[HoneyTree]

I suspect that my 3-year-old unvaxed son has pertussis. We've been to the ped twice, but he's an extremely non-invasive, alternative-health kind of ped, and while he listened close to ds's lungs and my impression of his cough, he never brought pertussis up, and at the time, I did not know to ask about it specifically.

So what are my options if he DOES have whooping cough? Would I be doing anything different than I'm already doing (using a good expectorant, steam treatments, mustard packs, hot brothy soups, sleeping [when he can get rest] with his head and chest slightly elevated, slippery elm and licorice teas, homeopathic remedies, etc.)? What is the benefit of getting a diagnosis, and what are the drawbacks?

I'm concerned because I have a baby due in 37 days, and I've heard that whooping cough can last for months.

TIA for your responses.

 

[just_lily]

I don't have any first hand experience, but from what I read the most important symptom with whooping cough is that there are periods between coughing that your child seems perfectly well.

If your DS is coughing constantly it is more likely to just be a bad cold, or bronchitis. I had bronchitis while I was in university and I coughed non-stop 24 hours a day.

But... if he did end up with whooping cough, there is nothing more that you could do. Some docs will prescribe antibiotics, but that is only to prevent transmission, and doesn't actually help with symptoms.

Having a sick baby is no fun... hopefully he feels better soon.

 

[Marnica]

I agree with just_lily. I also have no direct experience, but it seems to me that you are doing all you can. I also believe that antibiotics are only effective at preventing transmission if they are taken in the early stages of the cough. I don't even think by the time your baby comes your LO will be contagious anymore (although I'm not 100% on this) maybe somebody else can chime in. As for the benefits of a diagnosis of WC, it won't change anything....

 

[~Demeter~]

My barely one year old daughter had it this summer. She presented with a typical whooping cough and my doctor (who I really do like and agree with most of the time) didn't think she had it. There's a website to listen to how the cough sounds. Not everyone whoops, usually just the littles do. My 13 year old ds and my grandparents did NOT whoop. Anyway, in my experience treating them with steam showers and the like helps but won't cure it or get rid of it. Abx do nothing. I've read that sodium ascorbate is the best remedy but I was unable to get my hands on any at the time. (money was an issue) SO I slept upright with my baby on the couch so I could jump up to assist her when she had a coughing spell at night. It was truly like no other cough I've experienced. I started to get the beginnings of something and beefed up on raw garlic.. I was sick a week, my daughter a month with some whooping type episodes for 2 months, my son was sick for 4 months and my grandparents for around 5 or 6 months. My papa still occasionally has an episode now and then.

As for a new baby.. I really don't know. I would think baby would have some immunities from you at first. Be sure to breastfeed of course. Hopefully, by that time your little man will be feeling much better and his coughing fits won't be as frequent. I know my kids were intense, a lot in the beginning and slowly spaced out to where they were having one or two a day by about a month in.

 

[Peony]

If it was me, I'd push for a pertussis test. I had a newborn that got exposed to pertussis at birth from my DH, I would never, EVER wish that on anyone.

 

[leila1213]

I think DD had it at around 8 - 10 months old. I did the research at the time and the consensus was after 6 months it is not dangerous, and even younger I think it is usually fine in an otherwise healthy child. I did treat her with SA somewhat, and she did get an ear infection, but it was her first and only. As PP stated, she seemed completely fine most of the time, but would get the whooping spells randomly, but more often at night. It didn't seem to make her uncomfortable other than the coughing spells, which she would usually fall right back to sleep or go back to whatever she was doing afterwards. I have read that WC may provide some benefits, like strengthening the lungs and immune system, and now she is immune for life! MIL recently made a point to tell both DH and me that there was a case of WC at the elementary school near us. Big deal. I changed the subject.

 

[Emmeline II]

Sodium Ascorbate. If you are not symptomatic taking SA may prevent you from contracting it at all; it will also help your ds.

Diagnosis

Benefit:
You all would be able to take antibiotics to prevent transmitting it to your nb if you are infected.

Drawbacks:
The Health Department will pester you; perhaps more than usual since you are pregnant.

If you are delivering at a hospital your son may not be able to visit, even if he is on antibiotics. The hospital may treat you differently and insist on procedures like wisking your babe away to give your nb antibiotics, keeping him in the nursery for "observation"...

You would be taking antibiotics while pregnant (though if you do not feel they are worth the risk for yourself you can fill the prescription and not take the pills).

 

[Gitti]

Personally I would stick with a regimented supplement of SA and I don't think I would give the expectorants. SA is a wonderful aid in curing wc. I bet by the time the babe is born most of his symptoms will have gone if you start it soon. imo all famliy members should be on SA until most symptoms of wc have subsided. It may last until early spring though. But the duration and number of attachs will be less and less. It won't be less severe though. That's just the way wc is.

Abx would make it worse in the child and not serve any purpose. Once a person is exposed to the bacteria they are most likely carriers. But they may not necessarily get the cough. Although they build immunity for a duration.

Once the cough starts, the bacteria has done the damages, thus the cough. So abx is useless.

For the newborn, bf will be the best prevention. Mom taking SA will go to the baby via bm.

I would not have it diagnosed by a doc since he will have to report it Perhaps that is why he did not diagnose it?
The health department will hound you to death to vaccinate and/or give abx to the whole family and who knows, maybe the newborn. That imo would be worse than being exposed to wc.

 

[Gitti]

Just in case you don't have SA at home, and it is so hard to find at hfs, here is where I order mine -

http://www.bronsonvitamins.com/50A

It come within two days after ordering.

 

[zinemama]

After my ds (4) had coughed for a month I took him to the ped and she assumed he was getting over a virus (he coughed only at night, he was fine during the day). After another 6 weks of this I brought him for a second visit. At that point she suspected that he'd had pertussis, but said that after 2 months, if that's what it was, it was on its way out and there was no point in testing.

I can't think of anything I would have done differently. He had SA daily (Natural Factors 100% Fruit Chews, which I order through Vitacost - the kids love it). He didn't cough much during the day, no "whoops." At night I kept his head elevated slightly and sometimes used the humidifier.

On the other hand, with a new baby on the way, OP, I would want to know. I'd get him tested.

 

[Full Heart]

Cough meds is not gonna work. I wouldn't even bother. Find a chiro who is friendly to non vaxing and he can show you how to help bring up the mucous as well as adjust him. Do SA to gut tolerance and get him outside in the fresh air. Rest, eat healthy and drink to thirst.

I wouldn't bother with a diagnosis if it were me. Its not gonna change anything and antibiotics are not going to help anyone. He is way past the point of stopping transmission and its not going to help him. If you are gonna test anyone, do you. Then treat you. It only works if its done early on. How long has he had the cough?

whoopingcough.net has wonderful info as well as videos and audio of whooping cough. They cough, then are fine, sometimes for hours. Coughing spells usually are very short but very hard. The spells will get closer and closer together and till they reach their peak (each persons will be different) then go back the other way till the cough is gone. They generally feel fine, not ill at all.

If you think it might not be WC you might want to look into another diagnosis.

 

[nicholem]

Hi! I have no experience with my children having Whooping cough. I have heard that chinese medicine is very helpful along with using homeopathy. I heard this from a vax talk by Dr. Randall Neustaedter. He has a very helpful website: www.cure-guide.com. You can email him your question and he is very good about getting back to you VERY quickly. He normally gets back to you within 24 hours. Good luck! And do you what you can to keep yourself healthy in the next month!

 

[amnesiac]

Since this is about treating an illness & not about vaccines I'm moving to H&H.

 

[splunky]

Whooping Cough is extremely serious in a newborn, if it were me, I would (even though i hate abx) get the abx to prevent passing it, and it will lessen the severity of the illness. At least that was my experience. I have a family member who worls in the NICU who sees newborns and babies with wc and says it's an aweful sight to see, very scarey. An older child can handle it much better, but to have a newborn with such violent fits, I wouldn't want to risk it. That's just me though.

SA is great! There is also a Homeopathic Remedy called Asthma Rescue ( i think), and that saved us so many times.
I had a 10yo and 22 mo that had it at the same time. The asthma rescue drops would lessen the severity of the coughing fits and sometimes keep them from continuing on. whoopingcough.net is a great resource for info on the cough asnd diagnosis, that's how I determined my dc had it as no dr would diagnose it! After my son was mostly over it, a different dr conquered it's most likely what he had.
DD is still coughing, 2 1/2 mo later and catches other illnesses very quickly, despite all the remedies, sa, and good diet etc.
You are doing a great job, it must be hard. Keep up the good work!

 

[Jojo F.]

I agree with using the SA to bowel tolerance. And I also agree with Gitti on the abx, there is no point in vaccinating your son now, it will do nothing or could even possibly make him worse.

Also, get a copy of Just A Little Prick. That book has lots of invaluable information although, it's REALLY long!!

Thanks Gitti for the link to get SA. I ran out and need some ASAP.

 

[momtoalotofkids]

When my kids got it, my youngest was 13 months. She got over it without a hitch. We actually didn't know she had it. When my 3 yr old got it, we suspected that it might have been pertussis. When my 5 yr old got it, we were sure it was Pertussis and she ended up w/pneumonia. Funny. Anyway, it took us forever to get an official diagnosis. We had to go to a Pulmonologist and he had to do a blood test. We practically had to hold a gun to his head to do it for us. It's not easy to get a diagnosis.

After we got a positive blood test, the health department in our town called us and told us we HAD to all go on antibiotics to neutralize the bacteria that causes Pertussis. By that time we were all over it. So, we filled the prescription and tossed it.

All of that being said, I would give your sick child 1/2 of a bottle of Silver Shield for two days and a quarter of a bottle for 4 days and that will do just what the antibiotic does. Only, it won't kill all of the good stuff in the intestines. Silver Shield has been approved by the EPA in that it is not dangerous unless you take 100 times the recommended dose for 283 years. LOL Isn't that crazy?

Good luck!

:

:

Quote:

Originally Posted by HoneyTree I suspect that my 3-year-old unvaxed son has pertussis. We've been to the ped twice, but he's an extremely non-invasive, alternative-health kind of ped, and while he listened close to ds's lungs and my impression of his cough, he never brought pertussis up, and at the time, I did not know to ask about it specifically. So what are my options if he DOES have whooping cough? Would I be doing anything different than I'm already doing (using a good expectorant, steam treatments, mustard packs, hot brothy soups, sleeping [when he can get rest] with his head and chest slightly elevated, slippery elm and licorice teas, homeopathic remedies, etc.)? What is the benefit of getting a diagnosis, and what are the drawbacks? I'm concerned because I have a baby due in 37 days, and I've heard that whooping cough can last for months. TIA for your responses.

 

[WuWei]

Here are a few threads about treating whooping cough naturally. I'd give him breastmilk, personally. Even if you are not nursing, I'd pump and get some into him multiple times a day. The immune properties of breastmilk will optimize his gut. Also, adding gut healing measures, such as cod liver oil, coconut oil, magnesium, vit C, zinc, vit A and D.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...light=whooping
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ight=treatment

This thread is by Momtezuma Tuatara about antibiotics and whooping cough: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ight=treatment

Natural healing alternatives: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...03&postcount=2

I don't recall the most contagious time period. I would be concerned about the baby during that period. However, I believe the most contagious time is in the first several weeks of the cough. Anyone recall??

Pat

 

[momofmine]

I wouldn't want a newborn to be exposed to pertussis either, but what could you do about it if you had a dx? If I thought it was pertussis and I had a newborn coming soon, I would find a really good homeopath, try a homeopathic remedy, and do lots of SA and other immune support. Look up how long they are contagious, but I don't think he would be contagious to your newborn a month from now. Plus, the babe will have lots of antibodies from you because you are building t hem up right now. I would just keep doing what you are doing, and get a homeopathic remedy too.

Hope he is feeling better soon!