I am really worried :(

[elmofan]

Hi my DD is 4.6 yrs old & since she has started preschool last September she is sick almost every week . She is now on her 16th antibiotic since Sept 09 & at this stage they are not clearing up her infections = throat , ears & chest mainly . she has been put on inhalers in the hope that they might keep her chest clear (4 chest infections & 1 lung infection) We are waiting for a hospital appointment for her to see a respiratory specialist ,but she just seems so sickly ATM & i worried about her . I have made another appointment for her pediatrician for this afternoon as she is almost finished this currant antibiotic & ive seen no improvement .
Don't know what i want really but if anyone has any advise i would appreciate it . TIA .

Poor you and your dd elmo. i dont really know what to say, apart from pester the doctor/hospital, as it does seem quite a lot to go through in a short space of time.

you obviously need answers, tell them how worried you are, and keep pushing til you get some answers.

hope you get it sorted soon.

see you one the buddy bench, hopefully some of the others, will have some other ideas.

I meant on the bench - whoops

Could she be getting immune to the anti-b's?

We had a bat patch through the winter where dd2 had illness after illness, i was getting really worried as it went on for so long and nursery kept questioning me when i phoned to say she wasn't coming in almost every week.

I would take her back to the GP and ask for blood tests etc..

for you and DD, Elmo. Not sure what to offer other than it does sound as though she is developing a tolerance to the antibiotics - and that sounds like quite a lot of antibiotics for such a young child. Not sure if it is repeated infections or a single one that won't actually clear? I would ask for the blood work as well. Her poor little immune system. Must be very worrying for you.

Would temper that with the anecdote (fwiw) that a friend's DD of the same age (at that time) was literally sick for a year when she started preschool - she felt it really was from the exposure to all the other kids/toys/etc., which she had not had before. After the first year she seemed to develop some kind of immunity to it as she is now super-healthy (2 years later).

Sorry I can't be of more help, but sending your DD recovery wishes!

Oh thank you marne , tiredmumno1 & gomummygo .
I was wondering if i should ask for GP to do some blood tests tbh but my GP tends to make me feel like i am making a fuss over nothing yet dd attends a hospital clinic for her eczema & they are very concerned about the amount of antibiotics dd has had in the last 9 months . Her hospital consultant had to write to my GP to ask him to refer dd to a specialist for her chest , only then did he sit up & take action & do the referral , i reminded him last week as to how many antibiotics dd has had & he counted them up on his computer as even he seemed shocked .
gomummyno1 i am hoping that like your friends dd its just a case of my dd getting used to germs etc (i must admit i am a bit of a cleaning freak at home )

hi elmo, my dd2 went through a phase of being permanently very poorly with chest infections (incl. hospitalisations) when she was 2.5 or so.
Eventually, after nearly a year, she was put on an antibiotic on a permanent basis - low dose didn't work enough so it was full strength erythromycin for her, for over a year. It kept her healthy and made a huge difference, and she suffered no side effects at all.
Eventually when she was 5 or so her immune system kicked in properly and she didn't need them anymore - she is now 9 and hasn't had a proper chest infections for at least 2.5 years and she hasn't needed any antibiotics for over 2 years.
As far as I can tell then long spell on antibiotics has done her no harm whatsoever (and yes it is something that would have freaked me out completely beforehand - I was quite anti a/b and keen on alternative stuff).
I should add that she has Down's syndrome and a lot of little ones with DS have a poor immune system so it didn't really warrant extensive investigation, although we were about to be referred to an immunologist but then she got better anyway.

What does your paediatrician think? There's no harm in getting a blood test done, but you should really go to the hospital for that, via your paed, so it's done on the children's ward by someone experienced.

Thanks geekgirl , your poor dd , a whole year on antibiotics so good to hear it worked though & she is clear of infections . I suppose what i am really scared of is - dd is starting primary school this September & i worry if she ever caught some thing serious like meningitis because she has become almost immune to antibiotics IMO that if she really needed to be given strong doses they might not work . My GP is her paediatrician but I'm losing faith in him tbh as i had to point out to him how many chest infections & antibiotics she has had . I am taking her back to see him again today as she is almost finished this medicine & still very sickly . Thanks yes i will ask for him to make an appointment with the childrens hospital to have a blood test .

thanks riven - no nothing has been done yet just keep putting her on antibiotics & inhalers but since last Friday she has eaten hardly anything & is falling asleep two hours after getting up in the morning . Its not like her at all . I was told the waiting list for a specialist is 18 months , but the consultant that looks after her eczema is going to try pull some strings to bring her appointment forward , fingers crossed .

omg riven , your poor mum ,

DD had a lung infection last November that a stand in doctor(GP was away) was very worried might turn into pneumonia , It took two strong antibiotics to clear & we had to have her checked each week , but when my GP returned he did not seem bothered . DH is coming in to the doctors with me , ill post later on & let you know how she gets on . thanks .

I think you should change GP Elmo tbh.

How did it go this afternoon?

poor girl

Two thoughts: have they tested for any immune system deficiencies? I'm not sure how - but it was on the cards for DD after meningitis (in the end they decided it was not necessary after 1 major infection)

Also - AB's come in all sorts and I wouldn't worry about your DD being immune to the ones that you get in the case of meningitis (they have many different ones; plus it goes straight into the bloodstream). It's not nice being on AB a lot (we've just finished at least the 7th or 8th course since December) but sometimes it can't be helped

And oh - at our last ENT the consultant was remarkably upbeat about how good it was to be ill so often as it built up her immune system Easy to say from his end I guess

Hope she'll get through it all soon

is she very phlegmy,croupy

This is not meant to worry you and please dont take it the wrong way,but when i was getting alot of chest infections even though i was alot older,the chest physician did test for cystic fibrosis just to rule it out. But he was one of those doctors that looked at the worst scenario first and then worked backwards

Hi , sorry i didn't get a chance to log on last night , puppy had to go to the vet after dd's doctors appointment , then had a meeting to enrol dd in primary school last night which dragged on for over 2 hours .
DD has been put on a strong antibiotic = ERYTHROPED & steroid tablets = PREDNESOL which dissolve in a small drop of water (not easy to get her to drink it though)I asked the doctor if a blood test might help to see whats going on with dd's immune system but he said that he would prefer to wait until she has finished this course of medication & then if she is still no better he will send us to the childrens hospital to have her checked out . He has already sent a letter to the hospital so we just have to wait for an appointment . DD has lost a little bit of weight (not eating since last Friday) & DH & myself told GP how worried we are . GP said the hospital will do lots of tests to find the cause of the recurring infections .

hi elmo,she obviously has a nasty chest infection with him adding the predsol in. Hope this opens the tubes up and clears the chest out. Make sure she finishes the course of anti biotics because she is on the steroids.

Thanks alypaly , she has actually agreed to eat some toast for me for the first time since last Friday ,a good sign .
GP reckons all our questions will get answered by the hospital as they will do lots of tests to try find out the cause of these infections .