Could this be Whopping Cough?

[Diamond25]

DD is 11 & fully up to date with vaccinations. We have seen 5 Drs over the past 3 weeks that kept saying her symptoms were due to her asthma.
She start a with a dry cough for a week which turned chesty. We increased her puffer dosage & got Prednisoline steroid for 3 days. After that she had coughed & vomited for nearly 3 weeks now. She has been checked 5 times & the last Dr finally took a nose & throat swab. We will get results tomorrow or Thurs. I am not in the U.K but our health care is really good here. I just can't understand how the cough & vomiting can go on so long. She is fine one min then coughs & gasps & then vomits. She had a lot of mucus on her chest but her chest seems better since yesterday.
There are cases of whooping cough in our area & as she is 11 her immunity could be wearing off. You can catch it even if vaccinated. She has had no temperature at all. The 4th Dr gave her antibiotics but she vomited mins after taking them as it was dissolved in a liquid.
She has missed so much school. She had been fine all day & I was hoping she'd be better for school but she has coughed & vomited again.
If she does have whooping cough she is not infectious now & the Dr said she would do a letter for schol but I can't send her as she's not 100%.

[Seeline]

I had whooping cough when 6 months pregnant. the coughing was so bad that you can't catch your breath, and that makes you vomit. It seems to be some sort of reflex reaction. I has only just got through over 4 months of 24/7 morning sickness so wasn't feeling great anyway.
I can't remember how long the coughing lasted, certainly several week, and I was over it by the time I gave birth so less than 3 months. However, every time I have cough now, I am sure it is worse than it used to be, and lasts longer, and I had the WC 16 years ago.
Hope your DD feels better soon. Make sure she has lots of rest. THe coughing and sleepless nights are exhausting.

[Diamond25]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear that you had it when pregnant.
She was looking forward to going back to school has she had a good day today resting & no cougjng or vomiting until this evening. She's crying as she just wants to be well.
She had started playing netball which is a winter sport in Australia. The training is in the evening & it gets cold at night. When they play the game they just wear a thin little dress. I thought the cold had triggered her cough & asthma but she should have responded to the puffers & steroid by now. She also had cold symptoms too for a week. In the first week she said her stomach felt like it was hiccuping. The Dr said the swab will test for other things as well so I hope I get an answer tomorrow.

[Diamond25]

Update. We saw the Dr today & all the tests were negative. She said it must have been a virus that has taken longer for her to get better because of her asthma. She coughed this morning but has been a bit better for the rest of the day but gets tired easily. We just have to keep going with her puffers for the next few weeks. Hopefully she will be ok for school next week. I have got some work from school so she can do that at home as she's not quite 100% yet.

[Seeline]

Just seen your update. Glad it wasn't WC. Recovery takes a long time. Hope she is fully recovered soon.

[Diamond25]

Thank you for your reply. She still isn't well, still coughing & vomiting. We have seen 8 Drs & they either don't know or say it's a virus. We have a referral for a paediatrician but the appt is not until 20th July. We are down for a cancellation but I am hoping she will get better before the appt. We have school hols for the next few weeks as I am not in the UK. I reslly hope she is better for the new term. She has missed 5 weeks of school. She's missing all her friends & can't play netball.
We are not sure if the steroids that she took & her puffer may have irritated her throat & stomach. We have stopped all that now incase that was causing all the symptoms.

[Diamond25]

We have got a cancellation appt for the paediatrician for this Monday.

[Diamond25]

Update: the paediatrician called today & her test results were borderline for whooping cough. He said it could have been a modified version of whooping cough. As she's been vaccinated she won't get the full symptoms.
Her iron result was very low so he tested for coeliac disease. Her results show she could have it. She has to go for a endoscopy . We all have to be tested for coeliacr as it could be hereditary. She's not showing any other symptoms other than the low iron but could do in the future. I'm so pleased we have a diagnosis now.