Paging Dr. Hive - cough

[sixpence1978]

All right you experts, I need advice.

 

A bit of background info:

We've been battling one sickness after another around here for nearly 2 months now. About 3-4 weeks ago, my DS was treated for walking pneumonia. Just after that I developed a cough. I went to the doctor to make sure that I hadn't caught it as well. Nope...just a cough. Well, my cough went from dry, to painful, to extremely thick, to mostly calmed down. I'm now in week 3 and still coughing but feeling better. I was using codeine at night to help me sleep.

 

Well, about 11 days ago (1 week after I got sick), my DD also got sick. She started out with a fever, then dry cough, no appetite, no energy and now she too has hit the mucous-y cough stage. Her fever seems to be gone, but still not eating a ton, and with a productive cough. She is acting a little bit better but still no energy. She is really tired of coughing.

 

We've been using a cold-mist humidifier at night (thinking of trying a warm one though), honey, delsym and mucinex, but nothing really works. She hasn't had a full nights sleep for these past 11 days. She's acting a bit better this week (other than the cough) in that she is finally talking some again, but is still intensely crabby. Not wanting to do anything other than watch TV. She starts complaining if I suggest we work on a bit of something (something easy BTW).

 

Would you suggest a Dr. visit? It really seems like bronchitis to me...which I'm not sure the Dr. could do anything except put her on a stronger cough medicine. Or are there other things I could be trying at home for the time being?

 

I'm just hitting a wall with all this sickness and we keep falling further and further behind.

 

Thanks for any help.

[MariannNOVA]

Our scenario here sounds quite similar to yours. Then, on Friday evening, ds10 ran a fever that lasted for about an hour (I gave him ibuprofen), went to 102 and then went away never to return.

 

Sunday morning his cough was barky and croupy, he sat in a steamy bathroom, and then it became dry and unproductive. He has reactive airways so dry and unprod is something I watch for b/c wheezing usually follows in a day or two.

 

Monday, dry and unprod so I called the Family Prax that dh and I use (I've recently become really disenchanted and downright unhappy with our peds prax) -- the fam prx saw him at 5pm yesterday. Bronchitis! He was given an inhaler - and we haven't used one of those in two years, but it was prescribed on an as needed basis. He was given a gelcap that is a cough med (prescription) and a Z-pack. Today, he is feeling really well. He has four more days of Zithromax, doesn't look like he will need the gel cap cough med anymore (he took one last night), and will likely not need the inhaler.

 

For us, it was worth the trip.

[Perry]

Please go get tested for pertussis (whooping cough). We are having an outbreak here, and two of my kids were diagnosed with it last week. :tongue_smilie:

[gardening momma]

If it is bronchitis, the doctor can definitely do more than prescribe more cough medicine. I had bronchitis a couple of years ago and got a breathing treatment at the doctor's office, a prescription for some pills, and an inhaler. First of all, the breathing treatment was such a relief! And the other medicines helped clear it all up.