Dr. Hive - barking cough that just won't stop. Help!!

[dsmith]

My son is absolutely miserable from this cough. So far we've tried Mucinex to thin the mucus, Afrin and saline spray for the gook in his sinuses, lemon tea with honey, whiskey with honey, plenty of fluids, chicken soup, Cold Eeze, Benadryl to try to dry up the nasal drip... He is coughing so much and so hard that he is almost vomiting. He has Aspergers and has a very hard time dealing with illness in general and he is just about at his breaking point. He's moody and depressed about the way he feels. I have a Z - Pac prescription in case his fever spiked over the holiday, and it has jumped up a bit so I will fill it tomorrow. It's really sounding like bronchitis now. He can't take anything that will interfere with his other medications or cause nervousness. I'm at a loss - any suggestions?

[eternalsummer]

Have you tried a cold mist humidifier?  He sits right next to it to breathe in the mist for a while, then sits in its general vicinity for a few hours.

[eternalsummer]

Also I don't know what kind of medications the things you mentioned have in them, but have you tried a cough suppressant?  If you don't have luck with an OTC one you might be able to get a prescription called in (but not until Tuesday I'd assume)

[Sandwalker]

Do you think it could be croup? If so, sitting in the steamy bathroom with the shower on can help.

[Tap]

Has he been tested for whooping cough?  

 

 

I get a cough sometimes that won't stop and cool moist air is the only thing that stops it.  It can get so bad, that I sleep in front of an open window, bundled up in blankets with just the cool air on my face.  I don't know that it would necessarily be healthy for most people, but it is the only thing that quiets my asthma like/irritated airway cough. 

 

Like another post mentioned, there are no cough suppressants mentioned in your list of meds. (unless the MUcinex is Mucinex DM) Has he tried anything like Delsym (OTC) or prescription cough syrup like robitussin with codeine?  Another rx med is tessalon pearls (benzonate).  What about an asthma or steroid inhaler to open the airways and reduce inflammation?

 

Without knowing his med history, there is no way to know if they are safe for him, but your doctor or pharmacist will know. 

[Terabith]

I’d definitely be exploring options with dr or urgent care. Inhaler? Nebulizer? Suppressant with codeine?

[Ausmumof3]

I'd double check for whooping cough.

 

Also for croup it's helpful to sleep on extra pillows if he can cope with that as the laying down seems to be worse.

[aaplank]

I would get the antibiotic today and not wait. If he doesn't get better within a few days, I would go back to the doctor for further evaluation. You don't want pneumonia to set in.

[trulycrabby]

He needs to be tested for whooping cough.

[LarlaB]

Agreed on ruling out whooping cough - 15+ kids at my DDs school had it. Long lingering bark like cough.

[dsmith]

After a hellish night I'm waiting for the doctor to call me back. There is no prescription waiting for me at the pharmacy, so I'm more than a little irritated. This was a covering doctor we saw, and while she was very nice, I would have felt better with our own doctor. I never even thought of whooping cough. I'm not sure if the symptoms quite fit, but maybe it presents differently as a teen. I guess I will look that up and ask the doctor about it. I know he was vaccinated, but the vaccine wears off in teens, right? All of the urgent care places around here are overrun with flu and long wait times. I don't know if he can handle being there for 2 hours, but we may have to. This is really very upsetting and he is having a very rough time. The DM medications exacerbate his tics, but I think it may be worth trying it anyway. I don't remember if he can take that with his other meds, so I'll have to look it up. He takes Abilify and fluoxetine. 

[JFSinIL]

I concur with the others - get him looked at TODAY and checked for Whooping Cough and croup. My nieces were fully vaccinated and still got WC as teens (Chicago suburbs) several years back.

 

Tell Urgent Care front desk that yes, he is coughing but no, he will NOT wear a mask due to his disability. That you suspect WC and do they really want him spewing it all over the waiting room? Odds are he will be seen promptly, or at least put in a room instead of the waiting area. Go Mama Bear and overstate his autism. Do what it takes. (My now adult son with autism tends to be seen promptly. But I stress he is nonverbal and can't tell me exactly how he feels, too. Which is true).

 

I'd call his regular doc. and let them know you are taking him in, too. And bring all his other meds with you.

Edited December 24, 2017 by JFSinIL

[J-rap]

Sounds like whooping cough or croup. For croup, standing or sitting in a hot shower -- as hot as you can make it and for as long as you can -- breathing in that hot steamy air sometimes helps.

[klmama]

It could be whooping cough (pertussis), but it also sounds like it could be parapertussis. That is similar, but not as severe; if I understand correctly, the pertussis vaccine doesn't protect against parapertussis.

 

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[City Mouse]

My DH got whooping cough a few years back. I don't remember much treatment for it though other than staying away from immune suppressed people. I think he just had something so he could sleep at night. I think the cough was more annoying to me than him.

When I had bad bronchitis, I needed codine based caugh syrup to get any sleep and an inhaler for several weeks (I do not have asthma or use an inhaler at other times) My time with pneumonia required that and nebulizer. Antibiotics alone would not have done much for either.

[Sandwalker]

Croup is a virus, so antibiotics won't work for it, either.

[prairiewindmomma]

When my sons have inflammation in their airways, they cough rather than wheeze.

 

Pertussis and parapertussis also come to mind.

 

I know prednisone and albuterol don't sound like appealing options, but my sons have some degree of freak out from coughing--it balances out. We find it helpful to feed them a low carb diet as much as possible to keep their blood sugars level when on either med.

[dsmith]

What a crazy day! A different covering doc called, decided he didn't need an antibiotic but said we could go to the ER or an urgent care. After checking all the local places, they all had 2 hour wait times, which ds couldn't handle in his current state. I called a place that is farther away that I used to go to, and they got us right in. The doctor feels he started with flu and has moved on to an upper respiratory infection. He gave us the Z Pac and a codeine cough medicine to use only at night. He couldn't believe the other doctor didn't call in the antibiotic. He was very thorough and made an effort to draw out ds and connect with him. Ds doesn't speak at times to doctors, so I was happy he felt comfortable with him. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day! 

[Ottakee]

Glad you got him in and got meds.  It is so hard when someone is sick on the holiday weekend.

 

[AmandaVT]

Glad you got him in - I posted about a nagging cough that was getting worse around Thanksgiving and ended up with a walking pneumonia diagnosis. I'm just now starting to feel like myself again.