Daughter Has Dark Circles and Nasaly

my 4 year old boy had similar symptoms. he was always stuffed up and had several sinus infections. He had tubes in his ears and his adenoids removed, and has been fine since. He also sounded nasaly. Maybe that's what they'd like to look at. Good luck.

She may have allergies. Could be airborne or food. My son has had the dark circles, runny nose and cough since he was born, he's six now. Through tets and trial and error we learned he had foold allergies and airborne allergies. Sometimes he will develope a sinus infection or asthma from it. The key for him is to prevent the foods that trigger the symptoms. He learned at an early age to effectively blow his nose and clear his throat. Drinking mostly water also helps. Sounds like you are on the right path, peditrician, ent and next probably an allergist. Be warned, a child's age can make detecting allergies tricky. Good luck! - J.

This sounds like classic seasonal allergies. I would also take her to an allergist.

Good morning!
You are describing typical symptoms of a dairy allergy. Before you do anything drastic like remove tonsils, consider completely eliminating dairy from your daughter's diet. If it is a dairy allergy, you will see great improvement in the congestion after as soon as a week. She will no longer have that annoying mucus dripping down the back of her throat, and the dark circles will start to go away after a few more weeks.
If it isn't a dairy issue, you will have done no harm finding that out. *Just make sure to remove ALL dairy or you will not have an accurate test. That means milk, butter, yogurt, chips or crackers with cheese powder on them, cheese, anything with casein or lactose listed on the ingredients, (many sauces etc).
If this is the problem, you may notice other problems have gone away as well - things like tiredness or irritability or other behavioral issues.
Hope this helps!

I have been dealing with dark circles, throat clearing, occasional runny nose, cough for two years. I have seen numerous ENT's, Allergists, Pediatricians, Gastroenterologist, still trying to figure out what is wrong. Some thought acid reflux, some allergies, throat blockage, post nasal drip, asthma, etc., etc. Allergy medications, inhalers, test (including cystic fibrosis). Needless to say we are still searching.

Keep trying to get to the bottom of it. Good luck!

Hi M.-
Our twin Jenna, had the same- and we took her in JIC with big tonsils but no infections.
We're lucky. We live next door to the best Peds ENT surgeon in town. So we chatted with him and made an official appt- so he could charge of course- prof. courtesy and all.
He treated Jenna with a month of antibiotic to make sure- specific to her needs.
She slept with mouth open and snored in wrong positions. That was the major concern as apnic behaviors can lead to an enlarged right heart and both me and hubby work in open heart so we jumped on options.
He's cautious about tonsillectomy- not usually necessary unless repeated infections- not her case.
Her tonsils did shrink some- they usually go down as kids age- enough to slow the apnic behavior- and if not, they tend to "shave" them down vs. removal.
So far so good with her and she's now 7.
So if you want his name, shoot me an email- he's a the Uof MN.

About me- 48 yo med. prof, wellness coach, home bus. part time and mom to 7 yo frat. twin girls.

B. J
____@____.com

It could be for tonsils and adenoids. Restless sleep, mouth breathing, snoring are signs of sleep apnea caused by large tonsils and adenoids.

Both of my kids (now 5 and 3) have had them out for this reason.

Write again if he recommends getting them out. Lots of mom will have advice for the sugery. We see Dr. Levinson at West Health and he is wonderful!

K.

My poor daughter went through the very same allergy symptoms for about 2 years before we found a fabulous allergist who tested her and prescribed all the right meds the very first appt! Like my daughter, your daughter's sinuses and chronic nasal drip are causing all the symptoms you have described. Though our family pediatrician insisted she wasn't battling sinus infection and diagnosed her with asthma and allergies, the allergist said her sinuses were in fact 98% blocked and that she probably doesn't even have asthma once we get on-top of the allergies - and he was right! Allergy tests showed she is allergic to basically all weed, tree, and grass pollens, molds, dust, dogs, horses, and some slight food allergies (shellfish, corn, peas) which no longer seem to cause problems. I am not a fan of jumping into removing tonsils and adnoids and our allergist never suggested it. After clearing up the sinus infection with predisone (steroid) and maybe antibiotic (can't remember now), here is the regimet prescribed for our daughter: Rhinocort nasal spray for nasal drip (up to 4 times daily as needed depending on the season/exposrure and RY-T-12 suspension HIT decongestant/antihistamine up to twice daily as needed depending on the season/exposure. If she gets a cold, we ramp up those meds too to keep her from getting sinus infection. The nasal spray and RY-T-12 have kept all her symptoms at bay and sinus infection free for over 3 years now. Our now 8 year old daughter still remembers the misery she was in and gives the allergist a huge grateful hug everytime we see him for a follow up which is less than once per year. There are times now when she doesn't need any of the meds, but once in awhile if the allergies get ahead of us and she is wheezing, we drag out the inhaler or breathing machine for immediate relief and get back on her meds! For immediate relief for itchy, puffy watery eyes, we might give her Benadryl. If I were you, I would see an allergist (sooner than I did!) and get the infection cleared up and treat the nasal drip. By the way, if you don't have good prescription coverage, Rhinocort nasal spray is expensive but you can get it for much less from an on-line Canadian pharmacy.

My daughters CHRONIC dark circles under her eyes ended up being allergy related...might be worth looking into! We got much relief after seeing a pediatric allergist!

Sounds like allergies to me. I had that lots when I was a child and now can see the circles in my hubby that has adult onset allergies.

It sounds like allegies to me. Especially the dark circles. Maybe you should see an allergist.

My daughter (now 6) had her tonsils and adenoids out when she was 4. Before that, she snored like a lumberjack. She had a constant runny nose, but none of the other symptoms you described. After her surgery, things were drastically different for the good! She sleeps better, doesn't snore, and her nose stopped being constantly runny almost right away! The first few nights after the surgery were a little tough, but then things were fine. Good luck!

It wasn't me, but my best friend had to do this with her son.
Actually, it affected his school work and everything.
She went, and he had his adnoids out, he ended up having almost a 90 degree bend in one of the bones in his nose.
He had it scraped???
He had the breathing trouble, and loss of sleep (therefore the dark circles) and like I said...it ended up affecting school work.
So, as painful as it sounds, it is REALLY a good thing to find out now.
She had to have him tested for tons of stuff because of all his trouble concentrating, and it mostly ended up being just this....so, go for it.
Good luck

I think ENT doctors really do alot, I just had my 2 week preemie in to see one a few days ago to snip the bottom of her tongue she was tongue tied.

I think they usually call those dark circles "allergy shiners". That's what it sounds like to me. Good luck!

Rather than seeing an ENT I would recommend an alergy/asthma clinic. Dark circle are classic symptoms of asthma kids and cough is sympomatic of allergies as well as sleeping with mouth open. My daugher is 7 and exhibits all the same symptoms although hasn't shown asthma yet. She takes an Alavert in the morning to reduce drainage and a Singulair every night. This is crucial because a cold can turn into a nightmare as far as breathing and coughing go. Good Luck!!!

You may want to see the ENT & discuss allergies with him/her. I have pretty bad allergies and have cold symptoms like the dark circles, tons of drainage, headaches off and on year round. There are several meds out there that may help. You may hear it's a myth, but food allergies can actually contribute to seasonal allergies too. I would explain the symptoms to someone at a healthfood store or maybe a wholistic progessional. I have serious complicaitons when I et a lot o f dairy and white bread/pasta products. It's worth checking out both avenues. Neither place you visit will agree with the other (Dr. vs. whollistic professional), which is frustrating sometimes, but I have found relief through various methods at both places - if it does turn out to be allergies.

You are describing my daughter to a T! I would recommend seeing an ENT and a allergy specialist. My daughter had her tonsils and adenoids removed at age 4 and also had MANY allergies. They will ask you about snoring and sleep apnea (Where they stop breathing at night). They will also ask about restless sleep and frequent waking. The allergy cycle sounds like environmental allergies Tree pollen and mold as well as ragweed. The strange throat clearing is post nasal drip from her sinus' causing throat irritation. This got so bad for my daughter she started to vomit all this mucus up. The throat clear can get very bad and almost turning into a bad habit that is very annoying to everyone even your little one. This ended up turning into bronchitis and asthma. The snow ball just kept rolling because we couldn't find the right medications that worked for her. This would start in April get a little better then at July really take off and get really bad around Sept ending in some sort of bad infection or crisis in Oct.

What ended up working. Tonsils & adenoids removed. Steroid burst followed by singuair, pulmocort inhaler, zyrtec daily. That is now our daily routine and this is the first year that we caught it in time so that it didn't escalate into some sort of crisis like the last 4 years. My daughter is the same age as yours, 6 last June. Good luck

BTW my son has a severe dairy allergy and has never has the "allergy shiners" that you describe and that my daughter has. His symptoms were always mostly GI related. Stomach aches, vomiting, constipation, hives around his mouth and on his little backside.

M.,

It sounds to me like allergies. My son had the same type of symptoms when he was young. They did a number of allergy tests on him and he was allergic to many, many things. We had to do elimination diets to so we could avoid everything he was allergic to. He was allergic to many things in his environment as well. He pretty much ended up on a diet consiting of food with no additives, colors or preservatives. No fast food and we rarely could eat out. Winter was better for him than spring, summer and fall for the environmental allergies. During those times he took an antihystimine. The good news is he was 4 when this all started and now at 18 he has outgrown most of it.

Circles under they eyes is a sign of allergies. Go get her checked out, but it may not be easy finding the culprit.

Totally agree w/Shelly P. That's the first thing I thought when I read your post. Be sure and find someone who is knowledgable in the field, not just your typical pediatrician. Keep in mind, the child may be O.K. w/lactose or whey, but not casein. All of which are components in milk. Be sure they are thorough. You may have to do your own research as well.
Good luck!
J.