Hi Moms,
My 4 year old boy has had a cough for a few weeks now, it started off sparadic and has become worse. He saw his Doc on Tuesday who says it is just a cold/cough and it will clear up on its own. We have been gicing him Mucinex, lots of liquids, using a humidifier, drinks with honeey etc. We thought it may have been Reflux, he was born with Reflux and has taken meds since then. We stopped them when he was around 2.5 years old. Last winter we had the same problem, with the same cough, it went on for most the winter. It seems to be worse after he has eaten, when he runs around and at night. Through the day especially after he has eaten he will cough until he vomits, not just phlyem but everything he has eaten and drunk. His vomit always smelt very strongley of acid. In the end by his 4 year old check up in Feb, I asked that we try putting his back on his Reflux meds, we did that and maybe it was coincidence but we haven't had any cough all year until now. He has no other symtons with the cough, no runny nose, easr ache, sore throat, fever, he never complains of feeling ill in anyway, in fact he's his usual self but we are constantly telling him to sit still and stop running around so he doesn't vomit. I just don't know, it doesn't seem like a cold or reflux. There was also a few times when they checked him last year that he had Asthma symtons and had to have and inhaler for a while. As anyone had a similar experience or any suggestions what it could be or what to try? I'd appreciate it. Thanks
J.
Thank you all for all your advise, you sure gave me a lot to think about and research. I did take him to a different Doc yesterday and he diagnosed allergies. So we have him on Zyrtec through the day and Benadryl at night. He slept right through the night last night for the first time in days and he's much better already. I can't believe we never thought to try this before. I'll keep you posted on how things progress but again thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts, much appreciated:-)
100% allergies. My son and I both have them. A constant clearing of the throat, coughing and low rumbling in the chest sometimes. Stop all medications and try an allergy medicine for a few days to see if it goes away. If it does, voila! I'd bet my house its allergies and its a pollen related one, not a food, chemical, blah blah.
SPD has a direct link to reflux meds. The heavy metals that are in them cause the brain/body to become toxic. It shuts off the Co2 pumps and the child cannot absorb the nutrients in their food and the developing brain and CNS essentially starve. I would never consider putting him back on meds. I don't know where you live but there is a great dr in Weston who does NAET treatment. It is a gentle, safe allergy elimination treatment. No needles or meds. Your son is directly allergic to lots of foods. Her name is Dr. Leslie Fergang and she cures these kind of kids all the time from their allergies. Once they start feeling better some SPD/autism symptoms go away. Their bodies can better process nutrition once they have an efficient immune system. CHeck it out.
My 3 year old son has had a nagging cough for about a month now. He was diagnosed originally with a sinus infection - dr. gave him an antibiotic and a nebulizer as his cough was extremely bad at night - vaporizer by his bed was not doing the trick. It cleared up the sinus infection and the cough went a way after a few days. But now the cough is back. He had his 3 year check up this past thursday and I told his dr. about the cough. He thinks it may be associated with allergies. He put him on allergy medicine (chilredn's zytec) as well as nasal spray - nasonex). His cough has decreased a bit. You may want to call your son's dr. and see if it may be associated with allergies or asthma.
Take him to an ENT. My Mom gets that cough and they found it to be in a medication that she was taking. Also different foods can bring on a cough. Food allergies. It can be a pet causing it, dust bunnies, insects, just about anything. The ENT is who found out what was causing my Mom's cough when no other doctor could figure it out.
Hi J., we discovered my daughter had reflux also in her 1st year of life and she too was on meds. Have you gone to a Peds GI doc yet? They will be able to help give more answers to what's really going on and can do an endoscopy to see what is really going on in his throat and stomach; or whatever ever other testing they might see fit.
Have you also considered that it's allergies? It's that time of year and I know that allergies affect my throat and it gets scratchy and I have to constantly clear my throat and/or cough. One may think it's a cold, but it's not. Claritin works for me and clears it all up. You might want to get him tested for allergies or speak to his pediatrician about the possibility and see if he can take over the counter allergy medicine and see if that will work.
Good luck to you! I went through a whole year ordeal with my daughter and this stuff and it's exhausting and frustrating as a parent! I hope that you find some answers, but follow your gut instinct and push for whatever you feel is right for your child!
my son had a cough for about 3 weeks. very phlemy at first and the dry. my daughter now has it and has had it for over a week. i know that this is going around and also went around last yr. i kept my daughter out of vpk last yr bc of it. and there were some other kids that had it and the dr's all said that it could linger for awhile. definitely chk out other options if you are worried, but seems like it could just be a cold and possibly just coincidence that when you put him on meds then it was already on the way to clearing up if he had already had it for a few weeks.
Try children's probiotics (The Garden of Life brand has good ones) and keep him off dairy foods for a while. Also try some zeolites/natural cellular defense from Waiora to help detox him and balance the immune system. That might help with the sensory processing issues as well since poor digestion and toxins can disrupt the nervous system.
Best wishes,
J.
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I happen to know a thing about reflux...
Anyway:
I would think at this point, you'd go to a Ped GI for your son and finally figure out if it is reflux. You probably don't want any testing, but if it's been going on this long, testing could give you some long-awaited answers.
When I say 'testing' I mean perhaps an endoscopy where they go and take pictures and little biopsies to know what is going on in the esophogus. there is also the ph probe, also known as the bravo or empadence probe which actually measures how many reflux episodes your son is having and also measures the length of the episodes and if it's acid...
It sounds like a food allergy/sensitivity to me. Does he eat a lot of dairy and wheat products? My grandmother had this same problem and as soon as she quit eating foods with gluten her cough stopped. She used to have to use an inhaler and take medications because it had affected her breathing as well. Now that she has changed her diet she has no need for them but we know when she cheats because she starts coughing again and can't breathe. I know it's a stretch for a lot of people to think that food can have that large of an impact but most health issues stem from what we put in our bodies.
Hi J.,
I do not have a child with reflux but I have reflux. Funny you should mention your son starting a cough about this time of year with no other symptoms. I went to the doc last week for the very same thing. The doc asked me about post nasal drip and asked about reflux. I had not been taking my Florify on a regular basis so rather than take all of the antihistamines and decongestants he suggested I started taking the Florify on a daily basis. No more cough. I didn't even realize I was experiencing more reflux than usual but it was just enough to irritate my throat. I had a tickle on the left side of my throat. You might ask your son if his throat feels funny or has a tickle before he coughs . . . or when he starts coughing ask. BTW, Florify is not an RX but a supplement that helps to replace good flora. I stopped taking my reflux meds long ago and have only been taking this. It's gentle enough to give to your son and certainly worth a try before going through a lot of tests.
K. Woodlief
www.LovinLifeHome.com
Perhaps he has post nasal drip from not being able to properly digest dairy foods.
The other thing to check for is irritants in the air, like mold, or strong chemicals like air fresheners, cleaning products, laundry detergent.
my four year old has had a cold for the last 3 weeks but the cough is still lingering. they put her singulair for 3 months and to keep her neubulizer therapy with xopeonex .63 until the cough has ceased all together. at first she would vomit but Thank God the cough is better now.
There are serious consequences to the reflux meds- please check out Dr. Bruce West at Health Alert- so you will understand, and this needs to be fixed asap.
k
