Does this cough in baby sound like it could be an allergy?

[josseyc]

Hi all,

I am hoping for some advice please. My DD has just turned 1 and has had a nasty cough for the last four months. The cough is very much in her throat rather than her chest and she is well enough in herself but the cough does disrupt her sleep.

The cough sounds very 'wet'; and prior to the cough she has very ratterly breathing which a few coughs then clears and the cycle starts again.

She has had a chest xray which confirmed her chest was clear. She has been on anti-hestimines for fours weeks and I saw an improvement for about three weeks and then it got worse again. We finally had an appointment at the hospital and just because she didnt cough for the 15 minutes that we were there he discharged us (he was running late and she coughed and cleared her throat in the waiting room!). It was obvious that he thought I was worrying over nothing. The only thing he did notice was that her throat was red. He didnt seem concerned by that but the other GP's that we have seen have commented that her throat has been red on those occassions too.

Obviously I am concerned that she has a sort throat that she cannot tell me about. I asked him whether it could be a post nasal drip and would allergy testing be a good idea. Because we dont have a history of allergies in the family he said that it wasnt necessary.

Do you think that a cough could be caused by allergies? Her skin is fine. I feel like I have exhausted the possibilities at my GP's and am very disappointed that we were discharged from the Paeds after our first appointment just because he didnt witness the cough. I'm not really sure what to do next.

Any advice would be really appreciated!

I don't know if this will be helpful at all but you might want to bring up the possibility of asthma or "latent asthma" with your doctor. I once had a very stubborn cough (worse in the evening) that lasted months and it turned out to be the latter (triggered by a cold and/or seasonal allergies). I was given a prescription for an inhaler and it disappeared overnight. I have no history of asthma otherwise

Be the squeaky wheel; don't be afraid to keep bugging them until you get some answers

I agree, night coughing in particular is a classic sign of asthma in young children. Problem is, most doctors won't diagnose asthma until at least 4 so it will be an uphill struggle but don't give up, you know that something's not right so don't be fobbed off.

Do you have an Iphone or similar? Record her coughing, ask for a re-referral and show them.

Good luck.

Thanks all. She did have an inhaler for a couple of weeks but it didnt make any difference at all. Although to be fair to it, it was a nightmare getting her to have it and even with the mask she would panic and hold her breathe so I am not sure how much was actually going in!

WhiteTrash I am definately going to do that! I could have cried when she didnt cough so next time will be armed with video footage!

I think mainly I am cross with myself for not being more assertive. Next time I wont let them discharge us until I am sure that the cough has actually gone.

a loquat is fruit,it can treat cough.fist take the cores out and chop the cores,then next put them into water and boil them 20 mimutes.the next put the cores out ot the water. the next use the water which have been boil the cones to boil the pulp of loquat,and then put some rock candy or honey in it. this dessert is very efficacious, three times a day ,about one month the cough wii stop.