3-Year Old Has Been Coughing for 3 Months!

Hi E.,

My son is 6 and he was coughing on and off for about the same time, maybe even longer. It turned out that he has Cough-variant asthma which is a type of asthma where the main symptom is a dry, non-productive cough. He didn't have “classic” asthma symptoms, such as wheezing or shortness of breath. But that is what he had. His is on 5ml of Singular and has been doing GREAT. Maybe you can check for that, very easy non painful test. Just breathing into a tube. :-) Good Luck

1 mom found this helpful

Our son had similar issues growing up- he is now 6. They ended up putting him on Flovent- an inhaler you take daily. It works by slowly (takes about 2 weeks to build up)- opening the airways and keeping them open (less puffy) ... they also gave up Albuterol for "instant" help when he's coughing/having difficulty breathing...which works right away... but- you use only when things get real tough for them. Once the Flovent starts to work- you stay on it daily and it maintains the airways and it seems to work for him! You might want to check this out with your doc.? It ended up that he has "mild asthma" or what they can call: reactive airway disease...just another way to say asthma without using those words I guess.....they said, "Just incase he ever wants to go to West Point"...we'll not say "asthma"...
anywho- hope you figure it out. It's scary and frustrating now for you I'm sure.
xo,A.

First let me say that I am a mother of 4, a grandmother of 11, and soon to be a great grandmother. And, for 45 years, I was a practising Pediatric/Neonatal Respiratory Therapist. My advice to you is to find a physician who specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology. The problem with these symptoms are that they could derive from any one of numerous disorders from viral, bacterial, or fungal to genetic or other physiological problems. It could be nothing, but if it was one of my kids, I would look for a very good specialist, to keep the symptoms from progressing.

Did you realize that many household and personal care products contain ingredients that may be harmful? I've been using money & life-saving products in my home for 13 years. My son is 7 years old, happy, and healthy! You may want to look into alternatives . . . I'm happy to share.

Hi E.! I am familiar with your situation too well. My daughter who is now six had this same cough for almost six months before we finally were able to treat it correctly. She did get it shortly after having a serious case of pnuemonia but that is not where the cough stemmed from. We also tested her for tb, got x-rays of her chest often because I really thought this was all because of the pnuemonia, and I was really scared it was coming back. We were put on numerous antiobiotics and steriods which never worked, we used a humidifier which made her cough worst at night. We did find out she had a sinus infection and finally got that treated, but after the fact her cough continued. I finally went to another doctor because I too was very sad that my child had to endure this. The final solution was that they prescribed her Nasonex. And it's crazy, but after one prescription filled her cough really did finally go away. I was both amazed and relieved, we were finally both able to rest. I hope this helps, it seems that you have tried everything else that we did-maybe this is also your solution. Best of luck, C.

Get a humidifier. They have them everywhere (Wal-Mart,HEB, CVS, Wal-Greens). It might help clean the air your baby breathes and soothe her throat to keep her from coughing.

If you have not taken her back to the DR. since the meds I would go back and demand to see a specialist if they have no answer for you

I had the same thing happen to my daughter. We kept taking her to the doctor and finally nasonex stopped her cough. this went on for a year.

C.

What does it feel like to her? Why does she feel like she needs to cough? Is there something tickling her throat? Find out what she has to say about it - kids are a whole lot smarter than we give them credit for sometimes! - and then at the very least, call your doctor and talk to the nurse practitioner. Or you could take her to a rediclinic.

sounds like Asthma to me.
Both my kids have had it and out grew it. It may be allery induced. One way to find out...See if she responds to treatment. A reactive airway is tricky. Another thought, my little boy loved to sneeze and cough when he was about this age, for attention, for fun, but, sounds like this is not the case for you.

Could she have a dairy intolerance?

Hi E.-I haven't read all the responses so this may already have been said, but my son, now 9 years has had the exact same thing since he was three years old too. A year ago I finally had the full tests done by an Allergist and they put him on Singulair which is for allergy induced asthma. The reason I waited so long is the nightmare of doing the allergy test on the back, he'd have no part of it until he was seven years old and I could reason with him. It doesn't hurt but it very uncomfortable. Now he takes one Singulair a day and the coughing has completely stopped!! It's just like what you described a dry, nagging cough and besides feeling horrible for him, I finally couldn't take it anymore. I would recommend an allergist and try Singulair. At this point he has been on it for a year and we go back in six months for a follow-up. But if it works he may stay on it for a long time and it has been a miracle drug for us and he feels so much better!

Hope this helps!
E.

Hi E.,

Check out this site:

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/eyes/childs_cough.html

You said TB was ruled out--by chest x-ray? Has your pediatrician observed her "out of breath coughing"? Perhaps you could ask for a referral to a pediatric ENT (ear-nose-throat specialist), and then to a pediatric pulmonologist (lung specialist), and request an MRI of her esophagus/trachea/chest.

Has she been vaccinated for pertussis? See this site: http://www.pertussis.com/share.html

You might consider keeping a "cough log"--if she coughs more after eating (and what foods/liquids were consumed), drinking, activity, etc. Pets? Smoking? New carpet? Air fresheners? Burning candles? Toxic cleaners? Have you tried an air purifier? Anti-allergy filtration for your central air/heat? Look for patterns in the cough log, and inform the physicians if you observe any.

Allergies can be food or environmental. What is her blood type? See dadamo.com and read "Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type" by Dr. Peter D'Adamo, a renowned and respected naturopath. Wheat is a huge culprit in our diets, and causes increased mucus production in blood type A people.

Have you considered trying a substitute for cow's milk/milk products? (milk increases mucus production). I would not do excessive sugar drinks--colas, Kool-aid, etc. Is the cough worse after drinking thin liquids? If so, she could be aspirating the liquids into her lungs, which could cause pneumonia.

Do you live in a mobile home? These are built with toxic chemicals. Make sure your home is mold-free (no previous floods or water damage that could cause dangerous mold to be growing between the walls, near shower pan, under floor, etc.).

Be wary of nebulizers in room at night. I've read they can increase the mold count, possibly do more harm than good, unless there is new technology of which I am not aware.

Does she get enough fresh air? Playing outside.

For alternative medicine for possible allergies or food/environmental allergens, check out this site: http://www.naet.com/.

Best of luck! J.

My child has asthma and chronic coughing can be a form of asthma. He has more problems after an illness. It is my opinion that you need to take her to a pediatrician and discuss the matter. If you are not happy with the answer, you may ask for a referral to an allergist. The more she coughs, the more irritated her bronchial system becomes, and it becomes a cycle. Asthma is a serious illness and our little boy takes daily medication and uses a special machine called a nebulizer to control his symptoms when they are chronic--coughing, wheezing. There is another condition called reactive airway which means the person has asthma after an illness or when pollen counts are high, but it is still asthma.

I had a very similiar situation with my son. He also coughed for months and they couldn't figure out what it was.
I did a few different things and it took care of the problem almost immediately.
** the nebulizer every 4 hours with albuterol
**and a steriod if needed together with the albuterol.
**a humidifier in his room (on)at all times.
good luck.
feel free to email me with any questions or comments.

Hi E.-

My daughter used to get a terrible cough anytime she caught the slightest cold. The cough would go on for weeks after the cold had cleared up. She is now 4 1/2 years old and has apparently outgrown the cough but it was awful when she would have it. Our pediatrician would prescribe an oral steroid called Orapred (sp?)and that always cleared it up almost immediately. It's a grape flavored tablet that melts quickly in the mouth.

Good Luck,
K.

My daughter had the same exact thing at around the same age. I took her to the doctor more than once but it was the same response - nothing appears to be wrong. After way too many months of coughing for no reason, I finally took her to an alternative practitioner and she had me take her off of all dairy and wheat products. After a couple of weeks the cough went away and has not returned. I eventually put her back on wheat and dairy products in limited amounts and she is fine. She is 6 years old now and the cough never returned.

It sounds like a mild respitory infection - like bronchitis. If she's getting a lot of attention from it, it could be a bad habit. But, I would bet it is bronchitis or something. I had the same thing happen to me - my doctor finally gave me a inhaler for 3 days. It was gone after that.

You know it's possible that she really does have just some environmental allergies. One of the sure-fire things I do for my sons is give them an antihistamine when they have that dry "tickly" cough. (Equate Children’s Cold and Allergy works famously and tastes good)

Cough suppressants suppress the urge to cough, while antihistamines block the histamine response that causes the urge in the first place.

Hi E.,

Take that baby to a diffrent doctor. Sounds like yours has his mind set adn closed, fresh eyes never hurt. Also I would keep a pot of water or humidifier on all of the time in the meanwhile to help. But if I had to bet money I would say that little one has athsma. My daughter had /has it and she was misdiagnosed for over a year

Hi,
It sounds like bronchitis. I had it once and now am more suceptible to it. It really sounds like your daughter has the same thing and only antibiotics will rid her of it.

I'd get a second opinion, from an Allergist. It sounds too much like allergies or asthma, especially if it sounds like a dry cough.

My son had a similar thing happen to him around the same age. He had gotten sick and then it seemed to go away except for his coughing. I had taken him back to the dr's several times and they said that it was allergies/asthma and they gave him medicine. Well it actually seemed to make his cough work so they kept changing the allergy medicine..this went on for over 6 months until one night he was coughing so much he stopped breathing. My husband and I rushed him to the hospital where I demanded that he be seen by a specialist. They sent us to an allergy and asthma specialist and he told us that it was not allergies or asthma that my son actually had bronchiolitis and was not being treated for it coorectly. He put him on some more antibiotics and gave him breathing treatments. He literally stopped coughing within 1 day. I would suggest that your daughter be seen by a specialist to confirm what she has. Good luck to you and your family.

Do you have a cat or dog? My guess is that it is some sort o allergy even though she doesn't have the itchy eyes or sneezing. There are certain cats, candles and plug-in air fresheners that make me cough and wheeze and sometimes even get asthmatic symptoms whenever I am around them (but I don't sneeze)...if your daughter is around these things all of the time, that could be causing the cough. Good luck.

It pobably is allergies and it's just manifesting itself like this. Try giving her Claritin or Benedryl like it says on the package for a week and see if that clears it up.

asthma? allergy? has she been testing for food allergy?

E.,
take her to an ear,nose thourt speclist you can devolip allergers or ashma after birth years later
good luck (sry spllg)
L.

Just to be on the safe side, have a chest X-ray done. It will put your mind at ease. We had a friend who sufferred with a nagging cough for months. He was tested for TB also and was told by a couple of different doctors it was a cough "left-over" from a cold or allergies. After 8 months, another doctor had a chest X-ray done...it was a huge tumor. He would have lived if they had caught it 8 months earlier. Don't mean to scare you, but knowledge is power.

Get a "COOL AIR MIST HUMIDIFIER", not hard to find you can get them at Walgreens. My daughter is 2 1/2 and gets that cough sometimes, although in her case in normally starts with a runny nose, then the cough, then an ear infection. Alergies! I have been using the Cool Air Mist Humidifier, and putting vicks on her chest and back....and it seems to help with the dry cough. If it gets really bad I do use the Nebulizer with Albuterol...but you can use water with those also. Hope that helps :)

M.