Not convinced with GP's diagnosis - toddler 22 months - asthma, cough, eczema

[Zoink]

So my 20 month old has had a cough for a whole month now. With the cough she also has some sort of eczema. GPs have said:

Ringworm
Chicken pox
Eczema
Hay fever
Asthma

We have cream that clears up the skin on their chest and back but it just comes back. At the top of the neck it now looks like tiny whip marks

Their cough mostly at night, where we will wake at least once with a coughing fit (in fact, she now sleeps through them as they're so regular). I don't think it's a tickly cough bc I think she is coughing up phlegm.

I feel it is an allergy. Would that makes sense? Can gave Piritin which made no difference and we inhaler does nothing. The dr basically said give her Calpol. But why? She's asleep and coughing?!

Who can we go and see private if needs be?

(We have changed washing now to eco-eggs and I've monitored food and I can't see a link to that either).

Week 6 and they've put her on antibiotics for bronchitis that my partner diagnosed

Hope the antibiotics help OP, it’s tough going with the night time cough

Did you try a completely diary free diet yet?

Drs said try antibiotics first. It's a very very bad cough. Has all the signs of an infection. If the antibiotics don't work, we have a allergy/asthma specialist

(She had hives, temperatures, she's hardly eating)

Hope the antibiotics give some relief.

@Zoink is she feeling any better?

@Notavegan @justasking111

Not yet! Day one done with three doses. I read it takes 'a few days'. Hoping to see signs tomorrow night. Tonight she is much the same. Raspy breathing, phlegmy, coughing constantly, I think her throat hurts too

Thank you

Not sure about the rash. But my eldest, when he was a toddler had a persistent nighttime cough, so the Dr. prescribed Ventolin syrup. It didn't work, as it wasn't asthma that was causing the cough, but it might be worth asking to try it?

Hi all! Antibiotics worked! It was a chest infection or something. I'm glad we didn't listen to the gp!

Good news. That should make a big difference now.

Hi all! So it has now been three months and she still has a cough. Skin is up and down but she has goats milk rather than cows milk now and her skin is mostly okay.

The Gp has this far given her two courses of antibiotics and a course of steroids. None of them have helped. The asthma pump doesn't make any difference. She has a chest X-ray next week and then a consultant that week after.

Her cough is mostly phlegmy (dry or tickly coughing fits have started in the night but only in the past week). I'm so confused

Just a thought. Are there any signs of mold spores in her bedroom (under the bed even)? If you have condensation at home it can build up in random places and if you have black mold anywhere it could be causing her cough/breathing issues. Or, are you using any aerosols (deodorants, air fresheners)? Did pets live in the property prior to you living there? I have asthma and eczema and I’m trying to think of all the things that are triggers for me, and that would have made me cough/wheeze as a child. My dd has severe dairy and egg allergies and she does get occasional wheeze/cough at night. There are so many potential triggers. Are there trees/flowers out her window that she might be allergic to? Plug-in air fresheners? Do you use lots of cleaning sprays? If so try Cif cream or something like that instead. Anything at all that gets sprayed in the air can be a huge trigger. Febreeze spray? String perfume? Cigarette smoke?

Hayfever?
This is exactly how my kids were at that age. One is still the same butuch improved by a seasonal antihistamine and brown inhaler once a day.

Have you tried no dairy at all for a few days? Switch to oat milk just for a week and see if it makes a difference. At least you can then be clear if it is or it’s not dairy.
My dc had eczema and coughing at night and it was linked to dairy.

@DayKay ditching dairy for a week is probably not long enough. Only after 3 or 4 weeks did it seem to be out of my dd’s system and start to make a difference.

Ah ok. It was instant with my dc. He stopped coughing that very night.

My child has had very similar symptoms starting in early April both this year and last. I am sure it is caused by a seasonal allergy(some type of pollen). He barely suffers with excema during the winter, then it has come at this exact point two years in a row, along with swollen eyes and coughing and choking at night. For my child it last about a month, though the excema has lingered both years.
Due to covid, our hospital appointments both last summer and this summer have been cancelled(we have a telephone consultation in August now booked).
If it is this, you have to be religious with the application of emollient and steroid creams, to keep excema under control. At its worst in April we use emollient several times a day on him. Bath in tepid water with emollient as little as possible. Also antihistamines twice daily.
It obviously may be something totally different, but what you describes sounds v similar to my child.
Good luck. The key is an allergy appointment for skin prick testing at the hospital. You can get these privately(I have another child with serious food allergies), as they take ages on the NHS.

Sorry I only read the first half of your thread. I hope you get some answers.

So we've had two courses of antibiotics (first worked but cough returned after a day), second didn't really do much.

We were then given a course of steroids which didn't work so they said that means it's not asthma.

Now on benadryl allergy children which they've said to try for 3-5 days.

Skin is clear atm, but cough is now at 3 months.

Forgot to add - blue inhaler four times a day also made no difference.

For her skin, avoid using any shampoo, body wash, hand soap, toothpaste etc (anything foaming) with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). It is a known irritant and can prevent the skin from healing. Cerave is good