3 year old with chronic cough for 4 weeks straight.

[nikki424]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any input for me on a situation.  My daughter is a little under 3 years of age.  She has been coughing on and off for about a year now.  Just recently in the past 4 weeks the cough has become worse.  I have taken her to her pediatrician 4 times in 4 weeks and they just keep telling me her lungs and chest are clear.. They have her on the singular pill 1 every night before bed.  Well the cough is very wet with alot of mucas.  I do have 2 cats that could be hurting her. I dont know that though.  I took her to the allergist about 6 months ago and she was not allergic to anything.  I am taking her back today for him to check her cough out.  Do you think by this time the pediatrician should have called for an xray?  Should she be seeing a pulmonologist?  I was hoping for some direction.

[National Jewish]

Chronic cough in a 3-year-old is a common, yet vexing problem.  The cough can come from an upper airway problem, such as allergy and/or the sinuses; or a lower airway problem, such as asthma, bronchitis or other infection.  The Singular is one option to possibly try for asthma.  However when it does not work it does not tell you much.  Your daughter’s pediatrician, allergist or other specialist will probably want to evaluate the cause of the cough a little more and perhaps change the medicine.  A chest x-ray is usually not helpful in making the diagnosis in a 3-year-old unless the physical exam leads the doctor to think there is something to see on an x-ray.  For now, seeing the allergist again is a good start.

[ozark]

I would ask for sinus xrays and maybe a chest xray. She probably has a sinus infection. Does she cough at night? That's an awful long time.  Have they checked her for asthma or reflux?  good luck

[nikki424]

Hello, I took her back to the allergist and the allergist is stating it seems like a sinus infection.  He had her on anitibiotics for over a week and we went for the follow up yesterday 10/11 with no change.  She was also on a cough suppresant and a nasal decongestant, but no change in the cough.  I have an appointment now with a ENT doctor on Friday 10/13 so hopefully they can help.  The allergist told me to use Afrin on her 2 times a day to see if her nasal passage way is clogged, but I dont feel to comfortable about this.  I am getting very frustrated becuase we are going on 6 weeks with this cough......Am I taking the correct steps??? The allergist told me a chest xray is not needed becuase her chest and lungs are clear of any infection.  I figured if indeed this is a sinus infection the ENT will comfirm this and I will put my mind at ease.

[ozark]

some sinus infections need a 3 week course of antibiotics.......some doctors only put them on for 10 days but ones that linger need 3 weeks....good luck  maybe the ent dr will do sinus films

[nikki424]

Hello, just wanted to give an update on my daughter.  Friday 10/13 I took her to a ENT and he said she DOES NOT have a sinus infection which is what the allergist was treating her for.  He said she has something called RAD.. Radical Air Disease.  Its all in her breathing.  He put her back on singular once a day and Zyrtec at night.  So far she has been on these 2 meds since Friday and I see a huge difference in her already.  I am going to wait until Friday and if she is even better by then.

[ozark]

i'm glad your daughter is better. Since she was on singulair before with no relief and is now on zyrtec and singular and you see a difference, I would rethink allergies as well as RAD. I would also consider removing the cats and see if that helps, altho cat dander,i think, never goes away once it's in the home. Good luck and I hope her coughing resolves

[eringhn]

I have a two and a half year old that has had a cough for nine weeks, with the last four days getting worse by the hour.  Today is day 10 of his second ten-day dose of antibiotics.  His chest x-rays are clear and he is not especially lethargic when I consider his sleep disruption from the coughing.  Three days ago his doctor suggested allergies and put him on Nasonex.  I had several people recommend a chiropractor (in hopes of boosting immune sysytem)and started that two weeks ago with no (or declining) results.  My Dr. even wanted to put him on a third round of antibiotics but when I questioned it he said it probably would bare little if any results.  Does this sound like allergies?  It all started with a cold that he got over by himself (not including cough), but why have the antibiotics had no effects?

[Hudmom]

A related discussion, relief from cough for 21/2 year old was started.