Will Piriton help with cold/vomitting from coughing?

[Bumperlicioso]

DD2 is 7 months. She has a stinking cold, is basically dripping from her nose, eyes and coughing so much she is being sick. It's not all day (the coughing and vomitting) it's worse at night/early morning. Last night I was up for an hour with her, she kept coughing up clear sticky fluid, and when I have fed her milk she just brings all the milk up.

Every time she tried to get to sleep she kept coughing herself awake.

This has been going on and off for over a month now, this week because of a cold, but about 4 weeks ago she had a really bad cough and again it was making her vomit her milk up.

I've taken her to the doctors twice, the first time a month ago they said it was possibly the tail end of a virus, and I took her a week last monday because her eyes were gunky, and he gave us drops assuming it was conjunctivitis (though I am wondering if it is linked to the cold, plus she keeps rubbing snot into them) and I mentioned the vomitting and he said it was probably just catarrh, but neither were very much help. It's not every night, but nearly and I am getting a bit fed up with washing bedding, being up all hours etc.

My options are do nothing, take her to the dr's which I won't be able to do till Tuesday now, and I don't think it warrants out of hours, I was considering getting some medised to help dry up the catarrh (I know, I know, but it's getting ridiculous now), or I then thought, I have some priton left over from when she had chicken pox, proscribed by the dr. She's had it before, so we know there are no allergies etc., would it help to dry up the catarrh she is bringing up? What would other people do?

[follyfoot]

Piriton's for allergies/itching though ....

[Bumperlicioso]

But isn't it an antihistamine that is in medised and suedafed etc.? Don't antihistamines help dry up runny eyes/nose associated with hayfever?

[emjoe]

My doctor once gave my son priton to dry up mucus which was dripping down the back of his throat and making him cough etc- he was a fantastic gp who i trusted throughly. Hope that helps and your little one is better soon.

[Bumperlicioso]

Thanks, I've just been doing a bit research and it says that piriton is often used as a cough suppressant, whether it's from an allergy or a common cold. SO I may try it for a couple of days then go to the doctor on Tuesday if it's not better.

[Sirzy]

I thought it shouldn't be used in under 1s? I wouldn't do it unless the gp adviced it

[Bumperlicioso]

She was proscribed it about 6 weeks ago when she had chicken pox.

[dribbleface]

piriton does dry up coughs. Is often prescribed for under 1yrs but you can't buy it on perscription for under 1yrs. To be honest i most likely wouldn't give it because i'm a worrier but then again its not me dealing with it. Hope little one feels better soon.

[Bumperlicioso]

Thanks. I spoke to a pharmacist today and he said it may actually be hayfever, but either way I could give the piriton as it had been proscribed before. I'll try it for a few days then stop and if it starts again, or if it hasn't helped at all I'll take her back to the dr. If it is just as a result of the cold I am hoping that a few doses of piriton will clear it up.

[GrownUpNow]

My DD takes cetirizine for hayfever because one of the things it does is give her a really nasty cough leading to chest infection. I am not sure I'd give it to an under two without the say so of a doctor though. Could you get her an out of hours appointment? My DD is miserable with hay fever at the moment, really bunged up, runny eyes, chesty cough, especially at night.

[sneezecakesmum]

I did think maybe hayfever was a possibility as most viral coughs/colds dont keep on with a runny watery nose apart from the first few days. Piriton certainly will help if its hayfever. I've never heard of it as a cough suppressant (it is sedating though so may help calm the cough by making her more sleepy).
It sounds very sensible to give it a go for a few days and cant do any harm if it was presecribed for DD and is still in date.
Night time coughing expecially can cause vomiting purely because the tummy is full of milk and the cough reflex/coughing fit seems to relax the muscle at the top of the stomach letting the milk come up.
You could try giving DD less milk at night or thicker follow on milk but in a smaller quantity or even a small filling snack to reduce the volume in the stomach and hopefully reduce the likelihood of vomiting.

[GrownUpNow]

It was explained to me that the reason the anti-histamine helped to calm the cough is because of post-nasal drip due to the rhinitis caused by the hayfever, treat the cause of the rhinitis and you eliminate the PND, which reduces the cough.