Would you go to the dr?

[Tap]

dd4 got what seems to be a bad cold last Tues night. HEAVY congestion and a very wet cough. She would gag up huge gobs of mucous. I started giving her Sudafed, Zyrtec, Ibuprofen, Guaifenesin (for 3 days-depending on her symptoms at the moment). She was getting better day by day and today, 7 days later she just has a a tiny lingering cough, is bouncing around like nothing is wrong and seems well.

 

Thurs I got it. It has been the worst cold I have ever had. Even with the same med cocktail, I can barely breath 5 days later. I do a version of a netti pot and it doesn't help at all. I am still very, very congested and no better than the first day. On top of it I have had a sore throat for 4 of the days. I haven't had a fever, mucous is clear. My knees hurt, but they often do that if I sit around too much. I wonder if my throat hurts due to mouth breathing and drainage more than anything but my throat is red, streaky, but no white spots.

 

Fri Dd12 got it. She is exactly the same as I, but just a day behind.

 

 

I am trying to decide if I and dd2 should go in to the dr. I am due back to work on Thurs, dd12 is missing private school.

 

If we had a fever or colored mucous, I would go w/ no hesitation and DD4 cleared up w/o complication. I will have to pay for both visits out of pocket $150 each (w throat culture) because I have a deductible.

[SeekingSimplicity]

my kids rarely have white spots when they test positive for strep. Their most common symptoms are runny nose and sore throat. If you're able to, I'd go to the dr and get tested. Hope you feel better soon

[Lolly]

Since you have already had one recover, if your symptoms are the same, I would wait it out. I wouldn't be surprised if it took me longer to get over it than a 4 yo though. I don't think it is unusual for a cold to peak at day 5.

[Princess Peach]

I have heard about a nasty cold like you describe. I would wait it out unless a fever develops, in which case I would go in.

 

Wanted to add: sometimes you can call the Dr.'s office and talk to a nurse about your symptoms. She/he can tell you if this sort of thing is going around, what you can do to feel better, to come in if you get certain symptoms, etc.

[LisaKinVA]

Each person is different. My children would have recovered from that, and I would wind up with double pneumonia. That is my personal history.

 

I was PG with #1 when I came down with the mother of all colds. After 5 days, I went to the doctor... was told to wait it out. I told him my history, and was ignored. I told him I'd be back the next week. I went back a week later and the same doctor who completely freaked out. I had full-blown, double pneumonia. I think he was just shy of admitting me to the hospital. He. was. scared. Me? Just perturbed, because he didn't listen to me the week before.

 

You know your body. 5 days without any improvement could signal there is something else going on, or it's transitioning from a bad cold to a sinus infection (those are more difficult for me to spot... but my oldest dd had one, no fever, no discolored mucus, but she did have fluid building up in her ears due to the blockage).

 

If it were me, I may wait 7 days, but I wouldn't wait longer. Take a long, hot, shower... blow nose repeatedly ... and don't worry if the hot water goes away. This is therapy! I would probably resort to some sort of nasal spray (Afrin...or something like that), and/or Vicks on a q-tip on the inside of my nose...just for some relief. Not to mention humidifiers running 24-7.

 

I'm sorry it's so bad!

[Prairie~Phlox]

Strep has been bad this year, quite a few people that we know have had it in their families, I would probably go just to be sure.

[Wendi]

I can understand your hesitation, especially when it will be so expensive to go to the doctor. But I can relate to your suffering! I ended up going to Urgent Care on Sat. because my horrible cold was getting increasingly worse after six days. I wasn't getting any sleep because of the coughing (both from postnasal drip and chest congestion), I had a fever, and I felt horrible. I'm on antibiotics, and slowly improving. But I am still pretty sick. It's a bad one! My ds had a very mild cold the week before I got sick.

 

If I were you, I'd probably call the doctor's office and speak to him/her or his/her nurse. See what they think.

 

Wendi

[LizzyBee]

That cold is going around here, and it is awful. A friend of mine went to urgent care and they didn't do anything except tell her it has to run its course. She felt so bad that she thought it might be the flu instead of a cold.