Cronic Couging Causing Vomiting in 2-Year-old...

Updated on May 16, 2011
A.S. asks from Mesquite, TX
11 answers

My son will be 3-years-old at the end of the month. He has really bad seasonal allergies of which he sees the allergist for. Since he was little, if he gets too wound up at times he'll get a bit of a cough but nothing severe. However, these last two weeks he has gotten a horrible cough that just won't go away. It acts up whenever he goes to bed, a nap, sleeps in the car, gets himself too worked up while playing, or when he gets himself excited from throwing a fit. He starts coughing so badly that he begins to vomit. I've given him Triaminic... doesn't help. I have given him Benadryl... doesn't help. I took him to the pediatrician thinking it could be an URI... she said his chest was completely clear and his ears, nose, mouth were all good too. She thought it is possibly asthma... but my son does not wheeze at all... just severely coughs. She gave me Singulair to try for 14 days (for asthma/allergies) and we are now on day 3 and it hasn't helped either... Anyone have any ideas? It is 1:10AM and I just got done cleaning up another vomit mess because he was coughing so severely in his sleep.

Would acid reflux cause coughing like this? He doesn't cough all day long... just during the times I mentioned: sleeping, too wound-up, throwing fit... The only thing that seems to help is the Cough Syrup with 100% Natural Honey. If I am understanding this syrup right, it's not medicated and is just a honey based syrup that coats the throat and esophagus... He was commenting today while he was coughing that his throat hurt... but he's not sick. The pediatrician checked him out.

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So What Happened?

I called the pediatrician yesterday and told her the medication she prescribed was not working so she called us in an inhaler. I was very worried about paying $74 for an inhaler because I always thought inhalers were for wheezing. Well, my son just got done waking up from a bad dream and was all upset which of course made him go into another one of these horrible coughing fits that nearly made him vomit several times. I finally got my son to breath in some of the inhaler (they gave me the special attachment for a toddler) and it worked like a charm! He is now back sleeping cough free. Normally, I would still be up there dealing with his coughing and/or cleaning up vomit. Apparently it WAS asthma. Thank you to everyone that suggested and helped to convince me that wheezing does not have to come with asthma.

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L.G.

answers from San Diego on

My 3 y/o does the same thing. He has been having the same problem since he was about 9 months old, but yet I couldn't really pinpoint what was causing it. Now that he is older it seems to only be when he's got a cough and either he starts coughing too hard when he's sleeping, too wound up, or sometimes just being outside in the cold air. Like right now, I just had to next day ship his inhaler because he is visiting with his grandmother where it is rainy and cold and he's getting over a cough, but he has been coughing so hard there he's vomiting every day. But he rarely uses the inhaler and so I didn't think to pack it. Originally the dr's thought it was acid reflux and he was on and off a medicine for it, but it didn't seem to help. His last dr. took him off of it, and suggested it was possibly asthma related, which is why she prescribed him an inhaler for when he starts coughing too much and it really seems to help.

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R.K.

answers from Boston on

My 9 yr olds seasonal allergies are horrendous right now :( the cough while sleeping is probably caused by post nasal drip coughing hard enough will cause vomiting both of boys do it when their allergies are bad causing them to cough. I've found for my oldest that singular does nothing for allergies. If he does have asthma triggered by allergies you need to get the allergies under control. Does the allergist have him on any allergy medications like claritin, zyrtec, flonase, etc my oldest is having such a hard time this year we are going today to discuss shots :(
Oh I have cough variant asthma (no wheeze) mines triggered by cold air but I'm sure anything could trigger it. Also for hi I'd take him to the allergist not the regular ped

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R.M.

answers from Cumberland on

Take him to an ENT-they will sort it all out. It could be food allergies-wheat, dairy, eggs...good luck-I don't like hearing that a pediatrician seems insensitive towards a child who is sick and a mommy that is at her wits end!

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L.A.

answers from Austin on

You need to go to the doctor and get them to find an answer to this.
If it is allergies, what are they going to do about it? Medications? Shots?

Have you purchased an electric air filter for his room to help him get rid of all of the allergens? Does he have carpet in his room? Does it need to be pulled out?

Could it be asthma? Our daughters Asthma was a cough just like this..
He was on a nebulizer with treatments so she could breath properly. She finally grew out of.

I just got over a 2 week battle with Whooping cough and am now in the beginning of the "100 day cough" that follows whooping cough..
I cried during the whooping cough because I could only breath at 1/4 capacity and I hated thinking of all of the children that had suffered with it.

Your child deserves a good night sleep, so do all of you. Let your doctor know they need to solve this.

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K.M.

answers from Dallas on

Take your son to your allergist. It sounds like asthma. He doesnt have to wheeze at all. My son started the chronic cough at 3 and he was finally diagnoised at 5 with asthma. Both of my kids have the chronic cough/asthma. Although my son doesnt vomit my daughter does. Both of their asthma is triggered by allergies and they both do the allergy shots which has helped a lot. They are both no longer on daily asthma meds they just take them as needed.

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R.C.

answers from Dallas on

I agree with R... take him to an ENT. My second child did this and it was reflux - it would get worse when he laid down and he would vomit all over the sheets a couple times a night; additionally, I didn't catch on quickly enough and it caused vocal nodules that due to the severity of his reflux he still has (he is 9 now).
We were able to get it under control after he was diagnosed and put on an acid reducer medication - big relief for him and us.

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D.S.

answers from Houston on

give him a warm bath. I think she is right that sounds like cough variant asthma. Ask your allergist for an pulmanary sp? test. Not all asthmatics wheeze. I think I would take him to the er cause I do vomit if my asthma acts up real bad and that is when you are in severe stages. It also makes your lungs feel like they are going to come out your throat. It hurts real bad to cough that severly.

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S.W.

answers from New York on

Sounds like whooping cough, which is getting more common lately. My daughter had it too. Not much you can do t this stage of it, except treat the symptoms with whatever you can to soothe the cough. It takes a few weeks, but will go away eventually!

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M.O.

answers from Chicago on

My guess would be asthma or reflux. Maybe both.

Reflux can cause coughing esp after meals, laying down or "getting worked up".

We've been dealing with something similar here - any time he gets worked up, all the food/milk comes up.

And as for your question about wheezing, I don't wheeze either, but I do get coughing fits occasionally. I kept asking my dr for a prescription strength cough med so I could stay asleep. She instead gave me an inhaler. It worked like a charm the first night. I never made the association.

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C.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

Sounds like one of 3 things, asthma (wheezing doesn't always come along with asthma, so the severe cough could be a sign), reflux (if it's coming up high enough it will cause a cough) or sinus infection (this is really bad time for these, I would take him back and ask about sinus infection). My bet would be sinus infection if he's allergy prone.

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J.R.

answers from Dallas on

Hi,
We go through the same thing with my oldest daughter frequently. She also has asthma and we do breathing treatments but I've also found that these other things help some: try propping him up on a pillow at night to sleep( I put two under her and lay her up high and put two other pillows on each side to keep her from rolling off), still keep giving the allergy medicine because sometimes the cough is a result of allergy drainage and you may notice in the morning he will complain of his belly hurting because of the yucky stuff draining onto an empty belly, and when we have been in a coughing fit I have been able to steam up the bathroom and take and sit with her in it for 15 minutes and this usually gets her some immediate relief until the breathing treatment or other medicine kicks in.

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