Anyone have a child with a 'habit cough'?

[KimR]

My DD has had a terrible chronic cough since June that began as bronchitis but will not go away. She has been on antibitoics, several inhalers, steriods, and singulair but nothing helps. She has been seeing a pulmonologist and at her last appointment earlier this week they said her breathing test came back good and they have now diagnosed it as a 'habit cough'.

At first I didn't believe the diagnosis because she absolutely can't NOT cough It is an awful barking, croupy-sounding cough that is quite painful for her. She has gotten maybe 3 hours of sleep every night for the past week because of the severe coughing.

I called the nurse today to discuss further and she explained that although it is called a habit cough it is very real and she cannot help it (I'm having a hard time comprehending this!). Anyway, she is going to call in a prescirption for prednisone (oh, no, not again! - that stuff is nasty!) She said that this is a quite common thing, particularly among children who are very intelligent. ALso, there is very little they can do other than try to manage the symptoms and irritation (prednisone and inhalers) and then possibly speech therapy to get her to stop coughing. I'm wondering if anyone here has had a child with this problem and what is your experience? This has been a nightmare!

 

[caitycaity]

actually - my dh had this problem. what happens is after awhile the nerves just cause it to happen because they are so used to it (definitely not a technical explanation, but that is how the doctor explained it to my dh). it's very real, it's just not caused by illness.

at any rate, my dh was on medication for it (i don't remember what) and eventually it went away.

 

[disneyworld!]

ME....! I have this very same problem! I have chronic Asthmsa and I cough all the time. I am now coming off of predisone...I am 43 but have had it as long as I can remeber!~ My 10 YO newphew has it also, it is a form of stress to. When I get nerved up...it gets worse! Some of it is also non-allergic post nasal drip, which bothers my throat.

also, just a side note,,,all the sprays and the predisone make this worse......

 

[Ted and Holly]

I have never heard of this, but it really makes me think.

I used to work with a guy who had something like this. He was 23 years old, maybe? Anyway, he coughed constatntly. Some of his fits sounded painful. He never seemed sick and never really acknowldged it.

His was more nervous. If he was really busy and 5pm was coming, he'd start coughing. By 5:30, if he was still there, he'd be coughing up lungs.

He was a pretty intelligent guy, too.

Very interesting.

Ted

 

[froglady]

My mother had this cough that kept on for YEARS. Her doctor thought it was her cardiac meds, changed them, still coughing. He thought it might be allergies; tried all sorts of medications; still coughing. He thought it might be an ENT problem. HE diagnosed acid relux and put her on medication; still coughing. This sort of thing went on for over three years. Last year, her new primary care doctor said she was sick of chasing this cough, so prescribed Tessalon Pearls (which only treat the cough, not the cause). It stopped the cough. My mother's supply ran out, so I tried her off them for a couple of weeks...NO COUGH! I refilled her prescription, but will hold off until she starts coughing again. (They're expensive, and aren't covered by her drug program.)

 

[HollyNEd]

Yep my DS is going through this right now. He is 7 and very intellegent and has asthma. He started out with this sound of clearing his throat (sounds like a cat coughing up a harball). Now several weeks later he still does it and it gets much worse when he is stressed. The pshycologist last night was in agreement that it is because he is having several issues right now and it has become a habit. Also he is OCD which makes it even worse.
Good luck with it.

 

[bubba's mom]

It is an awful barking, croupy-sounding cough ..........she explained that although it is called a habit cough it is very real and she cannot help it

my nephew has had this most of his life (now 7). sounds like he is going to cough up a lung. sister says doctors can't find anything wrong with him. I will be forwarding this thread to her......thanks!

 

[SeeDisney]

HI,


When my DD was 4, we noticed that she was always cough --- just one cough and it lasted for weeks.

So I took her to the doctor and the doctor found nothing wrong with her.

The doctor mentioned that it just might be "her way of getting attention." and to ignore the cough.


I just couldn't believe ... so we ignored it and she stopped coughing.

 

[KimR]

See Disney, gosh how I wish it would be that easy with DD! The nurse told me that some kids do that to get attention, unfortunately that is not the case here What scares me is that this is going to be very hard to get rid of. It is seriously affecting her quality of life - she can't sleep, she is miserable, and she is unable to perform up to par at gymnastics. She is a competitive gymnast and had been doing so well - she was the all-around state champion last year. But her performance has gone downhill ever since this started last June and she is struggling to just maintain her current skill level. It is very frustrating and upsetting to her because she LOVES gymnastics. It is such a shame because she was doing so well and showed so much promise. Now it is possible she will not even be able to continue competing. She was in tears last night

I have looked online and apparently there has been quite a bit of success treating this through hypnosis. To be honest, I feel a little (ok, a lot!) weird taking her to a hypnotist, but at this point I think I'm desperate enough to try anything. Right now I'm dreading when she comes home from school because I'm going to have to tell her she has to go on the prednisone again - she hates that stuff.

 

[CajunDixie]

At least your school guidance counselor didn't tell you your daughter has diabetes. *LOL*

 

[disneyworld!]

Kim,
not understanding WHY predisone again? predisone can cause that. unless she is haveing a low breathing count...I would not put her on predisone! believe me I kknow...I am going thru it right now myslef!! pred..is a double edge sword and unless she is low in her count.....I wouldNOT do it!

 

[KimR]

The reason she prescribed the prednisone is to clear up the inflammation that is causing her to cough. She said that, along with her inhaler, is the only thing that is going to clear it up. I think she is hoping that the prednisone will work now that her lungs appear to be clear whereas before they were not. Then, once the inflammation is gone we can start to work on training her not to cough. She said it is a vicious cycle - the bronchitis created the cough habit, which in turn caused inflammation and irritation, which is now causing her to cough which makes the inflammation worse. At least that's how I understand it.

 

[disneyworld!]

yes, I have heard this many times Kim. I am bothered that they would put her on it again, after the infection is clear. If it is a dry cough, I just started to use a humidafier and that helped alittle...and I take hot baths and I went for a massage, I am just concerned because I knw what pred has done to me....I opted to go more natural(except this past time) I drink alot of hot green tea...this helps, and I chew some gum, helps alittle also..popicles, etc. once you get inthe cycle of coughing, it is hard, the other thing that has helped me this week, I took something to sleep. I finlly got one nites sleep.
I wish you all good luck and hope she is feeling better.............I just hate predisone, it has ruined me.

 

[Snowysmom]

My DS was always clearing his throat and coughing alot. He was diagnosed with asthma and used his inhalers but he still had the problem. He started having some other problems along with the coughing and he was diagnosed with severe acid reflux. The acid was coming up into his throat and ended up damaging his larynx. He has been on prilosec for 3 years now and while he still occassionally clears his throat, the cough is gone.

 

[disneyworld!]

snoweymom......that to was my diganose, I was asparating int my lungs, I had eroisve ephousgous and did not even know it, Dr was treating me for asthmsa which was brought on my this, I was sick for 2 years~and predisone is what the dr kept ordered....and what I really needed was a back to back antioboitc and prevacid, until this month, 2 years I have not been on predisone! I know have lung danage, they were actully moving!(my lungs) and not to mentioin all the bodiuly damange from the pred. my teeth, the blood clots, I am totally black and blue right now, and I (2 yrs ago) put on 100 pounds from it, and my bones are trashed!
there is always another reason "behind" the cough...

 

[Sleepy]

My brother has this when he is nervous. You can always tell which rides in an amusement park bother him. The closer in line he gets, the stronger the cough.

 

[Lizsa1]

My DD has had a terrible chronic cough since June that began as bronchitis but will not go away. She has been on antibitoics, several inhalers, steriods, and singulair but nothing helps. She has been seeing a pulmonologist and at her last appointment earlier this week they said her breathing test came back good and they have now diagnosed it as a 'habit cough'.

At first I didn't believe the diagnosis because she absolutely can't NOT cough It is an awful barking, croupy-sounding cough that is quite painful for her. She has gotten maybe 3 hours of sleep every night for the past week because of the severe coughing.

I called the nurse today to discuss further and she explained that although it is called a habit cough it is very real and she cannot help it (I'm having a hard time comprehending this!). Anyway, she is going to call in a prescirption for prednisone (oh, no, not again! - that stuff is nasty!) She said that this is a quite common thing, particularly among children who are very intelligent. ALso, there is very little they can do other than try to manage the symptoms and irritation (prednisone and inhalers) and then possibly speech therapy to get her to stop coughing. I'm wondering if anyone here has had a child with this problem and what is your experience? This has been a nightmare!

Hi, did you ever get this sorted? How long did it last and what did you do in end? My daughter has developed this habit cough and has been coughing every 2 seconds from morning till she falls asleep for over a month now. I'm really worried. Thanks any help much appreciated.

 

[neverlandsky]

Wouldn’t hurt to look into food intolerances / allergies, seasonal allergies, pet allergies etc. since you can develop intolerances and allergies at any age. A humidifier at bedtime overnight helps if things are dry overall environment wise.

 

[NotUrsula]

DH has it, and it drives me INSANE. (His is a little cough; think Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies; sounds more like throat-clearing.) He swears up and down that he has to do it because of post-nasal drip; that he can't breathe if he doesn't. Which is hooey, because the minute he falls asleep it stops.

See an ENT and get rid of it; constant coughing damages the throat for real over time. (I can't get DH to agree to an ENT. He told his internist about it and the twit just ordered a chest x-ray and then called it good. Great that he checked for lung cancer, but this is about his THROAT.)

 

[usnuzuloose]

Are you sure it may not be from the spring? I now have cough from this spring. Never coughed before. I think there maybe something new with the blooming as it is really effecting me bad this round. But I will keep her in prayer.......