To be so fed up and let down by medical professionals? Any help out there? Child cough.

Hoppyhops · 2025-03-13T05:52:31+00:00

Hi, does anyone have any advice? DS (20 months) has been back and fore to the GPs and A&E for croup and coughs since he turned 1 in July. It never ends and he can’t go 2 weeks without being well. He’s been given Dex steroids at a&e numerous times for stridour attacks in the night- then I was given some to administer at home by the GP. He’s just had his second dose in 2 weeks. Constantly told by GP that it’s viral/upper respiratory infections, but no help given to support us to get him better. We were once told it could be hay fever, so we’ve been giving piriton everyday since last September. He had a blue inhaler given once- it does nothing. At one point tonsillitis was making it worse so he had antibiotics and the tonsillitis cleared up but the cough never went away. He coughs through every single night and every morning he wakes at 5.30 with a hacking cough, as if clearing all his chest. When he’s ‘well’, he clears it and it doesn’t come back until nap time. When he’s got a cold, he never clears it and just coughs every 10-30 seconds through the day. AIBU to be so fed up of this and feel like we should be getting more out of the GP? It can’t be normal and I just hate being told ‘they catch a lot of illnesss’ - yes, they do, I have another child and I know this - but DS has CONSTANTLY got a cough. It’s so cruel watching him hack his lungs up every morning.

Original poster

Hoppyhops · 24/12/2025 06:52

Thanks both - we just keep getting it noted and pushing. Thankfully, it’s been less awful this winter but that cough still comes back every now and then. We’ve essentially learned how to manage everything ourselves and found what works for us. There have been fewer A&E trips, thankfully! But, as I said, we still haven’t really got to the bottom of it and I suspect we’ll be dealing with it for a while.
(It was a humidifier not dehumidifier- so it just kept getting mouldy in the water inlet.

OP posts:

minipie · 23/12/2025 22:36

Another one here whose child’s constant winter coughs were only sorted once we got her tonsils and adenoids out age 4

She also had sleep apnoea and on off glue ear

I would be pressing for a referral to an ENT although tbh we had to go private

SatsumaCandlesCloves · 23/12/2025 22:18

Ps how did the denhunidfter get mouldy ?

Can you get an air pueifyer ?

SatsumaCandlesCloves · 23/12/2025 22:17

It's awful op and yes could be other allergens as well can you ask for a test.
Apprently your within your rights to also ask for different opinions and see different docs.

Original poster

Hoppyhops · 23/12/2025 22:06

bluegreengreenblue · 22/12/2025 13:21

Hi OP, did you ever get to the bottom of this? Going through similar with my little one

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Hi,
I’m sorry to say but we haven’t got to the bottom of it. However, there has been an improvement. He’s 2.5 and, when he’s ill, he has a persistent cough for weeks- worse outside in the cold or when he does exercise/- but we do have much longer periods of respite that before.
Back in May, he ended up back on antibiotics and I changed his antihistamine from piriton to piriteze (stronger, I believe - the 2+ version) and that cleared it up for a few months, which was amazing after 11 months of the persistent cough.
He takes piriteze twice a day and is really dribbly and snobby when he doesn’t have it - it’s extremely noticeable.
We’ve only given Dex steroids once so far this winter which, again, is a vast improvement on last year. He is still so much more chesty than my other DS though so I do think he’ll end up being assessed for asthma but nobody is prepared to even discuss that with us still.
Sorry it’s not more helpful- I know how tough it is when you’re in the depths of it all.

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bluegreengreenblue · 22/12/2025 13:21

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 13:18

Thanks again, everyone. Just had another read through and I’ll start on environmental factors/diet/air purifier, as well as querying asthma and inhalers. Thanks to the poster who also posted about inhaler technique. If no luck, we have other things to look into now too. I’m feeling slightly more sane now I have a plan. Mumsnet is great.

Hi OP, did you ever get to the bottom of this? Going through similar with my little one

Wilfrida1 · 13/03/2025 15:13

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 13:18

Thanks again, everyone. Just had another read through and I’ll start on environmental factors/diet/air purifier, as well as querying asthma and inhalers. Thanks to the poster who also posted about inhaler technique. If no luck, we have other things to look into now too. I’m feeling slightly more sane now I have a plan. Mumsnet is great.

You can't have an inhaler 'technique' with a 20 month old. A spacer can help, but the only way to be sure the medication gets in is via a nebuliser.

orion678 · 13/03/2025 13:29

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 13:18

Thanks again, everyone. Just had another read through and I’ll start on environmental factors/diet/air purifier, as well as querying asthma and inhalers. Thanks to the poster who also posted about inhaler technique. If no luck, we have other things to look into now too. I’m feeling slightly more sane now I have a plan. Mumsnet is great.

OP I've only read your posts so not sure if this has been mentioned, but our frequently wheezy, always sick and coughing kid has seen a massive improvement with daily montelukast. GPs aren't always the best with paediatric issues, and this was recommended by children's a&e and then later by the wheeze clinic we were referred to.

Original poster

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 13:18

Thanks again, everyone. Just had another read through and I’ll start on environmental factors/diet/air purifier, as well as querying asthma and inhalers. Thanks to the poster who also posted about inhaler technique. If no luck, we have other things to look into now too. I’m feeling slightly more sane now I have a plan. Mumsnet is great.

OP posts:

BasicBrumble · 13/03/2025 10:38

As another adenoid data point, my son didn't have the same symptoms but he did have ear infections constantly as a baby, plus constant green snot. It was only because he went to a consultant who checked him over and went 'it's the adenoids constantly being infected that's triggering everything else' (paraphrasing) that he got them out - and was much better after that point.

I don't know much about asthma and that does sound more likely, reading the thread, but it would also be good to get an ENT person to look at him.

NeuroSpicyMumof3 · 13/03/2025 09:02

Sorry if this has already been said OP, but this does sound like asthma and I wonder if you were shown properly how to use the inhalers? I have adult-onset asthma and found my inhalers prescribed by my GP weren't helping much. The Asthma nurse asked me to show her how I was taking them and she told me I needed to be using a spacer to ensure I was actually taking in enough of the medicine - without a spacer much of it is lost hence why they weren't working. Since using my spacer my asthma is much more controlled.

This video shows how to use it - you can buy spacers on Amazon.

Definitely worth a try 😊

Zeitumschaltung · 13/03/2025 08:59

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 07:06

Interesting - how did they end up giving you this? Was it just the frequency of episode?

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Once he had to have adrenaline in hospital which helped but he still wasn't 100% so they gave him nebulized budesonide, which he responded very well too. Then they sent us home with the inhaler and it's been on repeat prescription since.

HomeBodyClub · 13/03/2025 08:58

Any damp or mould? Have you throughly checked his room? Maybe there’s mould in his mattress from any spilt drinks or nappy accidents.
I have heard of this being a cause before.

If that’s all ok I would be thinking of allergies.

dimsumfatsum · 13/03/2025 08:51

I had the same OP. I got fed up of calling the ambulance when my child would cough so much that he’d struggle to breathe and soil themselves and vomit everywhere. I’ll never forget how their face used to turn blue and their bulging eyes. After having their adenoids removed, we still have coughs but nowhere near the intensity of what they used to be. Definitely get their adenoids checks- especially if they’re snorers or breathing through their mouth at night. Also, mine has a dust mite allergy to remove lots of soft furnishings from their room and get an air purifier.

Goodadvice1980 · 13/03/2025 08:24

One of my cousins children has an issue with dust mites, perfume and chemical scents. Hope you are able to finally resolve things 👍

Original poster

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 08:18

Thanks all for your help. I need to go and look after DS now as DH is off to work. Will be back later. All help is so very much appreciated.

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Original poster

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 08:16

ShriekingTrespasser · 13/03/2025 07:58

Try eliminating dairy for a few days to see for sure whether it's related.
Only, dairy sensitivity is very common. My ds used to get night time coughs which stopped after I cut out cows milk. That included anything with dairy in it too so no yogurt, cheese and some biscuits either. He was on oat milk for a while and no night time coughs. Then I tried goats milk and he's been fine with that.

Yes this is worth trying, I think. My mum has constantly been telling me to try goat’s milk as he’s a red head and my red headed cousin needed goats milk when he was a baby. I thought she was mad but there could be something in it.

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Wilfrida1 · 13/03/2025 08:12

It sounds more like asthma to me - he sounds exactly as my child was. Inhalers aren't really effective under 2 years old, but it's all you can really do unless he is prescribed a nebuliser. My child had to use one 4 times a day and it made a big difference.

Original poster

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 08:08

prettyneededchill · 13/03/2025 07:55

When I brought it up with the GP he basically said “we’d need to do a tube down her throat, are you REALLY willing to put her through that?” and shut us down.

Paed consultant said:

Longstanding wet/chesty sounding cough is usually not asthma or allergies
Inhalers won't improve the condition
Any wet cough lasting >4 weeks needs looking at
Chest xray will usually be clear with PBB so no point ordering one

I do have bad hay fever and mild allergies, and our child does have hay fever, but this was quite a different cough to the usual dry-ish one.

Edited

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This really does sound so familiar - he is so mucusy!

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wordywitch · 13/03/2025 08:01

A few years ago I had a cough that lasted three months and was constantly fobbed off by my GP and a walk in clinic. They kept telling me it was viral and would resolve on its own. I finally insisted on a referral to a respiratory consultant and they did spirometry tests and a chest CT. I had what’s called ground glass opacities in my lungs, which I was told is scarring from untreated bacterial bronchitis or possibly even walking pneumonia.

After a couple weeks of antibiotics and a steroid inhaler the cough finally went. I had to have follow up chest CTs every six months for 18 months after that to ensure it wasn’t anything nastier like cystic fibrosis, and I am now very prone to chest infections and prolonged coughs. At the first sign of any cough or a feeling of a chesty cough brewing, I use my steroid inhaler every day to help lessen the severity.

I’d be asking for a blood test, a chest CT and an allergy test to help pinpoint what is going on. Your poor little DC should not have to suffer like this, sending lots of empathy.

Wishona · 13/03/2025 08:00

Might be reflux or an unsafe swallow (aspiration).

Ask for a trial reflux meds and referral for swallow assessment.

ShriekingTrespasser · 13/03/2025 07:58

Try eliminating dairy for a few days to see for sure whether it's related.
Only, dairy sensitivity is very common. My ds used to get night time coughs which stopped after I cut out cows milk. That included anything with dairy in it too so no yogurt, cheese and some biscuits either. He was on oat milk for a while and no night time coughs. Then I tried goats milk and he's been fine with that.

prettyneededchill · 13/03/2025 07:55

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 06:47

Now I’m reading it in more detail - literally everything fits DS.

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When I brought it up with the GP he basically said “we’d need to do a tube down her throat, are you REALLY willing to put her through that?” and shut us down.

Paed consultant said:

Longstanding wet/chesty sounding cough is usually not asthma or allergies
Inhalers won't improve the condition
Any wet cough lasting >4 weeks needs looking at
Chest xray will usually be clear with PBB so no point ordering one

I do have bad hay fever and mild allergies, and our child does have hay fever, but this was quite a different cough to the usual dry-ish one.

Original poster

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 07:48

Bubblesgun · 13/03/2025 07:45

When my baby was 8 months old (she is 14 now), she started coughing like exactly what you are describing. We were seeing a very expensive peadiatrician at the Bupa Cromwell hospital at the time for other issues. He melpt telling me to wait it out re: the cough.

then she starting vomitting everything and couldnt keep milk in only could keep rice milk which has 0 nutrients in it. At the last check it turns out she had lost a kg. Which is loads.

i decided to get a second opinion with another pead. She was diagnosed woth pneumonia. Both the GP and the effing paed had missed it.
cue 14 days of antibios, for which i had to wake her up at midnight as they were real 24hrs ones.

then with no iron, shit loads of antibio she had a reactive arthritis in her right arm.

at age 3 we removed her adenoids which have HELPED A LOT with those bloudy coughs / colds she was having.

14 yrs later she is super healthy and happy.

so OP get a second opinion, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS because 90% probability rhat you are right.

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Yes ‘wait it out’ is a very common response, it seems. Thank you for sharing your experience and I’m so happy to hear your DD is happy and healthy now.

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Original poster

Hoppyhops · 13/03/2025 07:46

Callmemummynotmaaa · 13/03/2025 07:26

Two of mine had full consultant support, steroid (brown/grey/purple depending on height of need) inhalers, supplementary oral medicines, blue inhalers by 2. Both had permanent coughs, that included interrupting sleep and limited “colds”. Both love to move/run/climb and are high energy - however had frequent admissions to A&E with terrifying low sats levels (tachycardia, needing HDU input, overnight stays). They’d go from “fine” (or playdates/nursery attending) to limp flopping, chest rattling and gasping in hours. The asthma pathway has been lifechaging for us - but I suspect we only got on it as we’d a horrible few months with DD aged about 18 months when she had several (6+) awful admissions to hospital. She’d 5 now and still on high dose meds but this is the first year we’ve only had 2 admissions!! And neither were high risk, which feels huge.

Beyond meds: things that have made a difference - mine cannot get cold hands feet or chests. Expensive (second hand) coats and snow suits. Wool socks. A good multivit (as their food intake drops if o2 does). Daily exercise dance &stretches (incorporating some kids physio movements).

(and yes we’ve tried removing food groups - with no impact - they are allergy tested and have no allergy’s and antihistimes made v little difference. I hate the level of steroids given in our home, but it’s been transformative in my kids lives. We absolutely had to push for support including keeping symptom diaries, with videos AND constantly making the effort to see GP/A&E to document their symptoms)

This sounds so frightening. We are fortunate that his SATS have always been ok when admitted to hospital- only slightly low oxygen levels when at rest. I think this is also part of the reason why nothing more is ever done though.

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