Daughter Has Cough for a Long Time and Now Fever

Get her allergy tested asap...it can make a world of difference! My daughter was missing so much school and since her allergist put her on 1 pill an an inhaler she has hardly ever gotten sick!

I feel your pain. My daughter is 14 months and has had a cough and runny nose for as long as I can remember. The doc has been treating her for asthma. None of the medicines were helping. My husband and I took her to a pulmonary specialist (yesterday) and he said that he doesn't think she has asthma at all (or atleast not yet - since it runs in the family). He thinks it's all in her nost and throat. That maybe her adenoids or tonsils may be swollen and it's not letting the drainage go down and that's why she is forever coughing and raspy. I would say if she is on asthma medicines and they aren't working you need to go to a pulmonary specialist. She may not even have asthma.
I hope things work out for you and Happy Holidays.

My 2 youngest children have a serious problem with their sinuses. Everytime the weather changes, and it has been quite frequently, they get a choking cough, fever, ear infections, and anything else you can think of. I am saying all of this, because it may be as simple as her sinuses are acting up due to weather change and it may be being misdiagnosed since this is also flu season. Try giving her a decongestant, a prescription from the doctor for albuterol liquid, and ibuprofen for the fevers. When the girls get real bad with fevers, we will alternate between tylenol and ibuprophen doing 1 2 hours then the next the other 2 hours and keep going back and forth like that.

I'm not sure about the fever, but have you ever considered that she might have a food allergy that is causing her cough?
Dairy products often make coughs worse because they can increase thick mucus production. Do you use perfumed detergent? That could also make it worse. Have you seen an allergy doctor? They can help you eliminate things that might be causing the cough and do tests to see what other things she might be allergic to.

I don't know personally how hard it is to give up smoking because I've never smoked. But, that seems to be an obvious thing that could really help her. We had a preemie baby and where told smoke is so dangerous that it even lingers on clothing and can cause serious breathing problems. People who smoked were not even allowed to enter our home in their "smoked in" clothes -- by doctor's orders.

Other than that, the pets may need to find new homes. I think the fever and lingering cough have to be unrelated. The fever is probably just a bug that kids get this time of year, but the cough has been around for way too long.

I've been in your boat for several years now; my almost 5 year old son has had asthma, diagnosed at about 17 months.

First and foremost, you have GOT TO STOP smoking anywhere near her. The easiest way to set my son off is with cigarettes. I smoke as well but do so outdoors, never in a car with him either. My parents argued with me for the longest time over whether or not the smoking really impacted him, until one day at dinner my stepmom lit a cigarette and my son puked on her from coughing so hard. It's a huge deal and does serious damage to anyone's lungs, especially those of an asthmatic. Doesn't matter how far away your room is from her, it circulates through the house anyway.

Secondly, my son also, when having any sinus stuff going on, coughs horribly. This is because his sinuses are draining back into his throat and choking him up. If she has a runny nose right now, try some claritan; even mixed with her current meds, there is no interference. Short acting Bendryl can help dry it up to but may make her hyperactive for a bit. My son takes Singulair and it has been a life save, he is a completely different kid with it, but you can add some benadryl or claritan on top of it. They make great Benadryl chewabled that are 12.5mg, she can take one about every 6 hours. If she gets too bouncy, give her 5mg of claritan (generic is loratidine, pretty cheap and works great).

I worked at a long term care pharmacy for a couple years just as my son was diagnosed and had 5 pharmacists and 2 pharmacist consultants as advisors to his meds, what I could give, what I couldn't, any inteference, etc, just a constant source of advisment. Absolutely priceless info, and I would never steer anyone wrong on it!

What kind of meds is she on? I'm guessing the inhaler she has is Albuterol that they have upped, but is she on any other longer term prevenatives, like Flovent, Advair, Serevent, Pulmicort? She should be. And if she isn't on Singulair, talk to the doctor about it.

Please, for your daughters sake, stop smoking in your house. If you are smoking anywhere in your house, it is affecting her. I will literally go outside in 6 inches of snow on my back porch bundled up and with a blanket in order to prevent it from being around my son. People with asthma just CANNOT take it. I think when you stop and get your house aired out, you will see a huge difference in just a few days.

Other things to watch out for; vacuum and dust at least once a week. Wash all your linens, including her bed linens, in hottest water possible, once a week. Yes it's a lot of work. Yes smoking outside is a pain. But do you want to see your daughter continue to be sick? Also, especially in apring in summer months, though opening the house is a money saver from heat or a/c,depending on her allergies it could be pure torment for your daughter. Pay close attention to how she reacts to it!

Good luck...

What area are you in, and whos your allergy asthma doc? i have a great doctor if you want the name just write me back hes wonderful he was my ped. when i was growing up then he went to school for allergy and asthma and now he is mine and my daughters asthma/allergy doc. WOnderful man and every one in his group is just as good!

I feel silly for suggesting this but it really worked for my daughter. She is two years old and everytime we took a trip to my in-laws she got a terrible cough and fever. My in-laws just thought she was a sickly child. I soon figured out it was because she would get chocolate milk when we stopped for food on the trip. As soon as I cut out milk, the cough went away and the fever and also her overall health has been much better. Not as many colds and such. It may seem simple but it is worth a try. I know my 18 year old sister is the same way with milk. I hope this helps. There are lots of soy milk substitutes that taste good too. Good luck!

When she coughs is it dry or is it producing mucus? That will be an indication if she has a cold or if it's the asthma. Yes Asthma will cause a cough. If the inhaler isn't working alone, you may need to talk to the doctor about her using a nebulizer so she gets more medication delivered over a period of time, also ask her doctor about putting her singulaire (not sure about the spellig) and pulmicort. Sometimes ventolin or albuterol just aren't enough. My 1 year old who is asthmatic also is on albuterol and prednisolon solution. Pulmicort is an inhaled steroid that will help strengthen the lungs. Prednisolon is an oral cortisone type thing that takes the inflamation out of the lungs that causes the wheezing that causes more inflamation that causes more wheezing that causes more inflamation...you know...it's the whole vicious circle thing. If the inhaler doesn't work alone, they may have to add other kinds of medication to help. If worse comes to worse, get a referral to and asthma specialist...you may want to try Dr. Sheth over at Unity on Creasy Ln...he's my daughter's asthma specialist he's really good and she doesn't have very many problems with her athsma anymore.

Has your doctor had her on a nebulizer? Our oldest son has asthma and it seems to be at it's worst when the weather's screwy. The fever is a by-product of the asmtha as well. (Something to do with the body trying to get rid of the fluid in the lungs any way possible.) When the inhaler doesn't seem to work, his doctor prescribes an inhaled steriod called Pulmicort that seems to do wonders. Depending on the severity, she has also had him on liquid steriods as well. The steriods are used for about 1 month at a time and then we go back to his normal treatments. After a round of steriod treatment, he always seems to be 100% better and we don't have to worry about another outbreak until the weather gets un-predicatble again. As for her cough, triaminc and Mucinex seems to work best with my son, and if you can get her to take a shower, the Vick's shower soothers work well also. (If she won't take a shower, put one in a big bowl of water and set it on the edge of the tub while she's bathing) Either way, just make sure she knows to breath the vapors in, and not touch the cake thing. (It gets very hot)

Also, as for the smoking..... My husband and I both smoke, but we do it outside of the house. Even though you smoke only in your room, the smell and some of the smoke is still filtering through your home and can aggravate her asthma as well. I would suggest taking your cigarette breaks outside, or at the least making sure you have your window open and are standing beside it while smoking.

M.,

My youngest has asthma. I love her pediatrician however I felt that I wasn't getting anywhere with her chronic condition after years. You need to take her to a pulmonologist. I live on the north side of Indianapolis and have a wonderful pulmonologist who has really turned our lives around in the last year. If she has a diagnosis of asthma, you should be able to go him without a referral from your doctor. I went right to the specialist because I was tired of the non stop sickness and cough. His name is Remander (sp?) Sufi out of St. Vincent hospital. He is wonderful and I know he will help you. I feel your anxiety. Been there!! Let me know if you want any other tips on controlling her cough. We have been cough free for a long time and this is our very hard time of the year.

I have 2 children with asthma and allergies. Has your daughter been tested for allergies yet? I will be willing to bet she may be allergic to the animals. My youngest one was and the doctor kept treating her for chronic pneumonia...when she was finally tested they found she was highly allergic to cats...of which we had several who liked to sleep with her at night. When we got rid of the cats her symptoms calmed just a bit. Just because you have always had the animals around does not mean she isn't allergic to them...she may have been exibiting slight signs of allergic reactions and it not been credited to allergy to animals...and people become allergic to things throughout their lifetimes so something you've been exposed to throughout your life may one day cause you to become allergic to it.
Call the doctor back. If she has had a fever...103 is considered high for a child...and has been on Amox. since the 12th she may need to be switched to something else. My daughter was put on Singulair, Advair, Zyrtec, Flonase, and Albuterol (for emergencies...when she was having an episode and couldn't breath well)...she went from a child who coouldn't play...no energy... to one who rode bikes, played outside...etc...If you can't get ahold of you doctor...as it's Saturday...then take her to urgent treatment center and explain to them what is going on and see what they do.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Hi Marlen,
my name is Shasta and I'm the mother of 2 girls. My girls both have Asthma. My oldest daughter is now 6 and she has grown out of. My youngest daughter will be 4 years old and we have to do breathing treaments on her. They were both diagnosed with Asthma about 2 years ago. My youngest daughter who has is worse would always cough and then vommit. She wouldn't carry a fever though. Neither my husband or I have Asthma nor do we smoke so this was a rare case of our children getting this. I was wondering if you have had your house tested for mold. My husband and I did this before we went to the Dr. to have our children looked at for the Asthma. This was the only thing we could come up with why they kept this cough and would get sick very easy. Come to find out we did have the mold and it was the mold that could make you very sick and have breathing problems. My husband and I had to have air test done in the house and have our house sprayed. We had to move in with my parents for 6 months until this was taken care of. Since we've been back in and had this taken care of my youngest daugher now only has to do one breathing treatment at night. When the weather changes we have to upp her alberterol as only as needed. I hope this helps and good luck.