Nagging Cough

My 5 year old has had a nagging, constant cough for almost 1 month.  I can see it in his face that he is tired of all the coughing. The doctor has given me 2 kinds of cough medications, and neither of them seems to help. He did mention that he wanted to diagnose asthma, but he didn't because he did not hear any "wheazing". Not sure what to do next???


This discussion is related to Constant Dry Cough.

[slkfranklin]

Christy, my 5 year old son is having the same problem.  He has always had problems with bronchitis and coughs but it just isn't going away this time.  He started a non stop cough about two weeks ago.  It kept him up all night one night (and I heard some wheezing) so I took him to his pediatrician the next day.  He did a chest X-ray and said that he saw some bronchitis.  He had put my son on singulair about a month before this and it wasn't helping that much.  So, he prescribed some prednisone, an antibiotic and cough medicine.  He has been sleeping through most of the night now, but he coughs ALL day long nearly with every single breath.  Also, he complained of his legs hurting a few days later and couldn't even hardly walk without limping.  My doctor thinks that it is the prednisone that caused this because he done it once before and it was close to the same time that he had taken prednisone, although I can't remember if it was before or after.  My doctor consulted with an allergist and he looked at my son's chest x-ray...he said that he thinks that he will have to be put on an inhaler.  My doc thinks that it could be allergy induced asthma. We have an appt. with the allergist Feb. 7th.  His pediatrician went ahead and gave him a flovent inhaler but it isn't helping either.....Mucinex, Triaminic, honey....you name it I have tried it.  NOTHING is helping!!! He is so tired looking just like your little one.  I am getting very worried...you read all of this horrible stuff on the internet about cancer and lung cancer in children....I hope it is nothing serious!!!  I just want my baby to be better!! Lisa :)

[Dr Rajput]

Hi, the symptoms may be suggestive of cough dominant asthma and is commonly seen in cold weather. Hence a test with bronchodilators for 2-3 weeks will be useful to relieve the symptoms. If the symptoms don’t improve stop the medications.

Other possibilities needed to rule out are foreign body and anatomical airway abnormality in the bronchus which can be source of re-infection and cough. He needs to be evaluated by complete blood count, chest X-ray, allergy test and sputum (if present) culture.

Treatment of underlying condition like cough suppressants (including available home remedies like use of honey and echinacea.), antibiotics, and bronchodilators will help to relieve the symptoms. I suggest you to consult pediatrician and get a detailed evaluation. Take care and regards.

[anna9601]

ask at you herbal store to see if you can get echinacea for children. i agree that a home remedy might solve the problem