Hi there,
My three children and husband have had a terrible cough that they can't seem to shake. It started with my 8 yr. old son right after school got out. He developed a bad cough that really scared me when on our vacation. I first thought it was his asthma acting up but he clearly did not respond to any of the meds. that usually works. He would cough and cough until he would almost choke. I took him in to see the doctor as soon as we got back into town. The doctor put him on a stariod to try and get him better. That did nothing. A week and a half later my daughter came down with the same thing. The only difference is she would cough until she threw up. Then my husband and third child came down with the same thing. they have all been seen by the doctor and have not responded to any antibiotics. My son was even tested for pertussis ( whooping cough ) the second time I took him in. The test came back negative but that was after already coughing for a full month. I should tell you also that during all of this my daughter also developed shingles which is related to the chicken pox ( even though she was vacinated ). Don't know if that could at all be related to this weird cough. They act totally fine between coughing spells. The kids seem to be doing much better now with only an ocasional cough but my husband is still having these bad coughing spells where it gets hard to breath. Has anyone else out there experienced this terrible, strange cough. Thanks in advance for your help.
Gargle with perioxide.
Drink lots of water.
Stay away from diary products.
Change pillow cases at least once a week if not more.
Wash door knobs and spray house interior with disinfectant.
Wash hands frequently.
Get out in the sunshine.
If it is a reasonably cool morning... open the windows to allow fresh air inside.
Good luck.
Hello M.,
Sorry to hear you guys have been sick for so long.
a few things you can try. these are the things I try when battling "the elements".
Essential oils (strong enough to stop coghs codeine would not stop)
~~~~essential oils~~~~~
put on a tissue or paper towel:
5 drops peppermint oil
2 drops rosemary oil
2 drops basil oil
keep it near them. put one in their bedrooms every night for a few days. (make sure to throw out the old one in the morning so it doesnt smell weird later)
~~~expectorant teas~~~~
Anyways, let me give you the recipe for the "cough tea" I made my mother in law last year. she had this cough that just wouldn't go away and couldn't get enough rest at night.
you can get these at sprouts
ingredients:
2 cups water
1 tsp anise seed (expectorant to thin out phlem)
1/2 tsp oregano (helps w/ cough)
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp rosemary
1 chamomile tea bag
boil for about 3 minutes
strain
add some honey if you want.
for the kids -- a couple of teaspoons at the time
your hubby probably 1/2 a cup
daily tea for about 1 week:
anise seed tea. (FYI: it's caffeine free!)
you can also buy fenugreek capsules (an expectorant)
you can also get elderberry extract and add to juice or water.
I suspect you guys need an expectorant to thin out whatever is building up and makin you cough.
also, any allergies in the family? ragweed, mold, milk, etc? that keeps building up that cough?
also increase vitamin C and magnesium consumption. any chance of cutting out milk products for a few days until the coughs are gone? milk builds up phlem... which leads to coughing.
any chemicals used for cleaning that are irritating your airways? any new perfume, soap, cleaning agent, air freshener, detergent, etc???? I hope you all get better soon. Good luck!
(¨*•.¸´•. Have a GREAT day!!.•´¸.•*¨)
~C.~
My 4 year old son had a similar cough that lingered on for almost 4 weeks before it finally went away. For awhile, he coughed so hard, I thought he'd throw up (but he never did). I took him to the dr. They put him on zithromax, *just in case* it could be whooping cough (even though it didn't sound like whooping cough and he's had all his vaccinations to date). The cough finally just dissipated on its own. I have another friend whose 9 year old just went through a similar 3 or 4 week long cough.
As far as your daughter's shingles...the chicken pox virus will linger dormant in your nerves for many years, but then can be reawakened when your defenses are down (like when your immunity is impaired or during times of stress). Whatever is causing the cough could have worn her down enough for the virus to awaken, become active, and cause the shingles. Since the varicella vaccine uses a live, attenuated strain of the chicken pox virus, it is possible to develop shingles without ever actually having had chicken pox.
I hope everyone there starts to feel better soon. We're going through our own yuckiness in our house. My son's cough is gone, but then he brought home a stomach virus, which left us all miserable for 2 days (and my 6 month old is still suffering diarrhea from that), and the 6 month old seems to have brought home the runniest nose ever from daycare. We just can't get healthy and stay healthy!
Please tell your doctor that you want a chest x-ray. I know this one family that this happened to and the little girl was fine between coughs, but the coughs were horrible. The docs never did a chest x-ray. And her mom said she wanted to do a chest x-ray and sure enough the kiddo had walking pnemonia. She is all better now :) Thanks to her persistent mommy! Hope this helps....and hope your family is better soon! Best wishes!
Hello M.,
I don't think I can help you with any advice. Actually I wanted to ask exactly the same question. My 4 year old started coughing almost 4 weeks ago. He would cough during day probably every hour and wake up about three times during night because of coughing. He would try to cough something out but nothing was coming out. And couple of times he also vomited. It is just so difficult watching him trying hard to get some air between coughs. We went to see his pediatrician 3 times so far. He was given antibiotics for 5 days to prevent pneumonia. Then he was sent for chest x-rays and after x-rays showed clear lungs, started 5 days of oral steroid. I don't know if any of that helped. Now he doesn't cough that often during day, but usually wakes up once at night coughing. I also think the intensity of coughing is reduced so he doesn't vomit. Last time we were sent for pertusis prep test and were supposed to do it today, but we didn't go. I will wait couple of days more hoping that the cough will go away because he is doing so much better. His 22 months old sister was also coughing but much less then him so far. She started probably one week after him.
We also haven't experienced something like this before.
Good luck,
R.
Hi M., all of our family have asthma, but because of that obviously we all do the cough thing at times. But most of the time it is caused from drainage. So when I hear one of the grandkids or my self start the cough, I immediately have them take robitusun or a precription for me. If we don't take something it just gets worse to where we could throw up. Try this and see if with in 1/2 hour it stop, if so then it probably is drainage. Eventually, if something it not taken then the coughing does turn into asthma so you hear the whizzing with it. Hope this helps.
we are having the same problem in my family, it started at the beginning of july. i seem to have the worst of it, but prob b/c my immune system is weak due to pregnancy. i cough and cough til i vomit and i've lost a lot of weight b/c of it. my husband and both my boys have it too. my reproductive endocrinologist put me on a z-pack last week and hopefully i'll see some improvement soon. my husband and sons are taking delsym. good luck to you! have any of them had chest x-rays?
Have they been checked for Legionaire's disease? My mil came down with it a few years back and had an issue with a horrible cough that wouldn't go away. Being elderly it was especially scary when she coughed so hard she would almost blackout because she couldn't breathe.
