Would you be worried?

[pumpkinsweetie]

My 6 month old has had a very violent cough that has got more frequent in a just under 3 week period.

The cough started just at night, then it progressed to a cough that made her throw up and then it became a day thing too.

I took her to the gp on week 2, as I started to worry it was more than just a cough but my concerns were relieved when gp said it sounds like normal cough and cold.

But by week 3 it had got to the point she sounded chesty and was really struggling not to choke to death whilst simultaneously vomiting each feed up so back to docs and perscibed amoxycillin, but after 2 days im seeing no improvement and infact the cough is getting so frequent that I have had to clean my carpet 6 times today and her nappies are getting dryer.

Raking my brains thinking what else this could be and me and her are exhausted as she has had to sleep in her pushchair for nearly 2 weeks downstairs with me as I'm frightened she will choke to death in her crib as she is too flat which makes her cough 10 times worse

How long should I wait before seeking more medical advice?

How unbelievably stressful. I would never hesitate to seek further advice when dealing with breathing issues, can you call out of hours and see what they say? I expect they would want to see you pronto.

I just feel as if I'm not being listened too as she has a habit of acting well when in the gps office but at home it's another story.

Her meds were also delayed as the original amoxycillin was unavailable (gp prescribed a dose more concentrated in a smaller ml due to the vomiting) but in the end we only could obtain the normal amoxycillin so I'm wondering whether the dose is just being thrown up and not in her system like it should be?

I am giving until the end of tomorrow for antibiotics to kick in and then I'm going to try and get doctor out as I want a second opinion x

How frightening for you. Can you video one episode so you can show your doctor what they are typically like, and keep a log of how frequent they are and how they end?

Is she catching her breath between coughs? not like whooping cough?

It doesn't sound like a whooping cough, but I think I will video these episodes.
She seems to be better when we are out in fresh air, buy worse indoors although she can still get these coughing fits outdoors but less frequent.

Also starting to worry about her fluid intake too as it is just so hot and not a lot of her milk or water is staying down.

Just wondering whether asthma might be one for me to worry about because surely 3 weeks isn't a normal time span for this sort of thing?

Could she have reflux, OP?

I have had reflux all my life, and a hiatus hernia, and if I lie down at night after eating or drinking near bedtime, I tend to aspirate the acid that comes up my esophagus, in my sleep. It makes me cough horribly at the time, leaving me wheezing and sometimes still coughing the next day.

I am alone with my 5 dc with no transport so not really an option

Thinking if maybe taking her to a&e tomorrow as that is best I can do as this really can't go on much longer imo.

re reflux, I'm not sure as she never suffered any episodes previously to the 3 weeks and as a newborn she never really was a sicky baby

Maybe not then, although my son did develop reflux at about 4 months.

Google GERD and see if it gives you any clues. Sorry if it's not helpful, but just might be worth looking at.

She seems to be better when we are out in fresh air, buy worse indoors

and

she has a habit of acting well when in the gps office but at home it's another story.

These make me wonder whether the coughing is an allergic reaction to something in your home.

I would certainly investigate further. 3w coughing in an adult is considered something that needs a visit to the GP. How much more so in an infant!

Rubbing feet with Vicks is supposed to help a cough.

Have you tried steam? I know it's hot weather, but increased humidity sometimes helps coughing.

Is she breast or bottle fed? How is her feeding?

She has seen gp twice in less than a week, first time was told normal cough and the told it's on her chest the second time I took her in 2 days ago.

She does have a rattle in her chest as I can also hear it. My older child has a cough too, I'm starting to really worry about whoopinh cough as I have just looked it up and apart from the noise all things point to it!

She still hasn't had her 3rd set of vaccs yet as she had chickenpox and this so she couldn't have them so I suppose she could be subsebtable to whooping cough so I guess back to docs soon

Get seen by a paediatric doctor asap, gp does not have specialist knowledge enough. Mine always send me to paed a&e for breathing issues and dehydration in babies/toddlers.

To get fluids in try ice lollies and syringing 5ml every 5 mins for half an hour of fluids. Less liquid in the stomach that way to come up again.

Worth ruling out asthma/allergy, my 2 year old had a reaction similar to that you describe recently, think it is a mold allergy in her case.

How do I request to be seen by a peadtrician?

If you are scared about what you see at home, you should go back- seek another doctor's opinion if you need to. Videoing is a really good idea. Reflux is quite common in infants - Both my boys had it between 2months and 13 months, throwing up up to 10 times a day until meds calmed it down... somewhat.The symptoms might be connected as another messager mentioned or could be overalapping- but you need further medical opinion. My 5 year old has had a terrible chesty cough for 3 months. He's had hayfever meds and antiobiotics with no real change so we're going back to the doctors tomorrow to request a referral to a specialist.
good luck.

Thankyou 100ml I just don't think this can be normal and gps don't exactly have the time anymore to really diagnose properly. The second doctor hardly looked at her before prescribing her antibiotics.
It's also hard to see decent gp at my surgery, it's always locums I've never seen and it doesn't fill me with much confidence tbh

Because of immunisation, many doctors - especially younger ones - do not easily recognise illnesses like whooping cough. The 'common illnesses of childhood' are just so rare now.

I think that A&E may be a good call, if only to get her seen by a paed asap.

My mum says that when we had whooping cough and couldn't keep anything down because of the coughing, she used to wipe our lips with a sopping wet facecloth. That way we got constant drops of water, enough to rehydrate, but not enough to have something to vomit IYSWIM. She would even continue to rehydrate us while we were asleep, between coughing bouts, by dabbing the corners of our mouths with a soft, wet, paintbrush. Again, tiny drops of water, not enough to choke on. It was summertime in a hot country.

Could it be whooping cough ? My dc all caught this. They call it the 100 day cough. Antibiotics will stop it spreading to others but wont help the child who has it.

We heard that taking the child to high altitude can cure them so we drove to Andorra and climbed the highest mountain ! It seemed to help.

DS was like that when he was a baby. He has asthma.

My parents took us to the mountains, too. They said that it helped, but who knows whether we weren't getting to the end of it anyway?

How is she today?

After a week on Amoxycillin she is still no better so went up doctors yesterday and asked for them to look into asthma as it's in my family, coupled with her symptoms and the fact she has previously had eczema etc and was given a blue inhaler & spacer to try out for 7-10 days and report back on it's effectiveness.

If her symptoms improve then she will stay on it, if not her care plan will be reviewed. Was told they cannot actually diagnose her with asthma until she is old enough to take part & cooperate with tests.

Already I have seen a significant improvement so although I'm not happy she may have asthma (who is?) I'm relieved we may be getting to the bottom of this constant exhaustion for me & her and also that hopefully she will start to feel a bit better.

Thanks for all of your replies

My mother had a nasty cough in February. Went to the doctors mutiple times and they told her it was just a common cold! The doctors finally took notice and sent her for an X-ray which revealed she had lung scarring from bronchitis! Not saying this is the case with your child but it's worth getting checked out again!