Unknown Cough

I would seriously consider eliminating the dairy again if not soy as well (MSPI-milk soy protien intolerance), as it can cause respitory issues that NO DOCS seem to want to admit. We have issues like this and also tried "gluten-free" foods for a while.
Good Luck :)

i realize this response may be a bit late. lots of the other input looks good. although he's had an upper GI and does not have pneumonia now, it may be prudent to ask either the GI specialist or his ped about a swallowing difficulty. if your little guy is aspirating a bit of what he is drinking or aspirating (i.e., liquid penetrating his airway and going into his lungs) his reflux, you could view it on a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and it would be consistent with lower lobe pneumonia, particularly in the left lung. this is only one possible explanation, but if you don't have any luck with the asthma/allergy path and he gets pneumonia again, it may be worth looking into. best of luck!!!

Please have him tested for cystic fibrosis.

I just read your question and had to respond. While it is possible that it is allergy/food related, don't rule out the possibility of asthma since it runs in the family. With my daughter, she spent 4 of her first 6 months of life in & out of the doctors with coughing & wheezing. She did end up in the hospital once with pneumonia. I kept asking the pediatrician if it could be asthma (because I have asthma), and he would say it was possible, but she was too young to diagnose. Finally (after the pneumonia incident) I had him give me a referral to a pulminary specialist. The specialist gave her one puff of an inhaler (which worked to clear the wheezing) & immediatly diagnosed her with asthma. Along with inhalers for the asthma, she did give prescriptions for a reflux med & an allergy med (I am not big on medicating so never gave my daughter those). Basically, reflux can cause asthma symptoms, and asthma can cause reflux. Children do grow out of reflux naturally, usually by one year. The inhalers worked fine (a daily preventitive and a fast acting) but we did switch to a nebulizer for more intense attacks b/c believe it or not it is easier to give a 6 month old the nebulizer than the inhaler & it does seem to work better than the inhaler. I no longer have to give my daughter the daily preventive, she only uses the nebulizer or inhaler as needed. (she is now 2 1/2) don't let them tell you he is too young to be diagnosed with asthma- if you suspect it, ask to see a specialist. And I know medication can be expensive, but maybe you can ask your doctor for samples.

I know of someone who specializes in treatment of the GI and children. She has actually "linked" food allergies, being on antibiotics at a young age often with autistic symptoms. Her website is www.holisticfamilyhealthcarepc.com and she is 100% wonderful and listens to every symptom, entire history (albeit short) and has many wonderful resources for you to read and actually educates you. She is totally worth the ride to her place in NJ for the initial eval and then does follow ups on the phone and by email! PLEASE call her and get an appt, she is VERY busy, but will get you on the right track!!

It sounds a lot like asthma and that the nebulizer treatments would really help. I am unsure of why you have chosen to ignore your doctor's recommendations for these treatments and instead seek medical advice on a website.

It sounds like you are concerned about your child but possibly not enough to make the financial sacrifices necessary to get him the treatments he apparently needs. You went through a lot of VERY expensive medial tests (presumably at the cost of the insurance company) to avoid trying the one thing which is most likely to work. Please consider making some financial sacrifices yourself if you are truly concerned about your child's cough.

My first piece of advice is to give him the singulair in the evening, if your dr/pharmacist didn't already advise you to do that, I have been on it myself for over 10 years, and never was to that it should be taken in the evening until about 5 yrs ago, studies actually show that if you take it in the morning, you're at higher risk of ear infections and bronchitis, and I would get bronchitis 1-2 times a year when i took it in the morning, since it switched the time i take it, i have only had bronchitis maybe 2 times in the past 5 yrs, but i also work in a healthcare facility around all those germs.
Secondly, my son had bronchitis when he was about 14 months old and seemed as though he never got over it, and when he was 17 months, we ended up in the ER with shortness of breath, and resp. retractions( you could see the skin at his throat caving in he was struggling to breathe that much) they did numerous nebulizer treatments and he seemed to be improving. Anyway, make a long story short, he was sent home with a prescrip. for an inhlaer and to follow up with his MD, who then prescribed neb treatments, and what a difference! he had them twice a day for a week and only uses them as needed now. they still are unsure of what caused it but the neb treatments work, see if you can get a used neb machine if you do end up going that route, i only ended up paying about $30 for his, the ins. paid the rest it was close to $300

I really think that it is asthma. That persistent cough is the main sign in little ones. I would strongly suggest that you see a pediatic allergist. THis made all the difference for us. Our pediatrician was just not as qualified to work with us on my son's asthma management. Also, chances are good that he is allergic to something as well. Unfortunately you are probably going to have to get the nebulizer treatments. They really will make a difference.

Good luck to you.

Hi A., I'm so sorry to hear all that you have been through. I wonder if you and your son are back on dairy? Have you tried eliminating the dairy completely to see if there is any improvement? Many respiratory problems can be linked to an intolenance to dairy. Sounds like his little immune system has been stretched to the limit and needs some help. It could be that other food or environmental/chemical sensitivities compound the problem. Natural cleaning products found at a health store could make a difference for his system. Just staying off of foods that might trigger a reaction could help. There is a lot of controversy about soy. Some people tolerate it and others do not. Water is very good. He needs to stay hydrated to keep up his energy to beat this.

By the way, the foods to look at for food sensitivities are dairy, soy, wheat(gluten), corn, eggs, yeast, and nuts, as well as staying away from food colorings, preservatives and chemicals. Our bodies are amazing. Once you find out what foods work in his system, it can make all the difference between sickness and health.

Blessings to you and your family.

Hi A.,

I haven't had this experience, but it sounds like he is still allergic to milk. In your post, you say you cut out all milk products and that made him happier until he was 4 months but he tolerated it well, but developed the cough. An allergy to milk can definitely cause all of the congestion, ear infections, coughing your talking about. When my son was young, he suffered from one ear infection after another and was on constant antibiotics, and finally I read somewhere that milk was the leading cause of ear infections. I asked the doctor who confirmed it. We took him off milk products and his ear infections went away. It made me mad at the time that the doctor didn't suggest I eliminate certain foods from his diet to try to find out if he was allergic to anything, the doc just continued to give him antibiotics. However, I now have a student who is so allergic to casein and whey that any trace of it makes him very ill! I'd say its worth a try to eliminate the milk products again and see if there is an improvement in his cough. (Also read your labels of other products that don't appear to have milk in them and search for casein and/or whey, as they are milk products, too) It can't hurt.

Ya my daughter had the same situation and it was asthma we now that summer is here she has been getting up around 1 and 2 in the morning coughing and if i cant get the machine ready fast enough she starts to get sick from the coughing

Hope I was able to help good luck

If you added dairy back, and that's when the coughing started, that is an indication he was not tolerating the dairy well.

Dairy intolerance (not necessarily an allergy) may contribute to this type of thing. It did for my child. We also had to eliminate soy, as the proteins are very similar.

Your doctor/allergist may not think it is contributing, but having been there, doing the nebulizer, endless allergy meds, etc. as my child continued to develop more and more allergies, I wish I had known that these things -asthma, cough, reflux, etc. may be food intolerances. I should have just taken out the milk. I was told and thought - no tummy trouble, no rash - the milk is ok. Not necessarily true.

Certainly worth a trial.

L.

Reflux made/makes my little guy cough and wheeze A LOT! His upper GI was normal, the upper GI doesn't necessarily diagnose reflux, just anatomical abnormalities like a twisted stomach. Reflux meds can take up to 2 weeks to work, according to our doctor at CHOP, but there is only one medicine that works for my son, the others didn't help him at all. He also uses a nebulizer when he wheezes and it really helps. My insurance covered the nebulizer, but not a spacer for his inhaler, but I just wanted to mention he may not need the nebulizer as frequently as the doctor initially prescribes. My son has actually not needed a treatment for well over a month now! Now, I can't say for sure your son has reflux, but if he does than what you are describing sounds just like my little guy. Once we found the right medicine to help his reflux symptoms everything else just started to get better on it's own. Hang in there and be persistent for your little one. Sometimes you do need to seek out a specialist for help, just beware the wait time for appointments is insane, so if you think you might want to go that route, get a referral NOW and make an appointment.

I would get an appt w/ an allergist. My daughter was diagnosed w/ allergies after 6 months of back & forth to her pediatrician for an endless cough. I thought my son was safe from the allergies until this year..it seems to be a horrible season. The both use singulair & nasonex daily when their symptoms are under control. In order to get there we use a nebulizer. At first they had them on an inhaler but it wasn't effective so we had to play w/ the meds to find what works. Talk w/ the dr about the cost, maybe there's something they can do. Also check the medication websites. Sometimes you can print out coupons to help w/ the cost. I know Nasonex will send you some for $15 off each month. We also bought an air purifier for their bedrooms which helps. Good Luck.

It sounds similar to both of my children. We had ear infections, still have coughing, and runny noses. There is a dr who will test for allergies this young. Dr. Kresge at Allergy and Asthma center in York. When we got our allergies and asthma under control everything else went away.

Good luck.

I don't know if it's asthma (which they won't diagnose until 1 year anyway) but my gut (no pun intended) is telling me that it has something to do with food. There are all kinds of food intolerances (different from allergies-- allergies are an immediate histamine response to a substance, intolerances are slower acting and show up in other ways). The problem is, most doctors don't know very much (if anything) about food intolerances and they are so varied and individual that it is hard to track down. I have a food intolerance to wheat (which I just live with) that causes asthma.

The one thing that makes me wonder if it might not be food is that he is so young, and probably not eating a very varied diet yet. Still, something to consider. Good luck. My son is not as bad as yours, but had 7 sinus infections in his first year and a half. It is so hard for them to be sick all the time!