15month old Constant Cough...for 4months

[Just1LittleLady]

Hi All,
1st post so apologies if it doesnt stick within requirements.
My baby girl's had loads of coughs and colds (like all) but it all 'kicked off' when she was 7months.So far: 4 lots of antibiotics (which i hate giving),3 bouts of tonsilitis (which trigger convulsions), 4 febrile convulsions (seen consultant,happy just due to temp and tonsilitis is trigger so possibly refer to get them out once hits 2yrs).
I understand that kids get colds but on top of this since september she has a constant cough of varying degrees. Tends to be 2bad weeks of full blown chest infection with antibiotics AND/OR high temp (stayed above 38degrees for 10days without breaking, gp and a&e sent her home after an hour because she was smiling so must be fine?!). Then comes 2'healthy' weeks of constant cough (sounds dry and chesty though chest apparently clear)and needing cough medicine every night along with towel on radiator(tip given by pharmacist) and a vapour fan on all night or cant sleep. GP keeps saying coughs and colds are normal (I realise this?!) but is this really normal for a healthy 15month old?? Any advice because gp has given none so far

My ds (now 4)is very similar and suffered with tonsilitis and temp off 38,29,40,41 last 3 weeks.

He also just gets random temps for no reason. Along with the cough.

Dr has prescribed both blue & brown inhaler, about 1 years ago(mainly because ot the symptoms I decribed) and Im being honest it has worked great, especially of a night time.

Not much help but though I would share my story. Good luck xx

Thank you for replying rain71.
Youve def giving me cause for thought as I'm starting to think that asthma might be the cause but dont want to be seen as a neurotic mummy my gp seems to disagree with medicine..

Sounds like typical asthma to me.

The trouble is - the asthma is triggered by colds/coughs/tonsillitis. Then, because of the asthma, the cold/cough turns into a chest infection, which exascerbates the asthma, and so it goes on.

If you treat/prevent the asthma, you break the cycle.

Convincing a GP who doesn't want to be convinced is the challenge.

Ask to be referred to a paediatric respiratory specialist.

Just, Ive been there listening to him cough constantly for what seems like a lifetime. Each check showed a clear chest, but the temps where proving something.

Its worth asking the gp could it be asthma. I also stripped the beds of the lovely warm flannelette sheets and had to go back to cotton, this helped big time with my daughter who had the constant cough and croup history. She is also on both inhalers.

Hope it all wors out for you.

Do you have any pets?

Thanks guys. Think I will ask for a referal.we have 2 cats who don't come in the house but she loves animals and most of our family hav pets that do come into the house. Can a doc diagnose asthma at her age?

I have no idea about the age of diagnosis, but my gp listened to me each week/month and then said "lets try the inhaler", the blue was great for a while, but the doctor said it was obvious he needed the brown as well.

My ds also gets breathless when he runs and was also one of the initial reasons I went to the gp, he said this is classic sign.

Ask for referral, in fact insist on it. If you get no help, I would just go to a&e.

Cats can be a real problem. It is worth considering cat allergy. Yes they can, and do, have asthma and allergies at 15 months.

'viral wheeze' is definately one of many that have been reeled off so far but shes still left coughing and spluttering week in week out.
I became massively allergic to the cats when I was pregnant so theyv not been in the main house since (DH thinks I'm terribly cruel but cleanliness comes first).
I'm going to get her booked in to see gp on monday so I'll let you know how it all goes. x

Good luck

Hi guys,
Not much of an update unfortunately, my gp surgery wont book DD in for an appt after 4pm unless I call up on the day which obv makes it difficult with work.
Good news is we have a great health centre in newcastle-under-lyme that have booked her in for 5:30 tomorrow

Well ladies I must say you are all quite lovely!
We now have a referal to the respiratory paediatrician and a prescription for an inhaler to try in the meantime.
SO RELIEVED! Out of hours doctor was wonderful and described the exact same cycle that you did 3LittleFrogs.
Unfortunately he cant directly refer her as it has to go through our GP but all our gp has to do now is action it and the Doc has said if GP still refuses then to bring her back and he'll do an emergency referal.
Thank you guys xxxx

My ds has this problem - we live in Spain and they don´t diagnose this as asthma even though the symptoms and treatment are basically the same. (inhalers). Here is it called having "hyperactive bronchiols" which means that everytime they get a little cold, their brochiol tubes react and swell causing all the mucus to get stuck down there and produces constant cough, chest infections etc. Most of the time it goes with age, around 4 years as all the tubes need to do is just a little big bigger. We are on Singulair sachets every day and inhalers for when he starts with a cough, the inhalers open up the tubes so they don´t swell and the problem is prevented.
We were advised to take the carpet out of his room and all cuddly toys, which we have done and replaced with parquet. We keep our cats as far away from them as possible also.
It is basically something they tend to grow out of but preventative measures can be taken until then. I also think that constant use of ABs is just going to weaken their defences against colds, viruses etc even more.

My DD1 is 3y 4m.

She has had continuous wheezes and coughs - sometimes until she was sick. We got a blue inhaler for when she was particularly wheezy but cough remained until finally I got a doctor to give her a brown inhaler to use daily - 1 puff twice a day which helped but not completely.

We then got an appointment with Asthma Clinic and the nurse up'd the dosage to two puffs twice a day of the brown inhaler and we then got Singulair tablets - they are amazing!!!

For the first time she has no coughs or wheeze and we have been able to reduce the brown inhaler back down to one puff. Singulair are fab!!

We saw a specialist yesterday as she also has an egg allergy and we also discussed the asthma in detail - all related. Apparently very common in young children but most grow out of it by the time they get to school. He agreed with the treatment that we were following - said to try 3 months of the Singulair and then review - ultimate aim is to have no medication but to keep taking it as long as it is needed. One very relieved mummy!!

Hi all,
Sorry its taken so long to reply to your advice, things have been a wee bit of a struggle with DH and I but thats life .
We have a blue inhaler with a spacer. She thinks its great because we all have a good old play with it and pretend its a trumpet .
Unfortunately its not doing the trick at the mo though so have another appt with the gp on monday to speed up the referal.
We have taken all of her soft toys out of the cot, Iv stopped using the comfy cot sheets and started using normal single bed sheets which we change EVERY night in the hope that we can eradicate any trace of dust. We still have the vapour fan, cough medicine etc but its at the point that I dont sleep properly at night because she coughs so much she a) wakes herself up, b) ends up being sick, c) scares herself and d) because i'm terrified she'll choke (she used to have bad reflux when she was tiny and would choke on the vomit).
So not much further ahead unfortunately .
Based on all your comments and those of other friends too, I will definately be asking for a brown inhaler on monday and will also be asking more about these Singulair tablets (i've never heard of them before).
Thanks again for your advice, sleep deprivation is starting to kick in so its nice to know that there are other mums out there that understand xx