Child Night-time Cough

[kbbeanie]

My ds is almost 3 years old. Since October hes had a bad cough it happens sometimes in the day if hes been running around a lot and its very bad at nighttime.
After a few months of running back and forth to doctors and being told it was a virus he ended up in a&e one night and they said to try inhalers saying it could be asthma but at this age its hard to diagnose so they would see what the inhalers did and they were surprised the gp hadnt already tried that after it had been going on for so long

He got a brown steriod inhaler and a blue inhaler. take 2 puffs of both morning and night each day. For the first few weeks this helped and his cough at night really eased infact he was barely coughing at all.

Now another few weeks on its back again only a lot worse. He is now coughing every couple of minutes it sounds like hes choking each time and at times it actually makes him vomit at the end of the coughing fits its almost like he gasps and then a few minutes later it starts over again.

Ive been back to the gp and they keep insisting his chest is clear and they think its a virus still.....a virus that has been going for over 5 months now ? but that it may well be asthma and just to persist with the inhalers

Is this a normal amount of coughing and is it normal for the inhalers not to relieve it any ? Im up every single time he coughs right through the night because im scared hes not able to breathe or hes going to vomit and choke him and me both havent had a night of sleep in weeks !

Has anyone else had the same experience and can offer any help ? Im going to contact the gp again tomorrow and tell them im not happy with him

Can you film an attack? sounds like it could be whooping cough? you could look up vitamin c and whooping cough if it is. they may offer antibiotics which are not effective in clearing whoopcgh. just make it supposedly less contagious if you catch it in first 3 weeks. sounds like you would be way out of that range! anyway vit c may help.

Have a look at the chart on this page regarding tree pollen, even at this time of year.

www.asthma.org.uk/knowledge-bank-pollen-trigger-explained

You could contact them, they are very helpful.

Once DS starts coughing at night I double his steroid inhalers for a few days until it is back under control, then step it back down.
Eg when he is well 2 puffs twice daily of steroid. When coughing a lot, especially at night 2 blue followed by 4 brown twice daily. When coughing stopped, a day or do of 3 puffs of brown, twice daily. Then back to normal dose.

I have been doing this in conjunction with gp though - they are happy for me to do this as I am sensible about seeking help if needed.

Request a GP referral to ENT at your local hospital. We had this with toddler DS2. Had inhalers, variety of antibiotics and nothing made any difference. He coughed, choked constantly at night for months on end.
ENT suggested that it could be enlarged adenoids but that to check they would have to examine him under general anesthetic as he was only 20 months at the time. Anyway examination showed huge adenoids which they promptly whipped out. After a week or so recovery he was 100% better, no more coughing, choking etc. Might not be this for you, but worth checking out.

My son was exactly like this- kept saying chest was clear and giving me inhalers. Getting his adenoids out last year helped. He is 4 now and still coughs til he vomits at night but only when he has a cold now, when his tonsils are enlarged. Before the adenoids were out it was constant in the winter months!

oh yes...if adenoids you can look at dairy intolerance. I have read and experienced great changes in kids who have eliminated dairy and adenoids return to normal.