How I get the doctor to listen to me? Callum is unwell and they don't seem bothered

[SparklyGothKat]

Callum has had a cough for 3 weeks now. His cry has changed, and he sounds horse. He coughs so much that it disturbs him. He isn't sleeping well. He has a temp of 38.0 but seems ok in himself. I have been to the doctors twice and they said his chest is clear and sent us on our way.. I am sure there is something wrong..

Didn't want to leave this unanswered...is it the same doc you have seen both times? Have they checked his tonsils, felt his glands etc?

Do you think it could be asthma?

I would try and get an appt with different doc.

saw two different docs, one at out of hours and one at the GPs. Not sure if its asthma, but something is wrong.

could it be croup? all the coughing could have made him hoarse

he is your baby, and if you know he is not himslef, then you are entiteld to ask for another opinion.

I think you need to say something along the lines of what you have said in your OP.

Good GP's should have a little alarm that goes off in their heads when a mother says "something is wrong".

Try your usual GP again tomorrow.

yes, maybe take him in a steamy bathroom for a while, SGK, and see if that eases his symptoms.
poor baby, I hope he's feeling better soon.

Get all dusty teddies out of his room, have a good hoover, prop him up.

My dad phoned earlier and Callum was crying in the background and even he said that Callum didn't sound right. My dad said to go to the hospital but I will feel a fool if its just a cough..

sounds like croup. very difficult for gp's to diagnose things when the chest is clear, as they say.

My dd has had all manner of coughs over her 6 yrs, and many trips to the gp only to be told its a virus.

Asthma?

croup?

allergy?

Def go back. My dd has grown out of these coughs a litle now. how old is callum?

sounds like croup to me, don't know why.

trust your instincts - you know what you're doing, you're an experienced mother.

i would take him.

remember what parents went through with you 'your just an oevr-anxious mum' to our mum turned out you had whooping cough and were very ill.

mothers instinct is generally good.

is he snotty at all?

Go to the doctors again until you get taken seriously. Better safe than sorry with little ones

agree. ,mind you my mummy radar was off last week.. DD not herself, a bit hot, bit of a cough, DH took her to the docs, where she was diagnosed with a chest infection and needed ABs . ooops!! so ,yes, take him if your radar is working !

not snotty, Ds1 stuffered terribly with croup from a baby to about 6. What worries me if that when Dd1 was a baby I kept calling the doctor and they said she had a cough, asthma etc and then we had to rush her to A&E and it was bronalitis (sp?) and she spent a week in an o2 tent.....

its not the season for it though is it? tahts over the winter.

Sparkly, trust your instincts, go to A+E if you feel this cannot wait til tomorrow. If you don't go then make sure you go to the doctors tomorrow.

Chances are, its just a viral infection and it will clear itself, but he might have developed a secondary bacterial infection which will need treatment. You are perfectly entitled to raise your concerns if he has trouble sleeping.

FWIW, this has been a house of coughs on and off since xmas. We have all had it and it lasts for AGES and AGES. I have been to the doctors twice with mine and sent away to be told its viral, nothing we can do - fair enough, but its worth checking.

Our coughs are all caused by sinus congestion so anything to reduce congestion will be effective, medised if he is over two, but dont mix this with a cough mixture. Put some Karvol on a tissue near his bed and prop it up on a couple of big books. Agree with the dusty teddy thing too. Change all of his bedclothes and dry them indoors (just in case its a pollen reaction). You can also go and sit in the bathroom with him and boil a kettle so he can inhale the vapour.

Im sure he will be fine, there is a lot of this going around just now - but if you are worried, get him checked, there is no such thing as a over anxious parent. IMO i would avoid out of hours and see your doctor, tell him you are worried.

I would take him to the hospital if you are worried. I know that they have changed the treatment for croup if this is what he has, they have found out that a steamy room is not effective. They won't turn you away, his temp is a bit high. Babies conditions can change very quickly so there may have been nothing to note when your child was checked last time. I hope all is well though.

If you are "sure there is something wrong" just keep on taking him to docs until you feel happy. you are the mum and you know Callum best, dont be fobbed off!

Only read the OP, but I had that feeling twice. First time, after being dismissed 3 times in a week by the docs, DS was admitted to hospital with pneumonia and peri-orbital cellulitis. Second time, GP didn't know what was wrong, but after third visit said something obviously was and sent us to the hospital. Luckily was just a bad case of tonsillitis.

My children do get bugs and infections, and I don;t go to the GP's lightly, but these two times I knew that the 'it's a virus' explanation wasn't right...

Keep a close eye, and go back to GP tomorrow if you feel things aren;'getting better. Good luck.

SparklyGothKat if you feel something isn't right then trust your instincts.
I know how you feel as we battled for two years for ds, kept getting told he was fine and two weeks ago he was diagnosed with M.E.
They do get it wrong sometimes and you should always trust your instincts. Don't be embarrassed as you're doing the right thing.
xx

I'd take him hospital. Do you care what anyone else thinks when it comes to your ds health. If you get there and they say he fine and just a cough, you'll be far to releaved to worry about looking stupid.
I took my ds to hospital and told them he wouldn't stop crying. They did look at me like I was mad, but so what?
MOTHER KNOWS BEST.
Hope he gets better soon, let us know what happens. X

Take him to A & E if you are concerned. Better to be wrong and feel daft than be right and feel sorry.

Go to the hospital if you are worried.
They are fantastic and will not make you feel you are over reacting even if it turns out to be just a cough.

I was in a similar situation with a 6 week old- doctor kept sending me away with rehydration powder.
I took dd to the hospital and she was admitted for a week with bronchiolitis.

They saw her straight away and were so supportive and reassuring. The doctor told me I had done the right thing in trusting my instincts, so if your instinct tells you Callum is not right, then go.

Sparkly, my ds2 has had a cough for weeks too and again have been told by 2 different GP's that his chest is clear but it is referred noise.

They gave him an inhaler the first time. Atrovent it was.
It helped a bit but he still has it.

I have Asthma and I know how long it took my mum to get me diagnosed.
It is meant to be quite difficult to disagnose young children, apparently.

I had this with dd - was sent home from doc and hospital - turned out she had bad bronchiolitis too. Sister at hosp even said "right mummy, we don't need to be over anxious" - grrr. She was in for over a week in the end. Is his sternum rising and falling a lot with breathing? Does he seem dehydrated? Stick to it - mums often do know best. Hope he feels better really soon. Sleeping upright always helped mine when coughing - in car seat worked well.