Has anybody's child had this?
My son had a case of croupe around Thanksgiving time. I took him to see the ped a couple weeks later because his cough seemed to be getting worse. At that time they diagnosed him with a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. He seemed to get slightly better, then relapsed again around Christmas time.
We saw the ped again shortly thereafter and she thought his symptoms seemed curious - no rhyme or reason to the cough and no coughing at all during his sleep. She told me to give him zyrtec, remove the stuffed animals on his bed and change the sheets on his bed frequently to see if allergies are the culprit. None of these things changed anything, except he was more sluggish in the morning because of the Zyrtec. I took him back off it after about 10 days.
A friend of mine, who is also a ped, listened to his cough and feels it has become habitual. She sees him very frequently, much more so than his official ped (our kids playdate). She didn't seem particularly concerned and didn't recommend doing anything beyond letting it run its course. The cough has definitely lessened over the past couple weeks, but his teacher seemed concerned about it today and made me wonder if I'm doing enough to treat it. He goes through spells of coughing followed by long stretches of not coughing at all.
If anybody's child has developed a habitual cough in the past - did it eventually go away on its own or did you have to seek treatment?
I would ask to have xrays of his lungs and see if breathing treatments are needed. My nephews have asthma and it was a simmilar road for their diagnosis.
I know this stuff was going around where you got a cough like croupe, etc and it lasted a long time and I wonder if your son needs to be on breathing treatments or inhaler for a short time to clear up the bronchial tubes, etc. from the illness he had. I would check with them and see if they could give you treatments or inhaler for a short time. We have allergies in our family and sometimes we needed to do that with the kids and now grandchildren need it too. He should get over it in time but that would help.
Have you had him tested for asthma?
My son has a habitual cough. It's in the throat from sinus drip. It generally happens whenever he has a cold or a runny nose of any kind. We generally give him some pediatric Robitussin Cough & Cold. It's the only thing that really helps for him. I have a friend with adult kids, and she said one of them spent 6 months on cough medicine for the same thing.
As Kristina said, don't discount asthma. This is how my daughter's symptoms presented at 2, 2 and a half years old. She never was a "wheezer," like the rest of my family, so I was completely missing it. Cold air was/is her trigger, as was coming off the tail end of a chest cold...
As a child I developed a habitual burp. It did eventually go away. The best treatment, if it's a habit, is to ignore it because when you draw attention to it, it reminds his body to cough.
Since two doctors have heard the cough and suggested it didn't need treatment, I would wait awhile longer before seeking further treatment.
My daughter has asthma and I can usually tell the difference between an asthma cough and a regular cough. The cough comes from in the chest while a habitual cough is in the throat. Trust the doctors.
I know that you tryed zyrtec but when my daughter had a cough that hung around her pedi put her on Clariton. It did help. We also used Mucenex Mini Melts at the same time.
My son and I have asthma and we both have chronic coughs, but I would think that your ped or your friend would have been able to dx it by now if it was. You might want to try the zyrtec again but give it at suppertime. It'll help him sleep at night but no sluggishness in the am, which we had taking it right before bed, if it's allergies or post nasal drip it will help. But if it doesn't go away, I wonder if it could also be related to reflux. My son's pulmonologist had me give him a snack during his exam, so she listened to him first thing before snack and then for awhile after and felt his cough was related to reflux. Just a thought. Good luck.
My kid hasn't had this issue, but I have. It may not be the same thing, but I have been sick and coughing a lot and the cough would not go away. My doctor then gave me an inhaler to reduce irritation in the lungs, which helped. I later found out that I have asthma. (I was diagnosed as an adult, but knowing what I know now, I have had it for as long as I can remember.)
My daughter did the same thing. Pulmonary doc. said it was asthma. Prescribed her inhalers and the breathing machine with meds in it. Her cough cleared up very well. It is like a dry cough, like something in your throat. Which can be asthma..
Good luck
D.
I had a very severe chronic cough. The doctor put me on Singulair for my allergies (I also have allergy induced asthma). It has worked wonders.
My daughter has allergies and have a cough more times than not. She is also on Singulair and the cough stopped.
My 5 year old daughter was diagnosed with a "habit cough" a few days ago. It was a bit of a shock because she had been coming off a bad cold and I have suspected she may have allergies or asthma that may be triggering her cough. But a couple things that tipped us off. She's eating and sleeping well with no coughing at all at night. And her usual rounds of zyrtec and asthma inhalers seemed to have no effect. It's surprising what a big problem this has been. Some of the coughing has been severe. But it's getting a little bit better each day. So I'm hoping that through positive reinforcement, distraction, and ignoring the cough it will disappear over the next couple weeks.
