Need to rant

[bowmanzoo]

Well I need to rant to someone before I blow my top. I'm still battling with my little girls cough and I'm totally at the end of my tether with it. Doctor has tried everything now and she's still got the cough. She's had the cough since October 2007 without a break really, she might go 4 - 5 days where she coughs slightly but it's still there, otherwise she coughs for hours on end and nothing I do seems to ease it. The last thing doctor tried was her on two inhalors, the blue reliever inhalor and the brown steroid preventor inhalor, seemed to help ease the cough for about 5 days but it's fired up again. It seems whatever she's placed on helps her for 5 days until the cough becomes resilient to the medicine and then it fires up again. Last time we saw doctor, doctor said if the new treatment didnt work then she would have no option but to refer her on to someone else. Last night she coughed until 3am which is when I finally concked out so don't know if the cough continued but it went on for hours, tonight shes coughing her head off again but I can't give her anything else as she's had her inhalors, nasal drops and tixylix cough medicine. Her next appointment isnt until a week on friday so I went into the surgery today to ask the receptionist to leave a message for the doctor saying the inhalors are not working and she seems to be getting worse but I've not heard anything. I don't know what to do, do I take her to hospital A&E and demand they do tests, can't get doc appointment any sooner, local walk in centre is just manned by nurses so they probably won't be able to do much. grrrrrrrrr

 

[fifi211]

Have some

I can sympathise with you completely. We had a similar situation with my 5 year old when he was about 2, he kept catching colds which would go straight to his chest and took forever to clear up, this was happening roughly every 6 weeks (we kept a note of how often it was happening). The coughing was horrendous and we actually had him at a&e a few times. The gp just kept prescribing antibiotics which weren't doing anything.

A different gp then suggested it could be asthma, so inhalers were prescribed, asthmatics don't have to be wheezy, symptoms can also be relentless coughing or night coughing. Then he was given the blue and the brown and this worked for a while but then the problems started again, to cut a long story short, it took a lot of trial and error with trying different inhalers before it was under control. Things are a lot better now and the only time he really suffers is if he gets a bad cold or infection.

We had to nag and nag to get him sorted out and they tried to fob us off saying it was just viral, we took him to a&e several times through the night when he was really struggling, but if you persist (and get angry with them), they have to do something.

In the meantime, remember you can use the blue inhaler as often as your daughter needs it as it is a reliever. Another tip is sitting in the bathroom with your daughter while the shower or bath is running and letting her breathe in the steam, this really helps the cough and relaxes the muscles and loosens up the cough, we usually sit and read stories or he even takes toys in and plays. You could also try (this sounds bonkers but try it, it works ) rubbing vicks vapour rub on the soles of her feet and then putting a pair of socks on while she is in bed, I was given this tip, don't know how it works but it does.

Really hope you get things sorted soon and if things get really bad, then yes I would take her to a&e. If you want to chat or have a moan feel free to pm me. Keep us updated

 

[lauramumof2]

wha have they said about her tonsils. I friend has a toddler going into get either the tonsils or the adenoids out. Out of curiosity, she doesnt have a dent in her chest does she, right in the middle?

 

[bowmanzoo]

Hi Fifi

I've tried all that you've suggested, I found out about the vix vapour rub into feet and socks on via research on the internet and yep tried that and yep failed. I can give Joanna the blue inhalor until she's blue in the face and guess what, nope don't do a damn thing. We havent had breaks of a week let a lone 6 weeks, this is constant since October, 5 days I think is our best when she's only coughed slightly but it's still been there. I stormed her down to the doctors this morning and doctor now refering her to peditrician but that could take weeks to come through and until then she's expected to cough her head off and get very little sleep. The cheeky cow of a doctor also said I needed councling because I got upset and quite weepy grrrrrrrr, told her I was scared this could lead to PND when baby is born in august. I went to hobson and barret or whatever the shop is called and they suggested trying Manuka Honey, and even that aint budging it and it cost me an expensive 5.00 so another night of hell for the lot of us. I then took her to clinic this afternoon to be weighed as she's lost weight since Feb and she's lost more but health visitors were great and supportive. HELP SOMEONE HELP

 

[fifi211]

Aww hun

Really sorry to hear that nothing is working for your lo, I know how helpless you feel, she must be exhausted.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for your appointment, if she is losing weight they should give it priority. Really hope you both get some rest soon.

 

[Rosieroo]

Does she have her brown inhaler regularly? DS has to have his meds morning and night otherwise he's a right mess with his asthma, without the brown the blue does bugger all really. He's on 400mg of clenil (brown) which seems to be working at the mo, though he still gets wheezy if he does too much or gets excited/upset.

 

[bowmanzoo]

Yeah she has it two times a day, 2 times in the morning and 2 times in the evening and then can use her blue inhalor when needed but also has that strictly with the brown inhalor. She seems a bit better today and I was advised to try her last night on Manuka Honey, seemed to take a while to work but havent heard her cough much at all today so fingers crossed but who knows.

april