HELP ! MY STEPDAUGHTER IS ALWAYS ILL UNDERLYING MEDICAL CONDITION ?

[Sarajandb]

Hi, can anybody shed any light as to what may be wrong or any underlying medical conditional that this could be...
my step daughter is nearly 5 and she is always ill... as a baby she was in and out of hospital every few months with issues that never got a diagnosis but got better as she got older.. generally she would cough excessively until she was sick and usually needed to be put on a drip to stop dehydration.
Now she is constantly ill with infections etc tonsillitis, chest infection, throat infection, she coughs all the time especially at night and it a bark sometimes when she is ill with a chest infection she will cough and be sick from coughing.. she is stick thin and its difficult to get her to eat a full meal although I've found recently she's not as bad with food. last week we had her at the doctors and she had tonsillitis again this was monday - thursday she went back to her mums and finished her course of anti biopics came back to us tuesday and i thought she was becoming unwell again by wednesday she was back on anti biopics with tonsillitis again less than 1 week after the last infection.
Could this be a digestive / respiratory / immune system problem. As I'm not her mum i can't demand tests but if i have an idea of what to ask to be investigated my hubby can take her and make the demands. she lives with us 50/50. Her attendance at school is terrible as she is always off ill. I have 2 children of my own so i know kids pick up bugs and get sick but this is excessive and way too regular than it should be as a mother myself i know something isn't quite right and I'm worried the longer its left the worse the potential outcome. her mum is not a very reasonable person so not possible to have this conversation with her.

[mummeeee]

I would say she definitely needs to go to the GP and discuss her recent illnesses. I would expect the doctor as a minimum to arrange for some blood tests (to get an idea of what's happening with her white cells and possible anemia, any other concerns.)

Might not get any full answers straight away but blood tests can be very helpful to see what's going on, especially tests now and in a month's time if the situation hasn't improved.

[Tantrictantrum]

Is either house damp?

[Kennington]

Agree with above. Are the houses well ventilated?
New mattress/mattress protector and check for damp. Does anyone smoke?
You sound very kind for worrying.

[Sarajandb]

Our house is brand new and very clean her mattress is 12 month old and the house is kept heated and windows open when kids aren't around for ventilation and fresh air she has a healthy diet with us and is in appropriate clothes for the weather etc ..
Now I've never been in her mums house but hubby has downstairs and MIL has also and she isn't the cleanest but it's not filthy also DS doesn't sleep in her own bed she sleeps with her mum every night her mum smokes although I don't think she smokes in the house she does have a cat and the cat litter tray is kept in the kitchen which is very small I don't believe her diet is great at mums.

[bruffin]

When i was young i had tonsillitus like that. I would have a dose of ab back at school a day then ill again. I was off 3 weeks running when i was 9 and the had another biut a few months later. They then took my tonsils out. That was late 60s and when the trend for removing tonsils had gone out of favour. I was healthy otherwise but when i had tonsilitis i had it for weeks.

[antimatter]

I'd say maybe some form of asthma?

[Viviennemary]

I think the smoking could be at the root of this. I knew somebody years ago whose child always had a cold, caught every virus going and she had smoked all through pregnancy and continued to smoke. It was only later I realised there was probably a connection between the poor child's ill health and the parents smoking.

[Finola1step]

Is she allergic to the cat?

[hollinhurst84]

Blood tests? I was like this and I'm neutropenic

[MajesticWhine]

Have a few digs at the mum. That will help.

[Sarajandb]

I think a combination of the environment at her mums doesn't help her I don't know if she smokes around her I'd like to think she doesn't. The think is her mum isn't a very reasonable person you can't tell he anything that that she will just threaten access she uses that child as a weapon 1st chance she gets..

[Sarajandb]

What is neutropenic please

And no I dont think she is allergic to the car else she would come out in a rash and itch etc she has no skin problems. I just think the cat litter tray and germs doesn't help

[JerryFerry]

Is the mother's home rented? It may be contaminated with methamphetamine. This is a big problem where I live, lots of rentals contaminated causing subsequent tenants endless illness.

[abbsisspartacus]

She is nearly five and no one has been concerned before?

Nice drip feed on the mum btw

Cats are fine around children I had three cats and one child at one point dd was fine

[creekyknees]

Has she had the sweat test for cystic fibrosis just to rule it out if shes having constant chest infections and coughing?

[123bananas]

She needs to see the GP.

Recurrent tonsilitis can lead to chronically enlarged tonsils and adenoids which obstruct the airway at night leading to sleep apnoea. When dd2 had this she would cough all night to clear her airway, her breathing and disturbed sleep meant she lost loads of weight. As soon as she had them taken out she went from the 2nd to the 50th centile in a matter of months.

Coughing in the night can also happen with asthma. GP can prescribe an inhaler. Dd2 often needs 2 puffs through a spacer before bed. We are in the process of removing soft toys, carpets and washing bedding to reduce dust mites which we believe are setting her off. She was worse in our old house which had mould. Smoking in the environment (or even particulates on parents clothing) makes asthma worse. Worth investigating in her case with the night time coughing.

Also blood tests for vitamin deficiencies. Most people in this country are vitamin D deficient, easily corrected by taking a regular multivitamin, but may need a high dose course if very low. Anaemia can make people tired and susceptable to infections, so test iron levels and full blood count just in case of immune issues.

[hollinhurst84]

Neutropenic means low neutrophils which are a type of white blood cell

[marthastew]

This does sound very worrying.

I'd go back to GP with a note based on your post highlighting how many courses of medication she has had over last 12 months, how many days off school etc. Give the GP the overview with a few numbers to illustrate how serious it is. It needs to be a different and separate conversation to the one you have when you are going about a specific illness.

[Kennington]

Her mother smokes so she is likely affected.you can go to the GP but she will probably have asthma caused by this.
It seems a shame to treat asthma when the cause may be smoking and a dirty house.

[SarahMused]

I would echo what creekyknees said. A combination of respiratory, digestive and immune problems could be cystic fibrosis. Atypical cf may be missed by screening as well. Certainly worth mentioning to the GP.

[Sarajandb]

Thanks for your replies i think the best course of action is to speak with the doctor about it and highlight the amount of infections and courses of antibiotics and ask for it to be investigated. Possibly run some blood tests and take it from there.