A cough that will not go away...DS has had it for weeks!?

Ardmhs83 · January 2012

Ok.....so my son has had a cough for weeks now. Like right before Christmas! It will not go away!!! He does have reactive airway disease (possible asthma) and uses albuterol treatments when he has a cold and is wheezing. He also gets 1 treatment a day of pulmicort to help prevent asthma episodes. Nothing is working...the cough will not go away and his pedi has not test him for anything else. He just thinks it is the asthma acting up, which is causing the cough. I really love my pedi and trust in him, but why hasn't my child been tested for RSV/croup/chest x-rays?? You are not suppose to just cough all the damn time!

My DH said he called the office again today and told them that Carter has been around children with possible RSV (even though he hasn't) just to get them to test him. We still haven't gotten a phone call back yet. What would you all do? The same thing??

scottsbride379 · January 2012

I would insist he get tested. I mean, you never know. But I'm kind of a paranoid person by nature. But if it's been a cough since Christmas and there's no sign of it easing up, I'd insist on a second look.

gingerfamily · January 2012

I'm not judging, but no I wouldn't lie to my pediatrician or any dr for that matter. It could be also be allergies and my pedi doesn't test for them until 3 years old. If you want a second opinion, by all means get one but don't lie to the dr.

Ardmhs83 · January 2012

mrsh0606:
I'm not judging, but no I wouldn't lie to my pediatrician or any dr for that matter. It could be also be allergies and my pedi doesn't test for them until 3 years old. If you want a second opinion, by all means get one but don't lie to the dr.

I didn't lie to the doctor...my husband did. Embarrassed

srthomas88 · January 2012

What would I do? I wouldn't lie to my kid's doctor. I'm not being snarky just honest.

Have you asked them to run tests? Is there another doctor in the practice that you trust if this one isn't listening to you? Can you take him to another pediatrician you trust?

Rach21 · January 2012

From what I gather, RSV for toddlers isn't as risky as it is for babies (if your son even has it). Since they can't give antibiotics for it, you'd be in the same boat if your LO just had a cold. It's perfectly normal to have a cough that won't go away (especially in winter). Since your LO has RAD I can see why you're more concerned, but I would just ask to have him tested for RSV. Is your pedi going to say no? Our doc told us babies rarely get strep throat, but both DH and I had it and Gideon had a really bad cough, so I asked for them to check him out anyway. It came back negative, but my doc still did it to ease my mind.

Brewtowngrl · January 2012

I am going to side with your pedi on this. DS is coughing up a storm and it is his asthma. They can't do anything for RSV so I see no reason to waste money on a test. It is viral. For croup they listen to their vocal cords and you will know if it is croup. There is no mistaking that bark sound. You can ask for a chest x-ray and that might confirm the asthma. I would also not allow my DH to lie to the pedi. They need to know the truth in order to treat. They combine what the parents say as well as symptoms to Dx.

Ardmhs83 · January 2012

Thanks for the info...like I said, I didn't lie to the doctor, my husband made that decision. I can't take it back now and I don't like feeling like I am a bad person for that happening. I agree...I would have just asked for some test to be done and I wouldn't have lied, but what's done is done now. Their are other pedi's in the area, but I do really like my DS doctor. I just don't understand why he is only saying it is asthma if you can't even test a child that young for asthma. I don't understand why he doesn't want to rule out other things. It is just frustrating to listen to your child always cough and you can't do anything about it. I don't understand why the meds aren't working that well for him, when they did work last winter.

tch81 · January 2012

I took DD to her pedi because of a chronic cough and asked if it could be Pertussis/Whooping Cough. One of the doctors listened to her chest & back and decided it was nothing. A few weeks later the coughing continued so we returned to the same practice but saw a different doctor who without me mentioning it, immediately sent us of a Pertussis test. Test came back negative and the coughing was chalked up to allergies. Have you tried a humidifier, elavating baby when sleeping, changing bed sheets weekly, removing stuffed animals from his room?

You know, seeing a different doctor for a second opinion might be a good idea too.

seahorse102410 · January 2012

I would take him in to have everything checked. Last time mine had a bad cough it turned out to be an ear infection. Surprised both the ped and me. My co worker's daughter had an obnoxious cough and hers turned out to be bronchitis. I would make sure they check it all.

Ardmhs83 · January 2012

tch81:

I took DD to her pedi because of a chronic cough and asked if it could be Pertussis/Whooping Cough. One of the doctors listened to her chest & back and decided it was nothing. A few weeks later the coughing continued so we returned to the same practice but saw a different doctor who without me mentioning it, immediately sent us of a Pertussis test. Test came back negative and the coughing was chalked up to allergies. Have you tried a humidifier, elavating baby when sleeping, changing bed sheets weekly, removing stuffed animals from his room?

You know, seeing a different doctor for a second opinion might be a good idea too.

We do use a humidifier, but never though about removing stuffed animals and I could change his sheets more often. Thanks for that info. Yea...if I get pushed around this time...it might be time for a second opinion.

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