My Daughter Is 11 and Always Sick

Did the doctor ever actually test her to see if it was a bacterial infection? Only a bacterial infection will respond to antibiotics. I know there has been an awful viral chest infection going around here that lasts 8 weeks or more. The doctors are saying just to treat the symptoms and wait for it to go away.

See a new Dr.

Is it Spring Break somewhere? I'm thinking it is.

Take her to a different doctor and get a second opinion.

Can you add to your post to give details? What are her symptoms? To what extent have her activities and school attendance been affected? What tests have they done and what conditions have been ruled out? How long has this been going on? What have you been told to do at home, and are you doing all of that and is she cooperating?

But, as others have said, you advocate for your child. You demand more info and consider a second opinion from a specialist. If what she has is not bacterial in nature, then the antibiotics are doing nothing. If you are in LA, you certainly have access to a children's hospital with a team of physicians.

I work in immune system support and there are tons of things you can do to boost her resilience. Sometimes antibiotics (especially if overused) can upset the balance of beneficial bacteria in the body and cause more problems. We have totally eliminated these types of illnesses in our family. As a child, I was very sick, in part because my mother never understood that it's important to finish the entire prescription of antibiotics - she just gave them for a few days until we "seemed better" and then stopped. So we never really got strong again. That was a long legacy of upper respiratory problems and throat problems to shake off.

Although you didn't provide a lot of details ("sick" can mean a lot of different things), there are some things you can do.

Start by keeping a daily log of her activities. Keep a record (detailed) of what/when she eats, her activities, time she wakes up/naps/goes to bed, electronics usage (for example, note if she is on her computer in bed at bedtime), and most of all, her complaints and symptoms. Note if she is having a coughing fit, if she vomits, if she says she feels weak, if she has a fever, if she can't go to school and why, what's going on at school the days she misses - you get the idea. Keep one page per day in a paper notebook, and keep track of dates and times.

See if there are any patterns.

How does she eat? What are her activities?

Does the doctor simply say "chest infection" and send her on her way with more antibiotics? What antibiotics has she been on? Do you feel like this doctor is really paying attention to you and your daughter?

Is the doctor giving you other advice that perhaps your daughter is not complying with? H

How long has this been going on?

Have you asked the pharmacist about side effects of these antibiotics, or how to properly take them, or if your daughter should be taking a certain vitamin or supplement when she takes the antibiotics? Does she take probiotics?

If you can provide more information, someone might have an idea about how to help you.

Time to talk to a different doctor.because they are throwing abx at her illness and its most likely viral so that isn't going to do anything. She needs a chest xray and a peak flow reading to make sure her lungs are in good shape.

However she could just be really run down by the illnesses back to back so she's more likely to catch something because her body isn't able to fight it off right now. Make sure she eating good healthy food to build her immune system back up.

I would get a culture to make sure that she is being treated appropriately.As others have said, a virus won't respond to antibiotics while certain infections may take specialized antibiotics. Could there be an underlying condition like asthma which is making her more vulnerable? As a kid, I was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis for years. Recently the diagnosis was changed to asthma. Could that be what is going on?

If the infections are separate, there is a phenomenon where your body is weakened after an infection, making it more susceptible the next time when something else rolls around. After repeated cycles of this, this immune system is compromised.

If I'm sick for 2 months or more I get on gamma gobulin. Doctors don't like to use it because it is a blood product and thus potentially can cause AIDS although a case has never been reported. It borrows the immune system of about 200 people to knock out whatever caused the infection. It shot works for about 2 weeks. Usually a couple of rounds lets my body recover enough to start fighting illness on its own. It has been a life-saver. After my first miraculous treatment, I ask for it when my body gets down. I was diagnosed with 20 infections over a 13 month period. I can literally say it saved my life by stopping that cycle.

Get another doctor to take a look at her and insist on different tests. I'd also do all I could at home to boost her resistance. When my kids are sick I look for things I can add cinnamon and raw honey in. Both have amazing health benefits. Hope she feels better soon.

Have they done a chest X-ray, ran additional testings? How many rounds of antibiotics? Does she have a productive, continuous cough?

Need more info.. but if she has had a chronic chest infection and antibiotics isn't treating it, it could be viral or something else. It doesn't resound normal. I would ask to see another physician.

Get a second opinion.

I'd say she's on the wrong antibiotic, she needs to have some breathing treatments at home, she needs an expectorant like Great Value Tussin, and to use the bathroom for some steamy hot showers to help loosen the goo so she can cough and get it up and out.

How long has she been sick? Days, weeks, over a month? Off and on? Gets better then worse? Has she had a chest x-ray?

There isn't quite enough information here for us to help if we can over the internet...

You insist they try something else or you get a second opinion.