2Yr Old W/ TERRIBLE Cold Cough Water Running Out of Eyes Breathing Treat. Advise

I'd follow up with the doctor again. I suspect that allergies are part of the problem but maybe not the whole story. It was been a really bad spring from the allergy POV. I am in NJ and this week there is a yellow coating of pollen all over.

Call the doctor, or take him to the ER. Make sure you sleep with him tonight to monitor him. My son has asthma, and you described him perfectly when he was a little guy. Or he could just have allergies very bad, in any case I wouldn't leave him. Hope he gets better quickly.

Take him to the ER or Urgent Care.
He needs a proper diagnosis.
Do not guess or guess what to give him.

I don't think what we advise will be better than the doctors because we aren't looking at your son.

It sounds like he could be seriously ill..... like whooping cough, rsv, or even pneumonia. You say he had half a freezy pop today and that was it? He could be dehydrated!

My daughter got pneumonia easily when she was a toddler. And she had allergies and constant coughs/runny noses. You should get him to a doctor right away to make sure it isn't one of these serious things. Don't let a group of strangers on the internet try to diagnose your son!

Did they check for whooping cough? It's at almost epidemic levels here in Washington State. Take him back to the doc.

I can't believe how my family is reacting to the pollen this year!! One of my twins has a constant runny nose, swollen red eyes, and cough. I am running the vaporizor at night and using boogie wipes when his nose becomes crusty. I'm hoping it improves when the pollen is gone. I hope that is all your little guy has, even though it's a real pain for all.
God Bless,
M.

I'm most concerned about this lack of eating. Is he drinking anything? Is he having wet diapers? If not, then please go to the ER because he could very quickly get dangerously dehydrated.

Steroids usually work very quickly. When my son had croup, his cough would go away within 24 hours of starting the liquid steroid. If your son is not feeling better by today then call the doctor back to tell him that it is not working. Or find a new doctor for a second opinion.

Also, it sounds like you need a new pediatrician because you don't trust the one that you have. I don't live in your area, but you should ask friends and neighbors for recommendations.

He needs to be checked out pronto to determine if this is a cold, allergies (which can be VERY debilitating) or something else like RSV (human respiratory syncytial virus) which can look like a cold but can be much more serious and is common in children. If he is wheezing it could even be pneumonia. Please insist he get tested for RSV and/or pneumonia if he is no better right now. And do not keep on giving him allergy meds because they don't seem to be working and could interfere with other treatments doctors may want to give him. One other thing -- 99.8 is not really a fever, especially if you're taking it any way other than rectally. Get a good rectal temperature on him if you haven't yet (buy a separate thermometer for this, and KY jelly!).

A liquid steriod is given for like croup which is a barky seal sounding cough. My daughter gets it about twice a year and we (dr and I have come to the conclusion its from allergies. which I have been telling dr since she was 9 months old and she is 4 now) but anyways the liquid steriod is used for only 3 days and it is to help relax the throat muscles and the cough usually gets more wet sounding. With my daughter I then use her nebulizer with pulmicort to help prevent her from getting pneumonia and I give her zyrtec allergy med. Also allergies will give you a sore throat. I would talk to dr about a nebulizer for the breathing and definately have him rechecked of he doesnt get better in and/or temp rises. jGood luck. I know the frustration of trying to figure out between cold and allergies.

well for the discomfort do the advil/tylenol every 4hrs one then the other. as for allergies I found what workes best is Allerga its pricey but it does work. as for his wheezing do you have a breathing treatment machine? give him a couple of treatments a day. if you dont I'd be on the phone with his dr wheezing is not good. and I'm sure he'd do well for a treatment.

We are also in Pa and pertussis(whooping cough) is going around. My Mom had it. Most docs are not familiar with it and often misdiagnose it as asthma, bronchitis, a bad cold, etc. My Mom was at the ER three times before she was diagnosed. Symptoms are a cough, mild fever in some cases, sore throat, etc. Eventually the cough turns in a poraxial(sp?) cough, but it can take weeks into it for that to happen which is where docs fail to diagnose it and by then it is too late to stop the progression. My Mom suffered for 2 months now with it. If she had been treated sooner it would have stopped or shortened the duration. It may not be pertussis and may be one of the many other things, but I would get him tested for it asap just in case. It is so worth it. Me and my kids all were exposed and my son started coughing but we were being treated for it at that point, and it killed it off before it did any damage, and we were all fine. Unfortunately for my Mom she is still suffering. Apparently this is running across PA and I see you are in PA so I would have him tested. It looks like you are about an hour west of us, so you are definitely in the area where this is spreading. Demand the test even if they don't think it is that. It is better to be safe than sorry. Kids can have severe complications from pertussis. And if it isn't that, at least you ill know to look at other issues. It sounds like he needs to be seen anyway. Let us know how he is doing!!