My childs cough is not getting better after a month?

Question

My daughter who is 7 years old has a persistant cough.
We took her to the doctors within a few days. Doctor said everything seemed fine and to give her Tixilix childrens cough medicine at bed time and calpol ( childrens paracetemol )if she needed it .
A week passed and she was still coughing.
I took her back to see the doctor who said it wasnt a cold or infection and she might be asthmatic. We were given a Ventolin Evohaler and told to give it to her at least 3 times a day.
After almost 2 weeks on the inhaler her cough only improved a little after taking the inhaler but she would still continue to cough all day and sometimes in the middle of the night.
I took her again back to the doctor who suggested she may have an inner ear infection. He gave her antibiotics 5 day course and told us to continue with the inhaler and the tixilix and calpol.
She has now finished her antibiotics and this cough just isnt going.
She was coughing so much last night and was sick.
What do you suggest

It is Sunday morning.
No doctors open untill tomorrow. Should I wait until tommorow or take her to the emergency department at our local hospital ?

Answer 1

Subject: Coughing

Sorry, no graphic for this one, and don't laugh, it works 100% of the time although the scientists at the Canada Research council (who discovered
it) aren't sure why.

To stop nighttime coughing in a child (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime, then cover with socks.

Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many, many hours of relief.

Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly.

I heard the head of the Canada Research Council describe these findings on the part of their scientists when they were investigating the
effectiveness and usage of prescription cough medicines in children as compared to alternative therapies like accupressure. Just happened to tune in A.M. Radio and picked up this guy talking about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good due to the chemical makeup of these strong drugs so, I listened.

It was a surprising finding and found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children at bedtime, and in addition, to have a soothing and calming effect on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly.

Lolly tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it felt like a warm blanket had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few minutes and believe me, this was a deep, ( incredibly annoying!) every few seconds uncontrollable cough, and she slept cough free for hours every night that she used it.

Answer 2

Has anyone suggested that you use a vaporizer? Some warm steam might help loosen up the secretions. You could get the bathroom steamed up and take her in there. Are you still giving her the cough syrup?

If she is having trouble breathing, take her to the ER. If she's okay for tonight, call the Dr. tomorrow. It's Sunday, but someone should be on call. Tell them what you've said here. Maybe they can phone in something to help for the weekend.

Your doctor hasn't been able to treat this successfully, so I'd move on and get another opinion. Perhaps someone else will see something the first Dr. missed. If that doesn't help, you'll need to start getting referrals to specialists. Both and ENT and an allergist might be able to help you. I'd see the ENT and rule out inner ear problems, then go on to the allergist. Hopefully, a second opinion will help and you won't have to work your way through all these Dr's.

It's very frustrating to have a sick child and no answers. I've been through it myself. Good luck and persevere.

Answer 3

As a parent you have to follow your instincts, you know your daughter better than any of the Doctors, you know how well or ill she is.

If she was sick after a bout of coughing it would not be unusual. Providing she is able to eat, drink and keep it all down it's unlikely that A&E would do much about the vomiting. However, they would be able to give you a second opinion and run some tests to see if there is a cause fir the cough.

The only other thing that comes to mind is a possible allergy, try to think back to when the coughing started, had anything changed? a new pet, a rug, redecorating etc... these are more likely to be triggers if your daughter's cough is better in different environments.

Answer 4

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. My son had the same problem, a horrible hacking cough that sounded like croup. He's 14, so that was impossible. I checked out one of my Macrobiotic Home Remedy books and I followed it's suggestion that was to take him off of all dairy products, because they go to the lungs. It also suggested Lotus Root Tea. I know that you can't get that right now, it's not in season, so you might want to try Shitake Tea. You take one Shitake, put it in 4 cups of water along with some Shoyu or Tamari soy sauce. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the mushroom and cut into tiny pieces. This tea tastes a lot like broth. Make sure that she gets some of the Shitake in the tea, she needs to drink this with the mushroom pieces. You can reheat this and give it to her 4 times a day. You should see some relief in a couple of days. Between the tea and the removal of any and all dairy from her diet, should hasten her recovery. Hope all is well soon and your daughter feels better. The medication that she is getting may be counterproductive right now, since she isn't sick, she's having respiratory problems. Best of luck, my dear.

Answer 5

continue giving her antibiotics

give her some warm tea

tell her to get her rest

if its an ear infection q- tip her ears once a week

after she baths or takes a shower close all the windows and put her straight into bed

cough drops during the day (while resting or watching T.V)

tell her not to swallow her Phlegm with leads to bacteria

for dinner make some hot soup nothing cold

dress warm

keep a clean environment buy her a pack of hand sanitizer so germs wont be surrounding her.

there is also some vapor rub which you can rub on her chest or some vapor stickers which you could also apply on her chest when she is sleeping

If these don't work seek another doctor cause obliviously this doc cant solve the problem

Answer 6

First off, it sounds like you need a new doctor, because this one keeps changing his tune.

Also, this sounds a lot like me when I was younger. I had a cough for over a month and it turns out I was asthmatic, but it had to be triggered by something.

I wouldn't worry about the hospital quite yet, but see a doctor on Monday. If the coughing is really bad at night, fill a sink with hot water, then have her lean over it with a towel over her head and the sink. It does a world of good. Best of luck.

Answer 7

FIND A NEW DOCTOR. Your daughter may have a chronic condition that needs immediate care. Let the new one know everything you have told us. My friend's daughter had a lump in her armpit and the doctor told her over the past three years that it was normal for big girls to have. They took her to another doctor who had tests run and they found out that she was stage 3 Hodgkin's disease (cancer). If her regular doctor had just taken the test to if nothing else reassure the parents then they would have found it alot earlier and maybe caught it before it got bad enough to almost kill her several times.

Answer 8

Take her to a dr and ask him if liquid prednisolone would help it did my son after going through the same as you.It ended up being a "croupy" thing even thou his cough did'nt sound like croup(it stopped after a couple of days)
Until you get to a dr sit yourselves in the bathroom with the door shut and the shower turned on the hot water the steam will give temporary relief

Answer 9

Check your house thoroughly for mold! My son was so, so sick in the first grade. He missed about a third of his school days sick. I took him to doctors and simply couldn't figure out why his sickness wasn't going away. Near the end of his school year we had to move. We took his bed down and found thick black mold growing under his bed. Turns out there had been a slab leak allowing moisture on the walls down there and then the heater in his room made it the perfect breeding ground. Long story short, we moved into a new place and his sickness lifted instantly.

Answer 10

Take her to the emergency room.

It could be allergies. I have had a cough for about a month as well, and have no idea what causes it. It goes away when I work out, but comes back when I stop physical activity.