Doctors won't prescribe medicine for 2 year olds cough

[lboogy]

We've been for a covid rest, to get that out of the way.

My D.C. has had a cough for the last 5 weeks. It was most severe 4 weeks ago for 2 days. After that D.C. coughs only at night and wakes them up. So for the last 5 weeks we've had interrupted sleep because D.C. will take 2 hours to settle back down.

Spoke to the doctor 3 times and been in once. Each time I'm told wait and see it's likely an infection and dc needs time to fight it off.

It's 4am and D.C. has again woken up from
Coughing and has been awake since 1.30am. I'm at my whits end extremely pissed off at the doctors reluctance to prescribe antibiotics.

Would I be in my rights to ring up and demand they prescribe something to make the cough go away?

My DS always gets a terrible night time cough after a cold and I do sympathise because the broken sleep for everyone is frustrating! I second the other suggestions of asking for an inhaler, I don’t think DS has “proper” asthma but the inhaler really helps. Also a humidifier as someone else suggested (but open a window in the morning to get rid of all the condensation!)

And yeah, antibiotics don’t work for viral infections hence pandemic, unfortunately!

An infection can be viral or bacterial. A cough that has lasted 5 weeks is very unlikely to be bacterial, therefore antibiotics won’t help.
One of mine used to have awful night coughs. She’s 7 now and hasn’t been diagnosed with asthma but does get ‘post viral wheeze’, for which she has an inhaler. The inhaler helps massively with the night cough.

If it’s a viral, infection antibiotics won’t help.

@lboogy

But they are saying it's an infection. Isn't antibiotics supposed to help with infections?

I've tried OTC medicines

I'm going to buy a humidifier and see if that works

Antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. Antibiotics cannot treat viral infections, such as cold, flu, and most coughs. This explains it very simply. www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/10278. It also has useful information about the problems with antibiotic resistance caused by inappropriate use.

D.C. finally went to sleep at 5am.

I have tried bronchostop thanks to everyone who suggested it. Also tried calpol, honey, nasal drops and steamed bathroom. Though I'll confess not all three every night. I might have to do that tonight.

I'm doubtful of asthma diagnosis since we don't have a history of it or have smokers in our immediate family. But you never know dc could be the first.

I only suggested antibiotics because it's the doctor who said they think it's an infection and it it doesn't go away they will prescribe antibiotics. 5 weeks later and they are telling me to take the wait and see approach. 5 weeks of interrupted sleep is starting to wear

Get a vics vaporiser, filling the room with steam will help with the cough and they are v safe.

Have you checked carefully for any possible allergens in the bedroom?
One of my dc is allergic to feathers, for example, we discovered one cushion that had feathers in it. My eldest was allergic to house dust mites. We had to take up the carpet, remove curtains, damp dust daily, get special bedding. Nightmare. But they did outgrow it. We are an allergy prone family though. The main symptom was a night time cough.

'I'm doubtful of asthma diagnosis since we don't have a history of it or have smokers in our immediate family.'

and most of your OP.

OP, as you have young DC, it might be helpful to develop an understanding of the limits of your understanding.

Antibiotics help with bacterial infections. They don't help with viral infections which the vast majority of coughs are.

How is he generally? If it had turned into a bacterial chest or throat infection he would likely have a temperature and be lethargic and not wanting to eat etc. If he is otherwise well in himself it is more likely it is just a bad cough. He could, as my children have done, have had two coughs back to back (it is possible to pick up more than one virus at the same time).

YABU to demand antibiotics but YANBU to expect some more investigations eg they listen to his chest and check his breathing is ok etc

The only time I coughed only at night time was when I was allergic to new pillow filling.

My 5yo has just been given a ventolin inhaler for a barky constant cough. He doesn’t have asthma, it’s just for short term use on this cough (although I was surprised they gave it to him). You don’t prescribe cough medicine for young children (not sure there’s anything that helps adults either but advice is it could even be harmful to children under 6)

Sounds more like asthma often presents like this in children . Ask your doctor about an inhaler . This is how 2 of my dc started with asthma

Would I be in my rights to ring up and demand they prescribe something to make the cough go away?

I've noticed this a lot of here, why do people go around demanding things, what happened to old fashioned asking questions and having discussions about alternatives?

Or is there a general misunderstanding of what demanding means?

YANBU to demand more is done to find out what is causing the cough and get treatment.

Antibiotics may or may not be the answer but surely it's worth a try.

Have you tried raising the bed slightly so hes laying on an incline, and vapour rub on feet with socks over is alao supposed to help some people. I do sympathise my eldest gets a nightime cough every single winter and is usually prescribed an inhaler which helps a lot but doesn't completley get rid of the cough. However this year the doctors haven't even wanted to prescribe her the inhaler so we've been having broken sleep for the past 6 weeks.

I've noticed this a lot of here, why do people go around demanding things, what happened to old fashioned asking questions and having discussions about alternatives?
Because some people think this proves they mean business and/or they think they can bully and intimidate people into doing what they want.
See also, people demanding to speak to a manager in a shop when the shop assistant can't process a return because the garment has been worn, no tags and not faulty. Some people think that by throwing their weight around and demanding to speak to a manager means they'll get their own way.
Same in schools. Why speak to the teacher and have a nice conversation to resolve an issue when you can demand a meeting with the head?

I feel your pain as we have had this every year for the last three years. For us it starts with a cold and then a cough that lasts for months. My DS is coughing so much he’s been vomiting in the night. Poor kid is very tired and emotional and none of the rubs, vaporisers, drinks etc seem to work.

GP advises us to wait it out every year. It’s frustrating but there really isn’t much they can do unless it’s a bacterial infection or asthma.

The world's not short of parents demanding antibiotics for (viral) infections with no secondary bacterial. When the (viral) infection subsequently resolves then this just confirms what they (didn't) understand and lots of 'I told you so'. Complaints and rebooking consult if they don't get what they want until they do. No understanding of risks from antibiotics when no clinical benefit to offset risks. I've not heard the OPs statement about asthma family history and smoking for a while. Nothing wrong with not understanding things. Lots wrong with thinking you understand things you don't and then having immutable opinions that risk health. Am not saying doctors don't get things wrong and patients don't understand their own bodies and prescribing can take iterations though.

Hi Op, I know you are sceptical of it being asthma (and it’s probably too early for a formal diagnosis anyway) but lots of children are prone to a viral wheeze/cough at this time of year, and your little one may benefit from a blue reliever inhaler to help with nighttime coughing. We used one on my DD from when she was 1, to about 4 - it happened every year over the winter and disappeared again in the spring.
If you do want to speak to the GP again about something/anything (I know how that feels!) then it may be worth exploring?

First line NHS recommendation for a cough is honey.

Cough medicines do not work.

Even if they did - why take them? The cough is there for a reason.

Antibiotics only work if it's bacterial and there's no other symptoms of a bacterial infection.

It may be cough variant asthma but likely to be a normal cough that will go over time.

Please don’t use antibiotics if you don’t know if it’s a viral or bacterial infection.

We should only use antibiotics when absolutely necessary as we are heading to the next world crisis of super bugs / antibiotics resistance.

I know it’s annoying having a child wake due to a cough, we are on week 3/4. Definitely try a humidifier and putting books/ towels under the bed to lift the head end as laying flat can make it worse.

Post viral coughing is pretty common in under 5s, doesn’t mean it will develop into asthma it’s just due to the immature airways. It’s why generally asthma isn’t diagnosed in under 5s.

I would talk to the gp about trying some ventolin before bed to see if it helps

We used to have this a lot , bought a humidifier which really helped and put that on a short time before dd went to bed and then all night and also brown and blue inhalers with a spacer .

Cough medicine is otc, antibiotics won't work unless is bacterial, highly unlikely.