My son has asthma and is on Singulair daily and asthma medicines as needed, so i'm used to his night time cough when he needs more attention with his meds.
However, for the last week or so he has this tiny cough, not even a cough, more of a throat clearing, that he does every time he drinks or lays down. Once he falls asleep it goes away, but it keeps him awake longer because it's non-stop, little cough every 5 - 10 seconds.
I won't be able to get him into the doctor until Friday so I was wondering if anyone had experience with this and might know what's up or what might help calm this down tonight.
Thanks all for the advice. When I finally got time to take him to the doctor, she said it was most likely still the bronchitis that he had four weeks ago just hanging on. She said his throat was a little red from the nasal drip, but she was confused by the coughing primarily when swallowing. She gave me a prescription for a decongestant. I used it for one night, but the day after I used it he had one of his worse melt downs ever and bit his arm so hard and so many times he still has bruises after a week maybe not related but I freaked and stopped giving it to him and opted for the vaporizer with menthol.
The cough is gone now so hopefully that's all it was.
Four of our five cats live in the sun room converted for their use(they are all strays that have been dropped off in the neighborhood because people assume cats can fend for themselves in the country)but the fifth cat does live inside. Evan has a hepa filter in his room plus he is taking singulair for allergies and since his asthma symptoms come and go with cold and flu symptoms and this year had been a blessing with only two events and none requiring hospitalization I haven't considered the allergy testing but will definitely do that if this cough comes back.
Have you tried a vaporizer/humidifier in his room at night and/or vicks vapor rub (goes on his chest)? That helps my 3! Good luck!
This is weird but it works as I just tried it on my daughters nagging cough.
Take vicks vapor rub and put it on the childs feet. Put socks on too. My daughter stopped coughing within 4-5 minutes. I had gotten an email about this and decided to try it.
J.
Sounds like an allergy. With asthma and breathing problems, I'm amazed that the doctor would not do an allergy check. Animal dander is a huge issue for asthma patients.
I would try baby allergy med. I have the equate(walmart)brand that Ive gave my son before to calm his cough, so thats what I would use until you can take him in to see the dr. It helps my son sleep a bit better too!
if he doesn't have a nebulizer at home, talk to your doctor about getting one. My kids seem to do so much better after 1-2 treatments of the nebulizer than the inhaler or other meds and usually don't have to use their other meds very often because using the nebulizer for a week or 2 seems to help them out a lot but their's is seasonal and usually in the fall and Spring months but sometimes after they use the nebulizer for a week or 2 they don't need anything else until the next coughing spell starts which sometimes is the next season.
If his asthma is under control- you may want to ask your doc about OTC Delsym. My son has awful asthma and his doc says he can take it before bed if it's acting up as long as certain criteria have been met. Such as: pink fingernails, pink lips, no difficulty breathing- just an annoying cough. It works really well, even for me.
I would say it could have something to do with cats. I have 3 children with asthma ages 10, 8, and 3. I have it as well. All of us have some sort of reaction to cats. You can try buying some stuff at the pet store for dander. You have to bath the pets. You put that stuff on them right after. Ours needed to be done every few days. It really helped if done often enough. Hope this helps!
Asthma runs in our family and our granddaughter lived with us when she was little and she had the cough you are describing and it indicated that her asthma was acting up. I also agree that a vaporizer in the room is not good because higher humidity encourages the growth of both mold and dust mites, two big allergens that trigger asthma. Be sure and mention the cough to your dr. Also we had find new homes for our indoor pets. Good luck.
I know exactly how that 'clearing the throat' sound is...
My almost 11 year old who has asthma/allergys does it, too.
And usually it's a precurser to the asthma starting to flair. Every kid is different, and as he gets older you'll learn the tell tale signs that he's having trouble. For my son, it's the clearing of the throat, and a blueish tint under his eyes. And almost always, if he catches a virus, and isnt feeling well from that, the asthma will rear it's ugly head.
And regarding some of the other suggestions...if your son has a high allergy to mold, you shouldnt use a vaporizer.
And he may not be allergic to your pets. You can have him tested to see what his allergy triggers are. It's a skin test, and you would get a print out and explaination of the findings. My son was first tested in kindergarten, and again this spring, and we found new things were giving him issues.
He used to tell people he was allergic to the lawn mower!
It was the grass he had trouble with.It's true Asthma and allergys usually walk hand in hand.
And for cough meds, docs say it's not good to surpress an asthma cough, but if the cough is viral, Delsum is most recommended.
It's a bummer when your child is sick, I know, and this disease can be scary. There are alot of free classes on the management of asthma...we attended one at Childrens hosp. and it was very good.Finding a good doc is key.
Good luck to you
Because you said it happens when he lays down, do you think it could be acid reflux? I know it might be way off, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
sounds like an irritation. my son had a cough like CRAZY! dr told us ten different things to try costing loads and feeling terrible about putting my "baby" on all these meds, i went to a different dr. he told me to try a little liquid benadryl... it worked like a charm! good luck and i hope you and your little one are blessed with an excellent night's sleep.
You won't really know until you go to the doc but be careful giving him cough syrup with asthma. Not a good thing. You could probably try benadryl as other suggested or I know this sounds crazy but I researched it after my son's doc told me, give him a teaspoon of honey. It helps sooth a cough. Try a little bit at first to make sure he has no reaction but it really does help. Hope everything works out well. I am sure the doc will be able to help get something to help your kiddo.
Sounds like post nasal drip.
Increase his fluids a bit, and use an over-the-counter saline nasal spray several times per day. Also, get a humidifier for your home. Dry air makes this worse.
Your toddler may also be allergic to the cats or animals. Also might want to have him tested for allergies. The cats fur and dander could make is asthma become worse. I realise this would be sad b/c I love cats, however until your little guy gets older and his immune system becomes stronger I would limit the cats in the house. Dogs have different fur then cats that is why I would suggest possible sending the cats away for a temp visit,until and see if this helps.
I don't have experience with asthma, and it sounds like others have better advice to getting a solution for your problem. but in the meantime you might want to have a humidifier in his room and maybe run a hot shower and let him breathe in the steam. It helped my child with her cough.
You could put a humidifier in his room to keep the air moist???
My daughter has asthma and allergies since baby and her doctor told her dad and i not to have cats, dogs in the house because of pet dander and pet hair everywhere triggers asthma-allergy attacks. We also smoke but never in the house after the doctor told us she was allergic to mold, dust, petdander and pet hair. We never had pets in the house.It really helped our daughter too.
