Coughing - Lumberton,TX

you have been given asthma meds, yet they wont "test" for asthma? Sorry, that doctor is nuts. see someone else. My middle DD had asthma so severe (started with a cough & took liquid ventolin) she ended up using a nebulizer till she was 5. First SEVERE asthma attack almost took her life. At 16 months. I wouldnt wait until symptoms get worse. or until he's 2. Cough meds are not recommended for asthma, as they supress the cough, which you need to cough up some of the mucous that comes with asthma. Most cough medicines state right on the bottle, dont use if asthmatic. The good thing is, if & when asthma starts in a child this young, they eventually outgrow it, by 12 or so. My DD did, thankfully. Those were some scary years, when she was little. Keep a log of his symptoms, what he was doing when they started, any illnesses, playing in a certain room, log it all, so you have something to show the doctor when you go.

Sounds like asthma,.,. exactly like our daughter. That bloody coughing was awful.. Now this time of year with allergies your son is really going to have a tough time.

Purchase a room air filter (we purchased a Hunter) . We had to change the filter at least every 4 weeks. During certain times of the year it was every 3 weeks. It was coated in dust!

Get rid of any carpets in his room. We actually got rid of all of them in the house.

Place his stuffed animals somewhere else or at least put them through the dryer on air dry to get the dust off of them. We got rid of the curtains and used mini blinds.. We purchased comforters that could be washed each week or every other week. We kept 1 in a zippered case to pull out while the other was being washed.

At least her room was a sanctuary. Keep his door closed as much as possible and keep the filter running 24/7.. This really did help change our lives.

You may want to insist on something now from the doctor so you can all at least get some sleep. If not go get a second opinion. I know exactly how frustrated you are..

FYI, our daughter did pretty grown out of it by about 13..

I am sending you strength...

Yep, Laurie A. gave good advice.

I have Asthma. Have had it since childhood.
My parents, did all that Laurie mentioned, below.

Also, go and get a 2nd opinion.

Cough medicine, does not help Asthma. It only serves to suppressing the cough or expelling the mucus.
Which, Asthma does not necessarily respond to, cough syrup.
Because, he does not have a cold related cough.

Asthma... is an inflammation or constricting of the airways.

Anytime he cannot breathe or turns blue... you NEED to get him to an ER. Pronto.

Albuterol, is a bronchodilator. And IS, meant for Asthma. To open up the airways. Pronto.

DO get, a 2nd Doctor opinion.

Updated

Yep, Laurie A. gave good advice.

I have Asthma. Have had it since childhood.
My parents, did all that Laurie mentioned, below.

Also, go and get a 2nd opinion.

Cough medicine, does not help Asthma. It only serves to suppressing the cough or expelling the mucus.
Which, Asthma does not necessarily respond to, cough syrup.
Because, he does not have a cold related cough.

Asthma... is a inflammation or constricting of the airways.

Anytime he cannot breathe or turns blue... you NEED to get him to an ER. Pronto.

Albuterol, is a bronchodilator. And IS, meant for Asthma. To open up the airways. Pronto.

DO get, a 2nd Doctor opinion.

ask your dr about singulair it helped my daughter it helps with allergies and athsma so if its one or the other singulair will help. I have also heard that they won't test most kids for athsma until they are two because they will sometimes grow out of it by then if its not life threatening. My daughter had a dry nagging cough that would make me listen because it sounded like she was going to hurl but rarely did she. She is now 4 and we don't have the coughs anymore. She was a little older though so i dont know if they can give it to a toddler but it might be worth checking into.

I used to babysit a young boy with a similar issue. It was due to acid reflux. You may want to ask your ped about this. If your ped does not seem to want to find the cause, it may be time to find a new ped! I know my ped would do everything she could to help find the cause!

He coughs whenever he goes to bed. Sounds like wherever he sleeps- in his bed or his room, there is an allergen that triggers his coughing. It may be dust mites in his bedding or stuff animals or curtains...etc. Clean, launder and vacuum as much as you can; air out, install an air filter and see if it helps. When the family has history of Asthma, he could have a sensitive disposition!

I just asked this question. For us, it turned out just to be seasonal allergies.

get a second opinion.

My son was diagnosed at 3 months and we have a history of asthma in the family. He is 22 now and still suffers with it. God has been good because he has been at death's door too many times with it. I praise God he is alive.

My son does this too!! My son does have asthma. Some doctors, especially those that do NOT live with asthma, don't realize that every asthmatic is different. I, for example, never wheeze. I was misdiagnosed by a doctor who kept telling me that since I wasn't wheezing, it was just an anxiety attack. WTH! So, after changing doctors and finding one who would do all the pulmonary functions tests, I did have asthma and it was pretty bad.
I was told that for insurance purposes, they don't "officially diagnose" asthma until children are around 4 years old, but my son has been on a nebulizer since he was 8 weeks old! (He's 7 now)
I can tell you that sometimes, if one treatment doesn't work, do TWO IN A ROW!! Also, I am not sure if you can change or not, it's up to your doctor, but my son is on Xopenex. (zo-pen-ex). Its albuterol but it doesn't give the little ones the shakes as much.
As far as the coughing at night, my son will start coughing and within minutes he will throw up. It does get old quickly especially since I know what his problem is. So, I will sit him up in bed and sit behind him and give him his breathing treatment with his mask and he just falls asleep in my arms. Early on though, at times I had to give him two treatments in a row.
Just remember that the albuterol is just a quick acting medication. He might need something more long acting to help control his breathing in the long run like Pulmocort. They come in little beads like the albuterol and they are inhaled steroids. Works GREAT!! It cuts my son's asthma attacks to almost NOTHING!! I hope it gets better soon! Good luck.

My advice may be a bit different from other mommas, and it sounds like your root issue is probably a bit different than what I experienced, but this could help with the throwing up. Have you tried reducing the amount of dairy your son eats/drinks? It may not be the long-term solution, but it could help with the mucus build up. My son has had a number of colds and coughed so much during the last few months. During almost every coughing fit, he would throw up because there was so much mucus in his chest.

It was really tough at first because he loves his dairy products. We switched to soy yogurt with no problem. The milk part was tricky. I found that a mixture of two parts almond milk (or soy milk) and one part cows milk was just the right combination. I was surprised to find three varieties of almond milk (get the vanilla) at HEB. It overall has less calories than cows milk, but same nutrition. Just reducing his overall dairy intake has helped a ton, and rarely never throws up anymore.

Also agree about Xopenex - much better than albuterol. My doctor said they are coming out with a generic of it sometime in the near future.

Best of luck to you momma! Most of all, trust your gut on what's best for your son!

Does he play in his room as well? Reason why I am asking is because if it was allergic to something in there he would do it all the time not when he sleeps. If the treatments are not working, and it is happening when he is laying down I am thinking reflux, maybe I am wrong, but I would get another opinion. Just a thought. If it is asthma, most times steroid treatments are needed. I don't understand how your doc is okay with this. Get another opinion, or go to a specialist. Good luck!!

My daughter is a lot older but has had exercise-induced asthma issues in the past. After being in TX for a couple years, she developed an extremely bad cough. She went to a number of specialists over two years and nobody could stop the coughing. They either said there was nothing wrong or that she had allergies that made the asthma worse. She missed a lot of classes and had to stop running track (her passion). Strangers looked at her oddly as if to ask why she didn't do something about that awful cough. We finally got her to a naturopathic doctor who didn't just give her more drugs. The doctor looked for the cause instead of just treating the symptoms. She found that our daughter's body was so inflamed from all the coughing and her gall bladder was shutting down from all the drugs she had been taking for two years. She said it was like her body was rebelling by coughing. The doctor had her do a cleanse to get all the drugs out of her system and take other natural supplements. Her cough stopped in 2 weeks! Now she takes a multi-vitamin daily to strengthen her system. Then during the worst allergy times, she adds extra supplements.

If you can't find a cause, then you might want to find a different kind of doctor. It seems that most doctors just treat the symptoms. It makes me wonder if medical schools are funded by the drug companies and as a result are only taught how to find a drug for everything. Then there's another drug to take care of this side effect and another drug to take care of that side effect...

A dear friend of mine had the same problem with her now 4 year old. It started when he was 1 and from then until about four months ago it has been a real struggle for them. First they were told it was just seasonal allergies, then low immune system, then asthma, the list goes on. They took him to the regular pedi, ENT, pedi pulmonologist, allergist...the works. Finally they did some intensive allergy testing on him. It showed that he was moderatly allergic to milk (among other things). They put him on a cassin free diet and anti reflux meds and it has made a world of differance for him. He is just really sensitive to it apparently. They accidently gave him a hot dog bun made with milk the other day and shortly afterwords he started coughing again. Just something to consider as you look for something to help your little one. Best of luck to you!

Ask them for a referral to a specialist. I agree, something isn't right. Not sure what kind of Dr. you'd need but ask for a referral. Maybe an ear, nose throat Dr.?? Sometimes you have to sidestep and go with your gut on things. Good luck!!

My new baby coughs sometimes when I put him down. It's only a little. I look at his face, and he does not look distressed at all. I think that he has figured out that when he coughs, I grab him and sit him up pretty quickly.

I would say to listen to his breathing (for wheezing or rattling) over a period of time, especially when lying down. You need to be able to trust your gut.