Baby Can't Get Well and I Don't Know What to Do Next.

Updated on May 14, 2007
G.M. asks from Myrtle Beach, SC
15 answers

My 16 month old daughter has been sick with a cold for a month or longer. She has basically had this same problem since she was 2 weeks old. She has been on antibiotics numerous times for infections. She has had ear tubes. She has been seen by an allergist, and was tested for allergies. After that we began treating her for reflux, and things began to improve. Well, it's back and I am so worried this time. We have been on orapred, which today is the last day. We have started back the prevacid and today is the 5th day. She is also on singulair, nasonex, and a nebulizer when needed. Nothing seems to really help. She does seem a little better, but she is still coughing/wheezing, and her nose still is producing, but not as much. We did do a chest x-ray, which came back "negative," but during the x-rays I'm not sure how clear they were because it was almost impossible to keep her still. Have any of you mom's had any experiences with this type of things? What did you do? What direction did you take? I am ready to seek out some other kind of opinion, but I am not sure what kind of Dr I should see, or should I continue with her pediatrician until this is resolved, and let him help me make the choices on what direction to take. Should I see an ENT, the allergist again, stick with the pediatrician or see another pediatrician, or what?! She eats well, is developmentally on par, and is normal 16 month old in every other way, except for this. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated-THANKS!

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W.E.

answers from Hickory on

I have in the same place you are now. My daughter was 6 months old and we went throught this. Her allery doctor put her on Singular, nasanex, pulmocort, and zyrtec. It cleared her completely up. She is they will prescribed zyrtec along with the onther medications that she is already taking. You will see a big improvement. Let me know how this goes. If you want to know more my e-mail is ____@____.com to you soon. W.

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K.C.

answers from Fayetteville on

Some times it takes a while for things to improve after starting medication. It seems like your ped is willing to try other things. I think moving her right now will cause you to have to start over again with a trial of many of the same medication. I know that my son has asthma and he is on a neb, singulair, flonase and zantac. When he flares up this combo work for him sometime we have to had prednisone also but it still takes a week or two one on all of the medication. He is not on all the medication daily. Singulair is a good medication because it block the cause of allergic reaction and helps with congestion with out sudafed. If the cold last this long it sounds like allergies or reflux but instead of changing provider try talking with you ped about adding or changing allergy medication and even trying nasal saline. An increase or change in medication for reflux may help also. If she is growing and developing normally this is not as serious as it may seem right now. I would not advised antibiotic at this time she may have been on too frequently as it is.

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H.L.

answers from Hickory on

Amanda I hate to hear about all the sickness but i kinda understand what you are going thru. My 2 year old son Dakota has been sick since he was 2 weeks old. He had RSV and had to be on a respirator and in the NICU for 2 weeks. He was on Breathing treatments(nebulizer with Zopenex) until a yearold. Then he had Croup at 1 and 18 months. He has had ear infections since day 1. I even lost my job because of his health problems. Dakota has never been in daycare but everything he gets is 10 times worse than other kids Since he had tubes put in his ears and Adenoids taking out in January he has only got sick once with the stomach flu. My advice is to see an ENT and see what they say. I feel you pain and i know i am not much help but you are not alone. I could go on for days about how sick Dakota has been since he was born

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M.W.

answers from Columbia on

WOW! Sounds like déjà-vu for me with my son. I delivered at 37 weeks. From the moment he came into the world, he had breathing difficulties. He was flown to MUSC and was in their NNICU for 9 days. The best the doctors could determine was that during his short time in the birth canal his lungs did not release all of the fluid….We have tried everything that you have been instructed to do thus far including allergy testing. He has had his adenoids removed at 15 months and is now on his third set of ear tubes. The ENT he saw also an allergy Dr. I mainly used the ENT for his healthcare versus the pediatrician. The ENT and pediatrician kept each other informed as to the status of my son. The doctors kept on telling me that he would grow out of it and although his situation frustrated them as well as us, it was the only advice they could give. He is now 4 years old and basically picture perfect health. They were right; he did grow out of it. By the time he was 26 months he had overcome all of the issues you are currently going though. I know it is a LONG road to be going down, but hopefully time will prove to be the best treatment for you too.

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C.

answers from Asheville on

Hi! I have been through a very similar situation. My son, now almost 3 1/2 got his first cold at 2 mos. and it was downhill from there.

I have done the tubes in his ears, twice actually and that does help with the infections. We have been to an allergist, all of the tests came back negative. (One of the big problems with testing before 5 is that they may or may not react to the allergan.)

His doctors thought it was asthma, so we did nebulizer treatments and Singulair. Then I took him to an ENT, 'round and 'round. I know EXACTLY how you feel.

When all of this first started, my pediatrician told me to just hang on, that it would get better as he got older. I hate to say it, but it has. Now, he has a runny nose and cough occasionially, but NOTHING like it was.

Have you tried the Zyrtec? Or, what I found that works better is Dimetapp. I don't give it to him everyday, or even as directed on the bottle. Usually just once at night calms everything down so he can sleep. Is it better now that it's not cold weather?

Hang in there! I know this is driving you mad!

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N.H.

answers from Norfolk on

This story sounds all too familiar. My daughter went through this from about the same age until age 3. She was diagnosed as asthmatic at the age of 2, but I'll tell you, it took some fighting to get a diagnosis. The same routine, ER visit with coughing and wheezing, pediatrician visit, singulair, orapred, neb treatments and probably about 2 other things. Finally, when they treated the asthma things slowed down a little bit. My daughter now takes singulair for the asthma as well as a pulmicort inhaler every day and also takes zyrtec for her allergies which are ridiculous. Unfortunately, it took an ER visit and a 2 day stay in the hospital at Portsmouth Naval before I finally got somewhere, but today, she is 1,000 times better and we work through it. Portsmouth Naval referred me to a pulminologist which specializes not just in asthma, but the asthma, the allergies, the side effects and so on. Best thing I ever did for my daughter. We are navy, but do see civilian doctors and pediatricians, so if you aren't navy don't worry about that. If you are, I can tell you that Portsmouth Naval is awesome where the pediatric care is concerned across the board so don't hesitate to use it. At any rate, I would definitely recommend the pulmonologist route and see what they say. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to email me and I'll be glad to give any support I can. I know how scary it can be sometimes. Best to you and your daughter.

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J.H.

answers from Albuquerque on

May I suggest that you find another pediatrician? Maybe a doctor that is a pediatric and internal medicine. They have a little more knowledge and you can find board ceritfied ones at waccamaw hospital (like Larry W Kelly M.D.) I don't know of him but he's been ceritfied and been so since 1997 so he's up on his information but around long enough to have help many little ones. These are just some things I would look for in a Doctor. Your poor little one sounds like too many meds are being given which destroy the GOOD germs in her little body that she needs, some are good but she sounds like she's given WAY too many. Maybe the milk or formula needs changed. A niece had to be changed from cow's milk to goats milk because of allergies. Maybe more natural foods and no processed foods would also help. I'm a grandma and come from a VERY LARGE family, we are pretty healthy with over 30 nieces and nephews running around. I hope this helps you. J.

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L.H.

answers from Norfolk on

Singulair in rare cases causes upper respiratory infections. I was on it, then stopped taking it because of insurance costs. Then I noticed that I wasn't getting any more infections. I then paid attention to the commercial and it states this side effect.

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A.W.

answers from Raleigh on

Take her off anything with wheat and limit the use of cows milk. Go see an acupunturist.

My son will be 2 in July. When he was 6 months we started on the regiment of breathing treatments, antibiotics, scary trips to the ER (Happy New Year to us!!), and even a trip to a lung specialist. My grandmother finally asked if his formula had milk in it, she suggested taking him off and that helped. We had tubes but in his ears in June and in Sept (after I spent my birthday cuddled up in a pediatric cage (I mean hospital bed) with my son, we went to an acupunturist. She told us that wheat was a high mucus producer, since we have started the diet he hasnt been on an antibiotic. We still have to use the nebulizer every once in a while (more of a preventative measure). A lot of the grocery stores have wheat free and gluten free products. They have a lot of corn and rice substitues. We also shop at glutenfree.com (my neice has celiac disease) Gluten free is wheat free, but not all wheat free is gluten free. It will take about 2 weeks to really see results. Good luck and if you have any questions please feel free to email me.

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K.L.

answers from Norfolk on

Hello, my name is K. and I am fairly new to the area. In the past when I have had issues that regular doctors can't resolve I look towards Chiropractors. I don't know exactly where you live but I would look for a Chiropractor that does kinesiology. It is a non-invasive way of checking the body for problems. They can usually check little ones as well. In my experience it has been right on every occasion. I hope you can find out what it wrong with your little one. As a mother I know how hard it is not be able to fix every problem. Write back if you have any further questions. I have done a lot of research when it comes to health problems because my family seems prone to them. Good luck.

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L.

answers from Charlotte on

My mother is a nutritionist/herbalist and she suggests this "healthy punch" for children to support their immune system, helps their digestive system, and help fight colds, flu and fever. I hope it helps you:

Mix 1/2 ounce each: chamomile, elder flowers, lemon balm, nettles, red clover and spearmint. Pour 2 cups boiling water over 1 tablespoon of herbal mixture. Steep 7 minutes. Strain. mix with 2 cups apple, berry, or grape juice.

God bless!

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A.M.

answers from Greensboro on

If I had been dealing with this for 16 month, give or take, I think I would be ready to check out other options. You don't want her building up resistence to antibiotics or reliant on numerous medications just to get through the day, and still be miserable. I would look into finding a homeopathic doctor and try herbal, vitamin, and mineral supplements. Also, remove dairy from her diet to start, and whatever else the homeopathic doctor recommends.

I see a regular pediatrician, like you. I just think that after all you have been through, she should have improved. Sounds like time to seek another source. I wouldn't stop seeing the pediatrician altogether, well visits, and other stuff; but would start looking for alternatives to the meds.

Best of luck. I hope you will update us.

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B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

Have you ever thought about taking her off all the antibiotics and sprays and everything and just letting her body figure out how to fight it off on it's own? I read that antibiotics and the misuse of them (which is a problem in this country) is one of the causes for ear infections and we all know that the more we use them, the less hard our bodies have to work to build up immunities to fight things off in the future. I think I would swing by Heritage Health center down by the beach and see what they have to say about it or who they would recommend. If you have tried everything medical, why not try the other direction?

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Y.G.

answers from Norfolk on

See an ENT quick! You just described my daughter to the T. I use ENT LTD over in Virginia Beach. They are EXCELLENT. Secondly, get a second opinion from a Ped. Specialist. Forget the large pratice childs DR, and go for a small group. One that is not afraid to think outside the box.

My daughter had pollups in her sinus cavity, causing her to be sick from 2 months old to age 5. We know all about orapred, omnisef, and asthma meds. Once she saw the ENT, he found the problem, a quick surgery over at CHKD....and I have a NEW child.
It's amazing.

Not to diagnose your little one, but a second look at things always gives you a better look at the situation. An ENT may be just what she needs.

Good luck!

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J.L.

answers from Charlotte on

I would recommend a speciallist, it sounds like she has been on too much meds as it is. Seek an ENT or asthma speciallist. My oldest when she was a baby she will keep colds in her chest then when I switch DR. they diagnose her with asthma she is doing so much better and she rarely cathes colds now. TRY Albuterol it is an inhaler but ask your DR. first

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