Recurrent croup

[Ennyta]

My little one had his first croup when he was about 11 months old. He’s nearly three now and since then we have had croup about 5-6 times. It always required a visit to GP or A&E if it developed out of hours. He was always given steroids either as a course of tablets over a few days or as a one off oral thing in A&E.

The last night however he had a severe croup attack. He was running a head cold during the day which didn’t bother him too much and it looked like he’s clearing it by the evening. Went to bed perfectly fine, breathing clear, no sniffles, only to wake up two hours later struggling to breathe due to severe croup attack. We called an ambulance and paramedic administered steroids as soon as they arrived as his oxygen levels were low, before bringing him to the hospital. My husband went with him as I had to stay minding our one month old. After steroids and something else they used via nebuliser, his oxygen went to 100% and he was able to breathe luckily. I know we are lucky as it could have been so much worse.

I am wondering what’s your experience with recurrent croup - doctor told us it can come from any virus, even with smth small like he had 😟
How often did yours get attacks during croup, like is he gonna get another attack the next night and require ambulance again?
How often do yours get croup during the year? I am starting to think there might be underlying issue cos he’s getting it often, like narrowing of windpipe or smth that we should ask for referral to get checked. Doctors dismissed my husband when he asked about this.
Did you get steroids to have at home in case of an attack? They didn’t want to give this either, and it’s absolutely distressing looking your little one practically chocking and not being able to do anything while you wait for ambulance to arrive.

My son has had 2 bouts of croup (he's now 7). One quite young, which required an ambulance and one last year. It is frightening.
I think it is worth getting some more information about it - causes, management etc as it's clearly something that is hitting your son hard. I'm sorry your husband's concerns were dismissed. Keep pushing.

I’ve read a lot about it, trust me 😔
Doctors say it’s all normal and part of growing up, they aren’t concerned as he improves after the treatment. But I am just not convinced it’s normal to be getting it this often and to be so severe after a head cold.
I also read it usually stops after the age of 5, but sounds like your got it even older than that 🫣
Curious to hear others experiences.

We had our first croup of the season last night. DS4 has it a minimum of 10 times a year. Initially it was a trip to hospital every time. Covid baby so a simple cold could land him in hospital on oxygen. He also has eczema and it’s very likely both kids are asthmatic but they are too young for a formal diagnosis. They have preventer and reliever inhalers and since being prescribed the preventer (clenil 1 puff twice a day) there has been a drastic improvement in how they cope with croup. DS is better at recovering as he gets older.

DD1 has had it 8 times so far. Hospital for steroids twice. The last time they wouldn’t give her any steroids as they hadn’t heard the cough - and I refused to leave until they did. I left after steroid treatment was provided when my DH sent me the video he had recorded. Always record it because my kids make a miraculous recovery by the time we get to A&E and then need blue lighting to hospital the following night if they don’t get steroids on the first trip. Video evidence solves this issue. I also keep a tracker in notes on my phone and list every single occurrence, even if they don’t need treatment as it shows a pattern.

Our GP will prescribe steroids but it’s very difficult getting the liquid steroids, usually needs ordering in. Last time he ordered more than we needed and I’ve kept it (although obviously I would never administer this without the GP say so- I will take it with me the next time we need a GP visit for croup and let them make the decision).

Kids can take tablet prednisone and I’ve found it just as effective as the liquid, but a bit harder to get into the little one.

Fucking Croup. It is the bane of our lives. Start of a cold. End of a cold. All the time October to June.

edit - DS also was under ent and audiology (now resolved) and the consultants felt this and the croup are all linked. Both kids have had paediatric referrals via A&E because it’s recurrent. Make sure your hospital do this. It’s not always normal and often it’s a sign of an underlying issue like asthma.

It maybe worth exploring some complimentary medicine ie homeopathy to try and see if you can improve his underlying health to hopefully reduce chances of getting another dose of croup.
Possibly also a dietician.....

DS 2 had icroup a couple of times up until the age of 7 - but only once needed to go to a&e for the dex medication stuff. He does still get a 'croupy cough' sometimes but it's very manageable at home and doesn't come with the stridor.

DS 1 had croup at least twice a year up to around 12 years old - always needing treatment. Drs said they'd never seen croup so bad it needed dex in a kid his age. He's a older teen now and hasn't had a bad attack for years although does get a barky cough now and again.

I’ve tried homeopathy when he was about 1,5 years old for a cough that didn’t want to leave for 4 months. It didn’t do anything for him unfortunately😟 Doctors weren’t worried again as it didn’t bother him and they said it’s normal with little kids.The cough just went on its own once the summer started and hasn’t come back since. So I am not too convinced alternative medicine works for us 🙁

Ds had reoccurring 'croup' from babyhood until he was 5. He was asthmatic, I spent years trying to push for doctors to treat him for asthma. Finally at 5 years we got someone to listen, he's been on steriod inhalers ever since and not had one bout of 'croup'.

But we have a strong family history of asthma, silent asthma, which doesn't present with wheezing and his attacks were the same as mine as a child.

Interesting you mention eczema as my little one had it up until the age of 1. It left then and didnt came back. Also the cough, he’s had it for 3/4 months non stop at the age of 1,5, went away in summer and didn’t come back. Consultant said at the time it could be childhood asthma, not a real asthma, and that they mostly grow out of it by the age of 5.

We have had colds and other stuff in between, that just run their course and he was fine. However, this croup is a nightmare, specially after the last night. I wonder is if I should push GP for referral to ENT, it sounds like this helped you?
Also, do your little ones have asthmatic cough and need inhalers, or was it given as part of croup treatment?

A bit of both. DS also mostly grew out of eczema by 1, minor flare ups every so often.

DS had a cough for months and viral wheeze. Both kids are what used to be called ‘fat happy wheezers’ - they sound sick but look happy about it 😂. Often it’s a sign of asthma. Often kids grow out of it. We have a strong family history of asthma though so DS was given the clenil and put under the wheeze clinic after his first hospital admission needing oxygen. He’s since been discharged from the clinic back to the GP to manage but will remain on the clenil until he’s old enough for a proper assessment, at which point we expect asthma to be confirmed.

DD had severe croup in April and May (it actually eventually turned into pneumonia which wasn’t fun!). The GP is an asthma specialist and detected a wheeze - in his opinion she is asthmatic too. With the family history and DS’s drastic improvement she was given a clenil inhaler too. She’s not needed steroids for croup since starting clenil - although she’s had it a few more times since she’s just bounced back.

My twins didn't grow out of it until around 7. Always in the middle of the night, an and e visits for dexo. Finally hit the gp to describe tablets for at home.

I can sympathise OP, as my younger DD (age 3) is very prone to croup. She's had to have dexamethasone four times, once in A&E. She has got blue and brown inhalers (salbutamol and clenil) due to being cough prone, but they don't tend to work as well for croup. I keep getting told she'll grow out of it!

My daughter has had it many many times which like you always ended in an and e for the steroids. She has grown out of it now at 8 however for a few years our doctors prescribed the steroids for us to keep at home (and take on every holiday) in case we needed during the night as we knew the signs and it stopped the mad dash. We also have an oxygen finger measure. No signs of asthma or any other health issues. They do grow out of it but it is terrifying at the time.

Thanks @Covidwoes and @Teaxberspet. Did you ever ask the doctors to investigate possible underlying cause for it, like referrals to ENT and other things?
it’s so scary when it happens 😢

No, I was always told it's a childhood illness some get and do grow out of. I never thought she would but it's been a year now since last time so fingers crossed!

Hi OP
it could’ve been me writing those words. My 2.5 year old already had 6 croup attacks ( all severe and needed ambulance as he immediately goes in respiratory distress) the NHS fobbed us off until episode 5 when he needed to be admitted into the hospital as the steroids (DEX) wouldn’t resolve and he needed nebulized adrenaline - then they finally referred him to ENT but would take time so I got very angry and went to an ENT privately who helped us so much. My son needed an air way investigation ( MLTB) in according to this great ENT from the Portland hospital and then the NHS offered us. He had something called Laryngomalacia * so they ‘fixed it’, but he still had another croup episode, albeit the very first one that wasn’t a full blown crisis, so after I noticed a slight bark in his cough, I called the GP who said she was okay with us to administer the liquid DEX we had at home - the NHS sucks as only after he was admitted to the hospital and we then went to their referred ENT they prescribed us a full bottle of the medication.

I tell you this croup is the bane of our lives and I cannot understand why they keep saying that the child will grown out of it and don’t promptly investigate.
My son always had respiratory diseases but until now, when he’s nearly 3 they never requested any bloodwork or any image test (beside the MLTB).

Please keep pushing as having the DEX at home readily available to give you time until help arrives can be life saving.

good luck 🍀

• also known as laryngeal stridor, is a birth defect that causes the soft tissues of an infant's voice box to collapse inward during inhalation, partially blocking the airway.

Interesting this has popped up after what i hope is the last croup of the season! Since my post in October DS has had it 3 times (with a few more occasions wheee he gave a single middle of the night croupy cough), only one hospital trip needing steroids, so at almost 5 it seems to be winding down.

DD almost 2 has had it 6 times with 3 A&E trips, 3 doses of steroids, 2 lots of antibiotics. On the third A&E visit we were offered (and accepted) a paediatric referral to investigate. GP is already treating it as asthma (which going by family history it surely is), and it’s working so far, but it will be helpful to get her on the path to formal diagnosis when she’s old enough.

One unexpected side effect was the cost in travel insurance. Cost us over £90 to get her added on to our annual plan for the next year mainly due to the recurrent croup (and this was before the paediatric referral (which didn’t come with an extra cost at least).

@Ennytaapologies, this thread has just resurfaced , and I didn’t ever reply to you! DD’s croup has never been investigated. She had a really nasty case of it last month, and we ended up at A&E (sent by a GP as her oxygen levels were all over the place). I really hope she grows out of it soon.

Our son has had it 3 times in a year

How did they fix it. Was it a surgery ?

We had frequent bouts when he was younger. We ended up getting steroids to keep at home as I knew the sound of the croup cough and the dr was happy for me to do so. He’s asthmatic which might be why they weee happy for me to have steroids at home but this is going back 10plus yrs. he outgrew it by about age 9.

Update - My DD is now 5, and hasn’t a single episode
of croup since starting school in September! Really pleased.