Anyone have a child with a 'habit cough'?

[DLgal]

Thanks I'll look into this I'm booked in to see ENT. Who did you see to find this out?

An allergist. Had to run a full allergy panel and blood work.

 

[NannyBeBe]

My DH and DD both had ongoing coughing issues in the past. My DH's ended when he retired; my DD's ended when she went on Paxil. Both were caused by anxiety and stress.

 

[LetyC]

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!

I know this is an old post but I was wondering if you ever found out

I've tried everything and using humidifier at night nothing stops this constant cough.
it started like a dry cough every 20seconds and now it's a constant every 2 seconds soft cough like throat clearing sound. Been in and out of hospital they did x-ray and MRI of brain as she also lost her smell and taste so that went a week before cough started and were in 5weeks of this coughing now. It stops when she sleeps then minute she wakes the cough starts till she's asleep again. I've tried a naturopath seen many doctors and specialist (no one has seen anything like this) but specialist diagnosed a habit cough . Waiting to see a phycologist. Just feels like it will never end and it's really hard as many comment on it when we go out and she's feels no-one wants her around because of her cough.

I've tried everything and using humidifier at night nothing stops this constant cough.
it started like a dry cough every 20seconds and now it's a constant every 2 seconds soft cough like throat clearing sound. Been in and out of hospital they did x-ray and MRI of brain as she also lost her smell and taste so that went a week before cough started and were in 5weeks of this coughing now. It stops when she sleeps then minute she wakes the cough starts till she's asleep again. I've tried a naturopath seen many doctors and specialist (no one has seen anything like this) but specialist diagnosed a habit cough . Waiting to see a phycologist. Just feels like it will never end and it's really hard as many comment on it when we go out and she's feels no-one wants her around because of her cough.

My son is going through the same thing right now and I’m really worried. Did your daughters cough ever go away? What treatments worked? My son got influenza B then two weeks later after all of his symptoms went away a cough remained that got constant around every 1-2 min. The cough is not harsh but it’s soft somewhat like a blow.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I know this is an old post but I was wondering if you ever found out


My son is going through the same thing right now and I’m really worried. Did your daughters cough ever go away? What treatments worked? My son got influenza B then two weeks later after all of his symptoms went away a cough remained that got constant around every 1-2 min. The cough is not harsh but it’s soft somewhat like a blow.

My daughter coughs after she eats. This has been going on for some time now. She recently had her yearly check up with doctor and she's just referring us back to her pulmonary doctor, she has asthma. My daughters PCP mentioned about being tested for allergies again. LIke I said, she has asthma and had those tests done before but all was negative. Also mentioned that an EGD (upper endoscopy may be needed). What is strange, though, we were on a cruise 12/22 and my daughter didn't cough once after eating. But, back home, back to coughing. Thinking of getting the house "tested." She doesn't have that doctor's appointment until June.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

My DS went through this after a bout of whooping cough. He was about 11 at the time. He's also asthmatic. His allergist and pediatrician were stumped. I asked him to try and suppress his cough by fighting the urge to cough. I used the timer on my phone and started at suppressing it for 10 seconds. When the time was up he could cough all he needed to. Lots of positive reinforcement! Gradually increased the times between coughs and eventually it went away.