Wednesday, April 6, 2011

the cough

Well, it's been a while since I have had something to write about and now I do! Allergies! Generally speaking we have been dealing with allergies since Bee was born. She goes through periods where she has terrible coughing fits at night all of which are blamed on post nasal drip caused by allergies. We have tried everything from humidifiers, slanting her mattress, steamy showers, cough medicines, allergy medicines and, yes, even putting Vicks on the bottom of her feet. The Vicks does work by the way for a while but then it starts to not be as effective. This year has been especially bad. The coughing is so hard at night that she gags or seems like she might throw up from it. Forget about a good night sleep. I haven't slept through the night in a month. There is usually a 2 hour period sometime after 2:00 am that we are awake. I haven't been this tired since she was a baby. It's startng to wear on me and my nerves. I'm dangerously close to tears on a regular basis and I don't think she, my husband or I can take anymore! So, we have decided to take her to an asthma and allergy specialist. I have no experience in this area what so ever. Her pediatrician, while we really like her, just keeps giving us cough medicine and bronchodilator syrup which to me just treats the cough. I understand that the cough needs to be treated but to me it is just the symptom. So, off we go on Monday to see the allergy doctor to tell us what is causing this or if it is possible that she has asthma. I have been speaking with a co-worker who went through the same thing with her little boy, who's a few years older than Bee, and I have been getting a lot of wondersful information from her. But, I do want to know if anyone else out there has any other suggestions, advice, experience in working with an allergy specialist, etc. I will post more as I learn more. Thanks everyone!