Consant coughing due to post-nasal drip -- HELP

[FireFrog]

My 4 yo DS has allergies so bad that nothing seems to work. I am getting more and more worried because the drs have him on Albuterol and budesonide nebulizer treatments twice a day.

In addition, he takes zyrtec and benadryl daily. He still coughs all day and night. We live in Central Valley of CA, so much of this is probably related to the very bad air quality we have. We can't leave here for three more years at least, but I can't live through another year like this one.

We have taken him to a pulmonologist a few times, in addition to his ped. He has gone to an allergist once, but we have not followed up because we were going to the pulmonologist.

Nothing we have done so far seems to be working and I am at my wits end. Most of all, I am worried about my DS's future health and how I keep him off the large number of antibiotics (at least 6 courses in the last 8 months alone) and steroids.

Thank you for reading this far. As a new poster to this forum, I appreciate any and all suggestions you may have!

[emilysmama]

We tried all the standard things, like keeping all the windows closed, and all the medications that you mentioned. For us, we found that the medications like albuterol and corticosteriods didn't seem to help, so we tried to find the triggers. We even built our house so that it has no carpets, and still the problems didn't go away. Here are things that worked the best for us that no one ever suggested or that physicians said would not help.

1. We have our dd use URL for Saline sinus rinse starting from age 4 years old. (Well, when I first started this for dd, few physicians suggested it, but now it seems to be the new trend among physicians.) It helped cut down on the coughing a great deal, and we were able to cut out a lot of her medication. Because it is just non-iodized salt and baking soda, we can have her do it as many times a day as we wish without fear of side effects. I would suggest that you try it yourself so that you can teach your child how to do it. You can buy this wherever you buy OTC medication.

2. We got our air ducts cleaned because every time the fan for the A/C or heat turned on, dd went into a coughing fit even though the house was only 6 months old. Not just the inexpensive vacuum type of duct cleaning, but we paid $400 for a very substantial cleaning. The ducts themselves were very clean, and the person that came to clean them thought we were crazy at first. But then the guy opened up our furnace, and found lots of dust in the return part of the furnace itself, so everytime the furnace turned on, the construction dust blew all over our air system. After that, the year-round coughing stopped.

3. Even after the ducts got cleaned, we noticed that dd's coughing fits were serious only three times of the year, associated with various pollens, so we recently purchased a portable air cleaner. We already had an electrostatic air cleaner in our furnace, but it apparently can't handle pollen. I also had some old Honeywell air cleaners lying around, but those didn't help either. So we went to URL for Allergy Buyers Club (My friend, who has an air cleaner recommended by them, suggested this website, and my dd never coughs in her house) and looked at the reviews. We purchased the IQAir (but we didn't get the VOC feature because that would have been overkill for us). Now dd doesn't cough during pollen season anymore. (Well, we are still waiting to see what happens during ragweed season.)

4. I stopped giving dd watermelon. This was really tough because she really loves watermelon, and I didn't realize anyone could have problems with watermelon. It was years before I noticed that dd went into a coughing fit everytime she ate watermelon. Allergist later told me that watermelon is cross reactive with ragweed.

[foodymama]

FireFrog I couldn't help posting. I am new to this forum as well but I feel great empathy towards your DS and your family because I suffer from the same thing. There are very knowledgeable people in this forum that I believe will give you great info.! I did want to ask you if your DS was also tested for food allergies. When I eat the foods I am allergic to it makes the post nasal drip and coughing much worse. I hope you get some answers and wish you all the luck!

[emilysmama]

For me, dairy tends to aggravate mucous production and make post nasal drip worse.

[FireFrog]

Thank you both for your responses! I really appreciate your ideas and input.

I didn't mention in the first post that we already know that DS has food sensitivities. He is intolerant to dairy and cannot handle garlic or onion well either. We have been giving him a chewable pro-biotic for the last six months that seem to help his stomach problems, but he is still unable to handle dairy.

We have tried the nasal sinus rinse -- to be honest, it was awful. He fought it so much that it became torture and it really didn't seem to help at the time. Maybe when he gets older we can try it again because I have found that it really helps me.

Getting the air ducts cleaned is a great idea. We just moved two months ago, and it has been a great improvement over our last house, which has those high ledges that do nothing but collect dust. The new house doesn't have those. However, the house is 22 years old, so the ducts should probably be cleaned.

To make a *very* long story short, I have tried a few of the suggestions I have found in this forum -- we added a homeopathic allergy treatment and quercetin to his other meds. They seem to be work *fingers crossed*, so I hope we can reduce the others.

[emilysmama]

Originally Posted by FireFrog

We have tried the nasal sinus rinse -- to be honest, it was awful. He fought it so much that it became torture and it really didn't seem to help at the time. Maybe when he gets older we can try it again because I have found that it really helps me.

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest that it was easy to get such a young child to do it. The first time we tried, it was just an awful experience, much like for you I imagine. So instead, we asked her every few months if she would try it, and she usually emphatically refused.

In the meantime, we had her squirt those bottles of saline into her nose. (It was like the little noses brand of saline that the peds suggest for babies, except we got the cheaper Meijer brand.) She learned to squirt herself thirteen squirts in the morning, and thirteen squirts before bed.She preferred to squirt it herself, instead of having us squirt it for her. Not nearly as effective as the sinus rinse, but better than nothing.

Then one day we were on vacation and I'd forgotten to pack the saline bottles. We were in a part of the country with no Meijer. Walmart saline was too spicy (whatever that means), and Ocean brand saline made her scream in pain. (Later I looked at the ingredients, and I think the preservative must have been the problem.) In desperation, we told dd that all we had was the sinus rinse bottle. Dd acquiesced to try it and she has been doing it ever since.

(So it was 9 months after the first disastrous attempt, that dd finally agreed to use the sinus rinse.) She also likes to see the boogers come out of her nose and go down the sink drain. Too much information, I know.

So just be patient, don't force, but offer periodically.

Oh yes, I also made up a song that is sung during sinus rinse that made her more willing to try. Do you know the rainbow song?

Red and yellow and pink and green
Purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow, too.

Well, same melody but with these lyrics:

"Child's name" 's doing saline in the nose
Sodium bicarbonate and salt
I can see a rainbow, a saline rainbow,
a saline rainbow, too.

Would you believe that my child can sing this song while there is saline squirting out of her nose? Not that it is something I would have ever thought about trying in the first place, but I honestly wouldn't have thought it possible because I would have thought that having water stream through your nose would require you to use your mouth to breathe instead of sing, but it can actually be done. Your child might think it neat enough to want to overcome the fear and try it.