[destinmamma]

My 2 year old has a nagging cough lasting 4 months. She as also not been herself, very cranky, and sometimes red around the eyes and clear nasal discharge. I know nothing about allergies but my sis in law told me today that allergies run rampant on my hubby's side. Our pediatrician wants to put her on antibiotics or allergy meds. Should I take her to a specialist? Should I invest in an air purifier? Our house gets very dusty, but luckily is all tile with the exception of the bedrooms..

 

[AlbertaJes]

Have you tried a humidifier?

 

[hellyaellen]

could be, the drip going down the back of the throat<br><br>
i wouldn't go to antibiotics unless the ped could say "yes she has such and such bacterial infection"<br><br>
allergy meds....maybe maybe not depends on how much the cough and other symptoms are bothering her

 

[DreamsInDigital]

Antibiotics for allergy symptoms??? That's crazy.<br><br>
Her symptoms sound like environmental allergies. Do you have any pets? Smokers in the home? Woodburning stove/furnace?

 

[cat19]

I'd also get checked for asthma; in my younger son, his first sign of asthma was a cough.

 

[destinmamma]

Yes, tried the humidifier...might have helped a bit, but not enough to make a big difference.<br><br>
No, we don't have any smokers or pets in the home...<br><br>
I made her an appt. w/ an allergist, hope they can help me out.

 

[alegna]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>AlbertaJes</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/9965767"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Have you tried a humidifier?</div>
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<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> I notice the OP lives in Florida... I doubt they need more humidity- I'd investigate mold first <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/wink1.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="wink1"><br><br>
-Angela

 

[alegna]

Try an air purifier.<br><br>
Also- is she vaccinated?<br><br>
good luck!<br><br>
-Angela

 

[leila1213]

I am in Tampa Bay and heard on the news recently that there are red tide outbreaks in some places (can't remember which). I see Destin is right on the water. Could she be exposed to red tide at all?

 

[Alyantavid]

I'd look into other things before an antibiotic or allergy meds. My 18 month old was put on Zyrtec for his constant runny nose and cough and it didn't do any good at all. We've eliminated dairy and his cough and runny nose are gone.

 

[destinmamma]

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<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>alegna</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/9972097"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Try an air purifier.<br><br>
Also- is she vaccinated?<br><br>
good luck!<br><br>
-Angela</div>
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Yes, I had an ozone machine and she was much better until I found out that ozone is hazardous. Its been since I removed the machine that she has gotten progressively worse. Unfortunately she did get all her vacs except the MMR. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"> That was before I was very knowlegeable on the whole "anti-vac" movement...

 

[destinmamma]

I'm going to try my hardest to cut out dairy and see if that helps. The problem is dd LOVES milk, yogurt and cheese. It is practically all I can get her to eat!

 

[destinmamma]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>leila1213</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/9972173"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I am in Tampa Bay and heard on the news recently that there are red tide outbreaks in some places (can't remember which). I see Destin is right on the water. Could she be exposed to red tide at all?</div>
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Yep, we dealt w/ red tide a couple months ago, so I blamed her cough on that. But now here it is 4 month later and she still has the cough, PLUS, she has started acting really "not herself". Very unhappy, moody, tantrams all day every day, depressed, etc. I hate seeing her suffer it makes me want to cry <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/mecry.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="crying">

 

[hellyaellen]

it seems like i remember reading somewhere that sometimes people who have a dairy sensitivity really crave it...so it reacts badly with their system but yet they really love it. i know i feel a lot better in general since cutting most dairy out but i love thestuff. try cutting milk first, cheeses are sometimes tolerated better than milk.

 

[MamaMamaMama!]

This is exactly what happened with my ds and it did end up being a dairy and corn allergy. He was also pouring green snot, though. It took me an entire year to figure it out but I ended up taking him to a NAET practitioner (chiropractor) and they did a simple muscle resistance test on him that confirmed it. Other doctors also tried to give him antibiotics and and, of course, that did nothing, but the chiro did some simple adjustments and by the next day he was soooo much better. He still has a little snot every once in a while when he eats something with dairy in it (I don't give it to him at home but I do let him have birthday cake at parties, etc.) but it's so much better than it was.<br><br>
I also had a suspicion that dairy was the culprit before but, like you mentioned, it was sooooo hard to give it up; he drank milk constantly and loves cheese and yogurt. We've done okay without it, though; soy milk is good for cooking even if they don't like drinking it plain, and there are a lot of other good substitutes.<br><br>
Good luck. I know how frustrating this can be.

 

[Alyantavid]

My toddler loves dairy too and we've eliminated it. It hasn't been that hard on him, except the cheese. He loves his soy milk and hasn't yet asked for yogurt. He does miss cheese but we've yet to find a nondairy cheese he likes.

 

[yarngoddess]

I wouldn't do the antibiotics, unless the Dr. can say "Yes, DD has this infection that will respond to this medication" Being the mom of 4 allergic, and 1 asthmatic you need an air purifier. You need to treat the allergies- as much environmental as well as dietarty with elimination and medication until she is under controll. I tried to "remove" all I could, but my DS needed to "re-boot" so to speak. Once he had all his symptoms under controll, then we were able to take him off the medication to see what helped and what didn't. FWIW I use Benedryl for allergies, as all the perscriptions didn't work well on my kids, and I found I could use less than the perscriptions. Hang in there!

 

[leila1213]

Here's a thought - from what I've read about allergies, there's sort of a "tipping point" when you combine all the allergen exposure from food and environment. So, it's likely that she has both types working, and just kind of OD'ed on the whole combination. So, she may be allergic to dairy AND there is something in the air aggravating it. So if you can get her total "load" down, then maybe she will stop having symptoms.

 

[rachelle-a-tron]

Bumpin' for ya Mama...

 

[kjbrown92]

I brought my 2 year old to the doctor last week because she had a cough for 6 weeks. My son started at the same time (he's 7) and I kept thinking they had the same virus. I already know he has environmental allergies. Our doctor looked up her nose -- if it's allergies, the nasal passages appear bluish; if it's a cold or infection, they appear red. So did your doctor look up her nose at all? If her lungs are clear, why would he put her on antibiotics? That doesn't make sense. My husband has asthma and I have allergies. My oldest daughter has environmental allergies, my son has environmental allergies and food intolerances, and my youngest daughter is apparently the same (though many more foods). I don't think it's possible to take any more foods out of her diet! Because the coughs of my kids started at the end of Oct, and I'm in CT, the doctor said it was either dust or mold (once the houses get closed up, the symptoms set in). She's been on Zyrtec a week and the cough is gone. It doesn't make her sleepy or anything.<br>
Kathy<br><br><div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>destinmamma</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/9965243"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">My 2 year old has a nagging cough lasting 4 months. She as also not been herself, very cranky, and sometimes red around the eyes and clear nasal discharge. I know nothing about allergies but my sis in law told me today that allergies run rampant on my hubby's side. Our pediatrician wants to put her on antibiotics or allergy meds. Should I take her to a specialist? Should I invest in an air purifier? Our house gets very dusty, but luckily is all tile with the exception of the bedrooms..</div>
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