potential of it being that. I hope he's feeling better soon.

Hard not to wonder about allergies but too young to be tested/treated. What about food? If he's on breastmilk, allergies are almost impossible, but other kinds of milk can cause lots of mucous problems. I'd look into making changes there. Dairy is a big offender in the allergy department, also wheat. With a baby this young, I'd bet it's dairy. If you're nursing, eliminate it for a few weeks from your diet and see if it helps.

Have you tried a chiropractor? We had a skin issue on our 4 mo that lingered as well- trying all types of creams and stuff- the doctors were not helpful. Two weeks after her first chiro visit it was gone. The doctor called a "coincidence"- but I think not. It had lingered for 2-3 mos.

You must be exhausted! It very well may be that your baby just needs more time to recover. I know that may be frustrating. If he does not have a fever, has clear mucus, is alert during his waking hours and is eating satisfactorily, you can probably rest assured he has a lingering virus. But if you are still concerned, I would suggest (as someone else did) taking him to the ER at Motts Childrens Hospital in Ann Arbor. They will evaluate him and can give you a referral to another pediatrician if need be. They see RSV more often than any doc near Jonesville.

Whooping cough sounds like a "whoop" when they cough. They cough for long periods of time, during which they can't breathe. It's probably not whooping cough.

After 2 months, he might need antibiotics. Is the mucous bright yellow or green? Sometimes you have to be pretty insistent to get drs. to prescribe antibiotics.

Okay clear mucus is not an infection but maybe an allergy. And the high pitched bark sounds like it is croup, and croup does get much worse at night. It sounds like he might have some allergies that are triggering the trouble breathing and/or asthma. Croup goes hand in hand with allergies/asthma. I know I had croup off and on most of my childhood with allergies and tons of trips to the ER because there were not home nebulizers in those days.

The RSV could have made him more susceptible to the asthma and the allergies are triggering it even more. Also RSV can linger quite a while...my daughter was hospitalized with RSV at 10 months old. She was sick a long time with runny nose/cough/congestion, over a month.

Get a second opinion if you if you feel you aren't getting the help you need. Sending you a great big HUG!!

You might look into anything that could be in your home causing an allergic reaction. Years ago, my eldest who is now 31, at one month had what the doctor said was bronchitis. Same issues...coughing, hard time breathing, fever etc. We had the antibiotics, cough suppressants blah blah...this continued until she was 18months old. Every 6 weeks she would have the same thing. The last time she had it, I asked for a blood test to see if it truely was an infection or if it was a virus. I was worried about all the antibiotics. NO INFECTION. I was not happy with the doctor. Why didn't HE think of checking her white count? Then we moved to a different house. She NEVER had it again. I concluded that she was having a reaction the the new insulation we put in our house when she was one month old. Another similar issue we had, and I have posted about this before...same daughter at 4 had bladder infections over and over. Long story short, we went through 3 years of first antibiotics, tests, scopes, xrays everything you can imagine to see why she kept getting these infections. I finally took her to a DO. I asked him, as I had asked the urologist, since we had a well for water, could it be the well water? The urologist said a flat no the DO said absolutely yes. He told me to only give her bottled water I did and she NEVER had another bladder infection. SO...things in your home that are not bothersome to the rest of the family could be causing a problem for your little one. It could be anything. You might take him to an allergist or to really step out of the box, I would recommend the Alternative Health Care Center in Grossepointe. (I don't know where Jonesville is) They are a group of Chiropractor/Clinical Nutritionists who have amazing ways to find culprits in cases where doctors are baffled and give you no answers. Sometimes doctors just don't know and only give you things to treat the symptoms and never get to the cause. Go to www.ahccenter.com the website gives info about what the do and there are testimonials about various mysteries solved. I hope you can find the answers you need!

If you're not comfortable with your pediatrician, definitely seek out a second opinion. If you have an HMO (which it sounds like you do), simply call and switch your child's pediatrician so that you can see a new one without a referral. If you decide you want to go back to the old one, you can always switch back again.

As another mom posted, it may be worthwhile to try cutting dairy out of your baby's diet for a week or so to see if it gets better. If you're still breastfeeding, trying cutting all dairy out of your own diet. If he's bottle fed formula, try a non-dairy based formula. Traditional medicine doctors will seldom offer this as an option because they are taught to treat symptoms with medication rather than looking at the root of an issue (which is often tied to a food allergy or food intolerance). And quite often, these things will go away when you make small changes in diet, etc.

My son is about to turn 1 year old and I felt like he was sick from November through April this past year (mostly cold-like symptoms - not very serious but causing him to cough a lot when he layed down to sleep, etc)... He was on the nebulizer at one point too. They said it was broncheolitis but he had been sick with multiple colds (or whatever they were) for a good 4 months prior to being diagnosed with broncheolitis. And it feels so much worse dealing with a sick baby when you have little to no sleep yourself. Hopefully, as my son has, your son will turn a corner soon :( Best of luck! And never doubt your "mommy intuition" even when doctors say not to worry!