Daughter Nasty Cough Dr Thinks It Allergies?

It's definitely allergies. I went through the same thing with my son. I swore up and down my son had asthma. Went into the doctor's office, demanding a breathing treatment.... He was given a cough medicine with an antihistamine in it....long story short, it was allergies. What do you know?
I suggest doing some deep cleaning in her room.... underneath the bed, all the nooks and crannies, windows, bed linen, etc. Then I would suggest getting a plastic zippered mattress cover, and put her mattress in it. Seal the zipper area with duct tape, and get her a thin quilted mattress pad so that she won't sweat to death against the plastic cover. This, along with her bed linens need to be washed weekly. That should really help.
Hopefully the Singulair will work. Zyrtec works wonders for my son. Good luck. Allergies are a pain in the rump. But since I have terrible allergies, I've become pretty good at taking care of them.

S.,
Try getting a humidifier for her room. They have cool air versions. That may do wonders for her. You can also try the plug in vapor things. They are just like the plug in air fresheners but you put a vapor pad in it. Both of those things help out all of us in my house in the winter months. Singular may make a difference as well, 2 of my three boys are on a daily medication for allergies (one on Zyrtec the other on Singulair). You may want to try a couple of drops or a squirt of a simple saline solution like the Little Noses before bedtime as well...just to get a little more moisture in the nasal area.

Just a couple of things that help out the Winter Dry Air and Allergy related Coughs around my house. Good Luck!

T. Koyn

I know for a fact that when you lay down, a cough can get worse. Try elevating her a little with an extra pillow and see if that helps.

You might be right about her trying to get to sleep in your bed by pulling at the heart strings!!! They are too smart!

My daughter just got over a nasty cough and it was a sinus infection, it had NOTHING to do with her lungs,(although the cough sounded like it!) I would eliminate dairy for a day or so and see if that helps (no milk or ice cream, it helps produce phlegm- cheese would be fine)
Good luck!

S., I would take her to an ENT. My 5 year old DS had a cough and runny nose for the better part of a year that I thought was allergies. Finally after being on allergy medication for a YEAR, my ped told me to take him to an ENT (Dr. Robert Taylor in Durham is awesome). Dr. Taylor gave him an allergy test - NO allergies. He just had his adenoids removed on Thursday and it looks like they were chronically infected, which I've found is not uncommon with kids. I HIGHLY recommend getting your daughter tested (very simple), before putting her on a daily medication that won't do anything if she really doesn't have allergies.

I also highly recommend Dr. Taylor. For us, it was well worth the half hour drive to him. He is doing some allergy treatments that are leading-edge, the only doctor prescribing these treatments in the state. Please feel free to email me PM if you have any other questions/concerns.

Warmly,
D.

Hi S.,

The fact that she is sleeping better with you than in her own bed tells me something is in her room. It could be something as simple as the vent is blowing on her or it could mean there is something toxic IN her mattress or close to her bed. Singulair just treats symptoms and will not cure anything. It will also weaken her immune system so she can't fight off what it is as well when she comes off of it.

Allergies to natural things are not normal. Our bodies are made to tolerate natural things like flowers and dogs et.al. If our immune system is working right we should ONLY have reactions to synthetic things like chemicals, which can include mattress and pillow fibers, carpets, cleaning products, and even pesticides and preservatives in foods. Do a thorough search of her room and read the label on her mattress (the newer it is the more dangerous it can be). Make sure you are not "over" cleaning her room.

The simplest way to really find out is detox the entire house and her little body. If she's still having symptoms then you have at least ruled that out and it won't be exacerbating the situation anymore. Detoxing can be quite simple and very inexpensive if you know what you're doing. I'll be glad to walk you through it if you want to go that direction.

God bless,

M.

do not let your doctor tell you because shes not weezing she doesnt have astma!! im a severe asmatic and I never wheeze take her to an allergy/asthma doc. on a side note does she have stuffed animals in her room? if so get rid of them, carpet go out and buy mite remover for carpets. no feather pillows, get covers for her mattress and pillows hope this helps!

I'd say allergies is probably right. It is curious that she doesn't cough as much when she sleeps with you. What about if she sleeps on the couch, or at someone else's house? Regardless, I'd start looking for what's different between her sleeping in her room and her sleeping in your room. It could be anything from her comforter (did you wash it before using? use the same laundry detergent as you do for her stuff?) to her pillows to her mattress to mold in her room, probably under the carpet or in a wall. I suggest starting by covering her mattress with an allergy-resistant cover. You'd be surprised how many people are allergic to the dust mites that live in our beds, especially kids. Pillows, too. Buy allergy-resistant pillow covers. Steam clean her carpet. Make sure her bedding is cleaned in hot water. Wash her curtains. Has she gotten any new toys? Does she sleep with different toys/dolls/etc. when she sleeps in her bed than when she sleeps with you? Is the air in her room drier than in yours? You could buy one of those room humidifiers and see if that helps. My family is from Wisconsin, too, and when my brother moved to Arizona, he had to get allergy shots. Since I've lived in Kentucky I've had numerous allergies. Neither of us had allergies when we lived in Wisconsin. Go figure. Good luck!

Have you tried a humidifier in her room? It may just be that the heat from the air vent blows on her and/or dries her out. Also, my neice had phneumonia despite no sound of it... my sister is a nurse and demanded a chest xray anyway and she had double phneumonia. I don't know which daughter you are refering to... the infant or the 4 1/2 yr old. If it's the infant ask the Dr. about Accuhist. It worked wonders for us. If they think it's allergies for your older child you may ask about Children's Benadryl... if that works, you may ask the Dr. about a daily dose of Children's Zyrtec.... that's what was recommended for my daughter who presented the same way at about 1yr old. I just do a 1/2 dose of Benadryl as needed because I hope she'll grow out of it and I don't like her on medicine every day. On another note... If you have a real Christmas tree and her flare up started then... she may be allergic to it.... It took my mother 3 years to figure that out about herself.

You may also bundle her up and let her enjoy a short sit in the night air. It sounds backwards I know, but it's recommended. Another trick is to dose with a little ibuprofen because it reduces swelling in the nasal passages if she's stuffy. Good luck.

Take care,
G.

S.,

I would have to ask if your room is cooler than her's. If your room is cooler than it may help with coughing and it may be less. I don't think she could be faking the coughing all night long and coughing does get worse at night as children begin to slow down and settle in for the evening. I would imagine that some of it is that she gets to sleep with you but I'm going to say most of it is that the temperature in the room is different. Also, is the carpet different in the room. I would purchase a air purifier for her room to get rid of the dusts and other allergens that could be potentially causing her to cough. I would also consider the carpet. By the way it could still be the carpet if you have the same carpet in your room as she does. It just may be that your bed is high enough off the floor that it may be reducing the allergy symptoms. I really don't think she's faking it but I would also have her doctor test her for allergies if she continues for more than a few more weeks like this. We had to get berber carpet put in our house because my oldest was allergic to the carpet we had before. Once we put a air purifier, changed the carpet, and kept him on allergy medication, he was fine. I wouldn't consider it sheets and blankets unless you are using feather down blankets and pillows - that's another source of allergies. Good luck and I hope your daughter gets to feeling well soon.

I know you already said you plan on getting a referral to an allergist, but I wanted to offer some input. I'm currently going through the exact same thing with my ds. He's 18 months old and has been put on inhalers and Claritin for asthma and seasonal allergies, due to excessive wheezing that has gotten progressively worse over the last year. However, his docs always say that his lungs sound clear. Last month he developed a nasty dry cough that's worse at night, but again, his lungs are clear. We all got sick a couple of weeks ago, which obviously made his cough worse. There were several nights two weeks ago where I had to bring him into bed with me because he was having so many problems breathing and was waking up frequently. He was FINE in our bedroom. No breathing problems, no cough, nothing. My mom took him for one night, and he had absolutely no problems with her (she said he didn't even seem to be sick at all). But within 15 minutes of being back home, everything (cough, runny/stuffy nose, etc) started back up again.

We have, as a result of all of this, contacted our landlord and discovered that we have a mold problem in our apartment. It had a field day with him, due to the fact that he was already sick and his immune system was compromised. The main source of it is the bathroom in our bedroom, but due to other contributing factors, it has spread in the opposite directions (to his bedroom and the living room) without spreading any further into our room, which is why he didn't have problems in that room.

We now have two small air purifiers running in his bedroom and this seems to be helping him greatly at night.