Persistent Cough

My daughter (almost 6) has spent the last five years being treated for Reactive Airway/Asthma.  She had an Adnoidectomy and Turbinectomy last year, in addition to a ph probe and CF testing (sweat test & blood/dna test) - all negative.  She's had skin tests for allergies twice and has recently been diagnosed with low IgA.  Her main symptoms are a persistent (dry, hacking) cough and chronic sinus infections.  She often has dark black circles under her eyes.  She has croup-variant asthma, therefore the cough becomes her enemy quickly, once stridor begins.  She has seen a pulminologist, allergist, pediatric ent, immunologist.  She has left us all perplexed.  She takes AH Chew D, Singulair, Pulmicort, Sinus Rinse/Nasonex on a regular basis.  She responds well to Omnicef for infections.  Between the months of October-May, she makes it just about a week or two between courses of antibiotics.  Any thoughts on further tests or studies?

[National Jewish]

Obviously this is a difficult and frustrating problem.  For children, such as your daughter, we often recommend a short visit to National Jewish Medical and Research Center.  We regularly evaluate problems such as you have described.  We include multiple disciplines that work together to evaluate problems as a team, so more effective treatment plans are developed.

To be able to simply suggest areas of focus for your daughter is very difficult.  It is not clear if she has a significant immune problem with her low IgA.  This could be aggravating the problem.  Also independent sinusitis or airway inflammation may be causing the continued problems you are describing.  You might consider calling our LUNG LINE