update from me

Hi Jamie

No this night time cough is constant and has been litrally every night since
octobr with no break. I make sure she has a drink of water to help her
throat if it becomes dry and she then has simple lictus just before bed to
try and help and also olbas oil on her silki to try and help and then if she
wakes or stirs coughing which like I say she always does then I rub vix on
her chest but I'm getting increasingly worried about the lengh of time she's
been on these remidies. I dont think the vix or the olbas oil will do much
harm but certainly taking cough medicine nightly surely isnt good for her as
she is bound to if not already becoming addicted to the stuff but then if I
don't do those things both of us get no sleep whatsoever. I'm really going
to stick some pressure on the doctor tommorow to try something else and i'm
at the end of my wits with this damn cough. Occasionly she'll cough during
the day but not very often and only once or twice during the day but it's
definitely not everyday.

i'll post update tommorow

april
"Jamie Clark" wrote in message
. ..
If it's asthma, I'm not sure why you would be given antibiotics and some
of the others cough remedies. Asthma has to do with the lungs, not the
throat.

Does she have this cough ever night, or just around when she has a cold?
Taylor gets a night time cough when she gets a cold, and the cold always
settles into her lungs and becomes problematic if not dealt with soon
enough. When she was two, that winter, she had bronchitis one month, then
pnemonia, then wheezing. It was at that point that we were prescribed a
nebulizer. It's pretty easy to use and not that stressfull -- it takes
about 20-30 minutes, so she gets to watch tv while breathing the mist.
She uses it 3 times a day, from the first moment I suspect that there
*might* be a cold coming on, until it's clear that it's over, and for the
past 3 years, has had no more problems because of a common cold. Yippeee!
--

Jamie Clark



"april & co" wrote in message
...
Thanks everybody for your replies. I am pretty confident that this cough
is down to asthma as there is a lot of it in my family. I have asthma, my
sister has asthma, my mother has asthma, joannas nan who just passed away
had asthma so there is quite a bit of it and it is apparantly hereditry.
When I was living in wales I was taking her to the docs regulary and they
suggested it might be asthma but said they wouldnt do anything unless it
got worse or until after she turned 2 years old as the treatment can
stress them out. The last appointment was november and there is no change
in her, it was suggested I tried her with a pillow to lift her up a bit
but that hasnt helped. They've tried her on 3 courses of anti biotics
which havent helped and I've tried her on benalin cough meds, tricxylix
cough med, vix, olbas oil on her silky, karvol on her silky and simple
lictus which was adviced by my pharmasist. I've got to say the simple
lictus has helped a little bit but my worry with that is on the bottle it
says it's not recommended for children so I don't want joanna on this
long term in case it causes more harm than good but I also can not cope
with my daughter coughing every night and being distressed. Oh well i've
got the appointment with doc in the morning and will try and push him to
check this out more than it has been.
"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..
honestly, April, the fact you have come through all you've come through
and are still here and still coping shows you're a lot stronger and
better parent than a lot of us are.

Good Luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

Anne

april & co wrote:
Hi Jamie

No this night time cough is constant and has been litrally every night since
octobr with no break. I make sure she has a drink of water to help her
throat if it becomes dry and she then has simple lictus just before bed to
try and help and also olbas oil on her silki to try and help and then if she
wakes or stirs coughing which like I say she always does then I rub vix on
her chest but I'm getting increasingly worried about the lengh of time she's
been on these remidies. I dont think the vix or the olbas oil will do much
harm but certainly taking cough medicine nightly surely isnt good for her as
she is bound to if not already becoming addicted to the stuff but then if I
don't do those things both of us get no sleep whatsoever. I'm really going
to stick some pressure on the doctor tommorow to try something else and i'm
at the end of my wits with this damn cough. Occasionly she'll cough during
the day but not very often and only once or twice during the day but it's
definitely not everyday.

You said that they have previously expressed the
suspicion that it is asthma. Have they talked to you at
all about what you can do with her environment to minimize
likely triggers (dust mites, etc.)? If not, that's plumb
crazy. If she's asthmatic, she should *NOT* be going without
any effective treatment, even if she is still very young.

Best wishes,
Ericka

You said that they have previously expressed the
suspicion that it is asthma. Have they talked to you at
all about what you can do with her environment to minimize
likely triggers (dust mites, etc.)? If not, that's plumb
crazy. If she's asthmatic, she should *NOT* be going without
any effective treatment, even if she is still very young.

I'm fairly unfamiliar with asthma, but the not treating rang alarm bells
with me, because it sounds like they are using the excuse of not wanting
to prescribe certain meds as a way of avoiding having to do various
tests. If she is asthmatic any infections that come her way could land
her in serious trouble and even if they conclude she doesn't need
inhalers, it may mean she'd fall into the group in the UK who should get
the flu shot. Is there a different doctor in your practice you could try?

Cheers
Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
. ..

You said that they have previously expressed the
suspicion that it is asthma. Have they talked to you at
all about what you can do with her environment to minimize
likely triggers (dust mites, etc.)? If not, that's plumb
crazy. If she's asthmatic, she should *NOT* be going without
any effective treatment, even if she is still very young.

I'm fairly unfamiliar with asthma, but the not treating rang alarm bells
with me, because it sounds like they are using the excuse of not wanting
to prescribe certain meds as a way of avoiding having to do various
tests. If she is asthmatic any infections that come her way could land
her in serious trouble and even if they conclude she doesn't need
inhalers, it may mean she'd fall into the group in the UK who should get
the flu shot. Is there a different doctor in your practice you could try?

Cheers
Anne

Also, her age needn't be a prohibiting factor in treatment - My nephew is 20
months, and my friend's DD is 7 months, and they both receive medication for
asthma.... Just thought I'd say as there's a bit of a myth that kids under
two or three can't be treated.

Glad to hear you're all doing well, and I hope the pregnancy continues to go
well - Don't worry about the "what have I done stage". I had it, severely,
at 16 weeks with Jessica, and I only had the one to deal with! With all that
you've been through, it's not surprising that you're frightened, but you've
got this far, and you've got lots of support around you.

Take care

Lucy x

"Jamie Clark" wrote in message
. ..
Coughing at night can also be a sign of asthma. Which is not quite so
dire as some of the other issues!
--

Agreed.
#2 does that every time she has a cold. The first I know of any cold for her
is coughing in her sleep. If it's untreated then it goes into coughing
during exercise and further general coughing during the day.
We have 2 inhalers for her. One (ventolin) which she has if she's coughing
upon acvtivity, or to give her a quick relief if she's getting distressed.
And the other, Beclometasone, which she gets 2 puffs morning and evening
until she's recovered. It takes about 24-48 hours usually to have a complete
effect, but it definitwly works for her.

Debbie

"april & co" wrote in message
...
Thanks everybody for your replies. I am pretty confident that this cough
is down to asthma as there is a lot of it in my family. I have asthma, my
sister has asthma, my mother has asthma, joannas nan who just passed away
had asthma so there is quite a bit of it and it is apparantly hereditry.
When I was living in wales I was taking her to the docs regulary and they
suggested it might be asthma but said they wouldnt do anything unless it
got worse or until after she turned 2 years old as the treatment can
stress them out.
#2 had an inhaler from about 8 months. She calls it her "choo choo" because
I usd to get her to pretend she was a train to breathe deeply. She hated
taking medicine, but very quickly liked the inhaler and by 2 1/2 would ask
for it if she felt that she needed it.
Our GP does prescribe inhalers for the youngsters very often. #1 had one
briefly at about 18 months, but it didn't seem to help much, but she never
minded using it either. Most children I know are less worried about the
inhaler than taking antibiotics.


The last appointment was november and there is no change in her, it was
suggested I tried her with a pillow to lift her up a bit but that hasnt
helped. They've tried her on 3 courses of anti biotics which havent helped
and I've tried her on benalin cough meds, tricxylix cough med, vix, olbas
oil on her silky, karvol on her silky and simple lictus which was adviced
by my pharmasist. I've got to say the simple lictus has helped a little
bit but my worry with that is on the bottle it says it's not recommended
for children so I don't want joanna on this long term in case it causes
more harm than good but I also can not cope with my daughter coughing
every night and being distressed. Oh well i've got the appointment with
doc in the morning and will try and push him to check this out more than
it has been.
I'm questioning your doctor here. Unless there were signs of an infection
then he shouldn't be prescribing antibiotics. Sounds like he's not really on
the ball.
They can't test for asthma until they're older, but they don't need to be
confirmed as asthmatic to have an inhaler-it can relieve other coughs too,
but you shouldn't be getting antibiotics unless there's a clear sign of
infection.
With #2 I sometimes take her into a steamy room (bathroom with both hot taps
on works well if you haven't got a non-automatic kettle) just before
bedtime, and that can help.
Debbie

"april & co" wrote in message
...
Hi peeps

Well it's been a few weeks since I last logged on, the last time I wrote
here I had to write through google groups as my internet provider didnt
have a newsgroup reader thing but i've now switched to ntl so have now got
newsgroups again through outlook express woohoo. Well lots have happened
since I last wrote, I moved home in December, we were planning to move in
on the 15th december but there were a few problems which resulted in us
crashing at parents houses until we could finally move in which was the
24th december but when we moved in there were still issues with the
central heating and hot water so we had to use portable heaters to keep
warm and for bathing had to grab one at a familys house when we could, I
hated that soooo much as I like to bath daily. We have now got the heating
and water sorted which is great but the cooker doesnt work so that means
we're limited to what we can eat which can also be annoying but this is to
be sorted on the weekend hopefully. About a week ago we had more bad news
which was my mother in law who I was quite close to passed away which was
expected as she had motor nurone disease and dementia but we didnt quite
expect her to pass away so soon so it was still quite a shock, we have her
funeral next thursday the 24th jan a day before Joannas birthday.

Joanna, well she's doing great apart from a cough which I will come back
to. Joanna has now been home with us for just over 2 years and I really
mean just as she came home on the 2nd January 2007. It was great to meet
that milestone and it's been tough being a parent at times but I love her
to bits and wouldnt be without her. It's much easier now that I'm back in
Luton close to my friends and family and not stuck in wales where I didnt
really know many people at all. Social services visit us rarely now and
are still planning to lift the care order in the near future. Joanna has a
night time cough at the moment which I am trying to sort out, I am taking
her back to the doctors tommorow and hope they do something as she's had
this night time cough since October now and its really bugging me now.

Pregnancy, well i'm now 11+6 weeks pregnant and things seem to be going ok
and I have my first scan on the 31st January which I am soooooo looking
forward to. I was a rollercoaster of emotions when I found out about the
pregnancy, at first I was super happy about it but then it sank in a
little further and I just crapped myseld thinking omg can I really do
this, can I parent two children, what if I have it and can't cope and lose
both the babies to care blah blah and thought of terminating, I then spoke
to the guy who done the parenting assessment who said I could parent
another baby although it still took me a while to get my head around the
whole thing but i've now pretty much excepted it and if I feel the need to
ask for help then I will. I look at the small bump every now and then and
think wtf have I done but surely every parent goes through this. I know I
love the baby as I'm petrified of MC the baby so theres obviously
something there otherwise I just wouldnt care.

catch u soon and sry about the essay.

I am certain you can cope with 2 children. But I know that I felt similarly
when I was prgnant with #2. (and again with #3).
Hugs to Joanna too!
Debbie

Hi April

Nice to see you here again. Glad to hear the pg is going well, good
luck with the scan on the 31st.

IKWYM too about the 'what the heck have I done' feeling - I get that
all the time. I reckon you've been doing a brilliant job with
Joanna, and you have all the support in place should you need it, so
try not to worry. Easier said than done I know.

The rest of this thread about Joanna's cough has been really
interesting from my point of view. Ds has always been 'chesty' - ie.
it goes straight to his chest if he has a cold, ever since he had
Bronchiolitis. He was given steroids to try and ward off Asthma (as my
dh had it as a kid, but grew out of it as an adult). He does sometimes
cough in the night, but doesn't wake from it 99% of the time, so I'm
not worried - but it does sound like OP's may be onto something with
Joanna. I'd agree it's worth going to see another doc and try and get
referred to an expert, as it does seem that she needs something more
than you are already trying. I hope you get some answers soon for both
of you.

Jeni

Was my distinction between coughing at night/in bed vs coughing lying
down not clear? These can be distinguished and if *lying down* causes
coughing then my little list applies.

Re onset in October, did she get something new in preparation for all
the moving? New lovey, new quilt or sleeping bag?

We have pollen allergies; during pollen seasons vacuuming with a HEPA
filter vacuum helps but we also have a HEPA air filter that we run in
the bedroom all during the day. That really helps us sleep better.

Pologirl

"Jeni" wrote in message
...
Hi April

Nice to see you here again. Glad to hear the pg is going well, good
luck with the scan on the 31st.

IKWYM too about the 'what the heck have I done' feeling - I get that
all the time. I reckon you've been doing a brilliant job with
Joanna, and you have all the support in place should you need it, so
try not to worry. Easier said than done I know.

The rest of this thread about Joanna's cough has been really
interesting from my point of view. Ds has always been 'chesty' - ie.
it goes straight to his chest if he has a cold, ever since he had
Bronchiolitis. He was given steroids to try and ward off Asthma (as my
dh had it as a kid, but grew out of it as an adult). He does sometimes
cough in the night, but doesn't wake from it 99% of the time, so I'm
not worried - but it does sound like OP's may be onto something with
Joanna. I'd agree it's worth going to see another doc and try and get
referred to an expert, as it does seem that she needs something more
than you are already trying. I hope you get some answers soon for both
of you.

Jeni


Jeni,

Colds that settle and hang out in the lungs, and night time coughing are
pretty clear signs of asthma, and couple that with a dh who had asthma as a
child, and well, it sounds to me like your DS has asthma. The coughing at
night doesn't have to wake them up to be problematic, it's the cough itself
which is indicating that her lungs aren't happy.

I don't think you can "ward off" asthma. Ward off an attack, perhaps, but
not the issue itself.

Taylor had similar symptoms, but I never heard wheezing when she breathed,
and she never was short of breath or had any breathing troubles, at all.
Yet her doctor has heard wheezing with the stethescope, and takes asthma in
children very seriously. If you do not treat it, it can damage the lungs.
Lungs do not repair and recuperate, the way that other body parts do. So
you want to be very careful and proactive in terms of asthma treatment.

I'd recommend you bring DS into the pediatrician for a discussion about the
possibility of asthma and longterm management.

--

Jamie Clark