child with cronic cough only at home

S

Sydney Nicole

New member
Yes, that is true about apiaries and bee keepers. I'm talking about people who have had major life threatening allergic reactions to bee stings, not people who deal with them everyday and get stung constantly.

On the cats, yes you can get shots for cat allergies. I have. Cat fanatic. But the way cat dander and fur sticks to clothing, I would suspect she would cough when out of the house too. My bet would be the natural cleaners. Natural doesn't not mean non-allergic. As an example, if she has a mild allergy to citrus and your cleaners are loaded with orange oil or other citrus based oils, she might be reacting to that in the cleaner. Have her sniff some and see if she coughs. Does she cough in the presence of the cats? If it's an environmental allergy you should be able to find it by having her sniff test it.

Many years ago the government decided to help out all the hay fever sufferers and they sprayed all the ragweed that grew on the sides of the road(since ragweed was the prime culprit in late summer/fall allergies). Well, in it's place has grown beautiful fields of Queen Anne's Lace...with those huge heads of delicate white flowers. My allergies got worse. So I started walking the streets of my town sniffing every plant I could find until I found the one...the one that made me sneeze and cough and wheeze. It was Queen Anne's Lace. There was no test for it and no shots so the only way I could identify it was go looking for misery.

So if it's an allergy in your home, you should be able to find it by having her sniff or inhale. I became allergic to one of my father's colognes. Sneezed every time I hugged him. Easy to figure out! So have her help you.

If you don't find anything then you've at least ruled that out as a possible cause and that will be one more part of the mystery removed. And she will feel that she is helping. That always helps to get the child involved. Makes them feel more in control. My daughter was really sick when she was 7 and had to have bone marrow tests and blood work done twice a week and severe restrictions on her movement. I did everything I could to make some parts of it her responsibility so she felt she had a little bit of control over a bad illness. Really helped her feel in command of her life and helped her get through a tough 2 years.

I hope and pray you find out why your daughter is coughing. It's so tough on the parents...I know. And she knows too. I hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

gentle hugs............Jenny(sick daughter is now 33)
 
I'm so glad your daughter is okay and got through her illness bravely. Thank you for your input on my daughters problem. I will try the sniff tests. I do somehow think that that's not it but it can't hurt to try. I swear all this coughing started soon after I got that bunk board for her bed. I got the new mattress not too long ago at IKEA, where I got her bed frame, and the new mattress sure stinks like glue or something. Sheesh, it cost 150 bucks, you wouldn't think it would stink and they don't tell you ahead of time. I'm going to encase this one too just in case.

No extra coughing around the cats. One was just loving her up this morning and she announced "Look Mommie, I can't be allergic to cats!".

She has been doing the coughing thing every once in a while for a couple of years now. This is the first time that it has been constant for so long and it's the first time she has started hitting her chest when she coughs. It will be interesting to see what happens when we go on vacation soon for 10 days. Again, I will try the sniffing tests and thanks again for your help!
 
Hello, I was hoping that maybe someone would have some suggestions at to why my 6yr old might be coughing. She has been coughing since Valentines day 3 months ago. I have had her to the doctor and to the lung specialist and had exrays done. She has been on a 20 day antibiotic, albuterol inhaler, singulare and we even tried zantac for possible silent acid reflux.

Nothing has worked! What's really wierd is she only coughs at home! She occasionally coughs when we are out and about but no coughing at school. She's only 6 so it's hard to find out exactly why she is coughing, how does it feel when she coughs. She hits her chest when she does too. When she was younger, I think around 2, we had her to an allergist and she was tested for allergies and there were no significant reactions. If she had an allergy to our cats, dog or bird you would think that the symptoms would last past being in the house. I don't know what to do.
 
I guess because you said off and on for 2 years and now severe, it made me think of something that can be cumulitive, like mold. You can be somewhat fine for awhile and then bam, you feel like you will choke up a lung.

Talked to a couple yesterday who have had a few floods in their home (long story) and he is now starting to cough. It could have happened before you moved in and been cleaned sufficiently to the naked eye. Some are okay with this but others can be affected terribly. It can be in the walls where you can't see it. And you don't necessarily smell it.

If you are positive this is not the case, posts about cleaning fumes in the air sound possible. I just thought those natural products were designed to dissipate better but who knows? I'd try switching for awhile to see and testing for citrus allergies worth a try.

Hope you find an answer and your little girl gets feeling better soon.

choc
 
Put the new mattress outside in the sun and let it air out several days or couple weeks. Put the headboard outside to air, not in the sun.

It will take time for chemicals in those items to be released.

Air out her room real good and see if her coughing stops after those items have been removed.

Closing up the headboard in plastic is only holding the fumes, it needs to air out.

Same with the mattress.

If you have another bedroom for her to sleep in for a while will also help determine whether it is the new mattress and/or headboard.
 
Even though she isn't allergic, she could have an intolerance, meaning she has an abnormal sensitivity to a food, drug, even to just dust or pollen. Usually all symptoms go away once whatever was bothering her is taken away, which would explain why she is perfectly healthy once she leaves your house.

It isn't an allergy, but some symptoms are similar. coughing, swelling, and occasionally a fever or vomiting can occur. If you want to figure out what's triggering her reactions you should expose her to diffrent materials, objects, rooms, or food throughout the day then romove each one individually. If her symptoms stop after a certain object is removed, then that was the problem.

You should also clean your house as best as you can, seeing how mold, dust, pollen, and other particles in the air, carpets, and furniture can also be a problem. You might have to remove any carpets in the house if it continues.

An intolerance is normal so don't become too worried, many people have them. My brother is intolerant to chocolate, but not allergic, his test coming back normal. But he still can't eat it because he throws up and gets horrible stomach aches.

I hope this helps. ^.^
 
Hmmm, no possible way to know if it's been flooded here before. Could have been some flooding in the basement if previous owner did not keep up on keeping the drain by the french doors clean of leaves and stuff. No sign of it though. Finished basement. I also did a REALLY stupid thing around 2 years ago, which would coincide I suppose, and left the utility sink to fill up to water the orchids, forgot about it and flooded the laundry room on the main floor and some of the water poured down the wall to the basement through a vent. It wasn't that bad and we shop vaccumed it right away and kept a fan on for days but ???? It's something to think about.

She's actually been a little better the past couple of days. Took her to the doc today and he said there is some swelling of the lungs according to her xrays and her nose is still a little swollen inside. I finally got her new mattress all fixed up with 2 layers of plastic encasements plus the mattress encasement cover it came with over that and then an allergy encasement sheet under the regular sheet, whew! Maybe this is helping. We'll keep on trying!

This is probably not related but I've noticed she does this weird thing with her left arm where she jerks it up toward her like bending her arm at the elbow really fast. Plus she jerks her head back sometimes when we are in the reading chair at night bonking her head on the back of the chair on purpose and she also does this bouncing thing on chairs when she goes to sit down. She'll be just sitting there and then all of a sudden she bounces on her bum several times. I've asked her why she does this and she is not able to describe what is going on. It started with her arm and I thought maybe it's something like RLS and she feels the need to stretch those mussels. I have RLS in my legs but it's much better now since I've been using a cpap machine.

Whew, that was a long one,
Thanks again by the way!
 
No, your assumption about the allergic cough lasting past being in the house is wrong. I am allergic to a common product used with floor cleaning machines. I can walk into a store and start coughing and stop almost the moment I walk out. Then I know it's the place and not me.

As someone who has fought allergies all her life including over 40 drug allergies and anaphylaxis, allergies still surprise me. So yes, it could be something that came into the house 3 months ago and is still there. Something as simple as a new floor cleaner. Have you changed any cleaning products? A new air freshener? A new plant?

Kids can have a psychological cause for a cough but I bet you it's something small and insignificant that changed in the house and she allergic to it.

BTW, we continue to develop allergies all our lives so tests done a couple of years ago measured only what she had developed an allergy to as of that day...not what was to come.

And some allergies can come and go. If you are allergic to bee stings you can lose your sensitivity by up to 20%/year that you aren't stung so after as little as 5 years, you are no longer allergic....until you get stung again. The first sting is minor but goes up with each sting until you get highly allergic and then you have to carry an Epi-pen again until you go without the stings for a while.

Good luck trying to figure out what is causing the cough.

Jenny
 
I don't see how it could be a food allergy since it happens as soon as she walks in the house not after she eats. There's no way I could remove objects individually. It's through the whole house. We also have the house cleaned every week by a housekeeper. I even switched to all natural cleaners 6 months or more ago. She's done this coughing on and off for 2 years and it seemed to all start about the time I got her a new bunk board for the bed so I encased it in 2 layers of plastic protection. Her cough did not change so then I bought her a new mattress and the cough has not changed. New allergy pillow casing too. I just though posting on here might give me an "Ah ha!" moment with someones answer, but not yet.
 
The only 2 things I can think of that has changed is that we got 2 new cats last summer and I switched to natural cleaners about 6 months ago. Although she was coughing periodically before this, now it's constant. She has always been around cats and I suppose she could have developed an allergy. I'm sure the next step with the lung specialist will be to send us to the allergist again. I sure hope it's not cats because she's like the cat girl. The first thing she does in the morning is wake up and draw pictures of cats, acts like a cat, plays with cat figurines, etc. If it is I hope she can get shots to cure it because it will tear her heart out to loose the kitties!

I watched a show on apiaries, bee keeping, and they said that the more you get stung the less you have a reaction. Hmmmm. Well, I'll just keep trying and seeing the doctor until we can figure this thing out.
 
No, it wouldn't be RLS in a child but repetative movement and possibly the coughing could be Tourette's Syndrome, a neurological disorder where kids develop "tics", actions they repeat for no known reason. It's controllable with medication so mention it to your pediatrician along with the lung problems.

gentle hugs.........Jenny
 
Thank you. If things continue we will travel the road of tests you recommended. She does go to an asthma/lung specialist. He gave me Flovent to try if her cough does not continue to get better. Her cough has been better the past couple of days. Nothing has changed but the double encasement with plastic on her NEW mattress that I got her because I thought the cough started around the time I had gotten her a bunk board for her new bed 2 years ago. I had the bunk board covered with one layer of plastic encasement so I just don't see how covering the new mattress with 2 plastic ones could make a difference. I don't know.

The cough used to make it hard for her to go to sleep and would occasionally wake her up. That was about a month after the constant cough started and she was getting over a cold. Since then the cough is better but fairly constant during the time at home but like I said, her cough has strangely gotten better in just the past couple of days.

I will also follow up looking into the tics.

Thank you!
 
I agree with Jenny. You should mention tourettes syndrome to your doctor.
A cough in a child is not always so easy to diagnose. Make sure your child has all the necessary tests done. She will need to have pulmonary function tests, and histamine challenge tests, and will need to see a doctor who specializes in asthma because she can have cva which is cough variant asthma. You will also need to see a respiralogist and an ent. Also get her rechecked by an allergist. If all these tests come back negative please know that some children do have "habit cough", does your daughter sleep through the night? or does the cough keep her awake? also, ask the ent if he can scope her and do a croup series, which is an xray which will show if her upper airways are normal.Good luck to you and your child, a cough is not so easy to diagnose.
Hope i was of some help.
 
My sons starts coughing bad when his allergies are acting up . Sometimes that is the only sign he has of allergies. He also has ADHD and Asthma so he is watched every closely. I have switched all of my cleaning product because the chemicals in them were messing with his allergies. * link to commercial website removed by hb-mod, moderator *
 
Looked up info about Tourette's Syndrome...could be. Also the tics could be caused by stress because of the cough, so I read. I will keep working on it and Thank you, this forum has been most helpful.
 
Could be allergies. By the way new studies show that a lot of ADHD is caused by Sleep Apnea. Not everyone who has it snores and anyone at any age can have it. It also does not just affect overweight people/children. Just thought you might like to know.
 
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