My 4 year old gets about 4-5 sinus infections a year. He gets a really bad, deep cough and I won't even go into details about how gross his nose gets. I'm sure it's from allergies, but he has always been given an antibiotic that clears it up so we haven't done anything else about it. However, this time it started in January and soon after the antibiotic ended, the coughing started up again. He recently finished another round of antibiotics, was good for a few days and now the coughing is back. I don't want to keep him on antibiotics, but he obviously needs something to help him. I've been giving him Claritin the last couple of days because it works great on my 7 year old, but I can't see that it helps him at all. I'm reluctant to try Zyrtec because I've hear that it can cause children to be very irritable. Does anyone know of any other solutions I may be able to try. I'll probably send him to our allergist eventually, but I know it will be a while before he can get in to see her. Thanks in advance for any advice!
Dont always go by what you hear about a medicine. Zyrtec is all I give my daughter and I recently started my son on it. I cant tell any mood difference in them at all and it works great for their allergies. Clariton didnt work as well for my daughter but I take it every day myself and zyrtec didnt work for me. Its always good to give things a try.
My daughter had the same issues until I gave her Nasonex. Nothing over the counter worked, nothing I did at home worked. She would cough all night and no one was able to get any sleep. She has severe post nasal drip even when she seems fine during the day, but at night everything would change. 2nd night of using the spray, no more coughing and so far this allergy season she has had no reaction, whereas, here I sit coughing, drippy nosed and weepy eyed. Gonna go get me some Nasonex!
Hi E.,
Different meds affect different kids in different ways. I would go ahead and try the Zyrtec. I've been giving it to one of my sons on and off (during allergy season) for a couple of years with no problems. Claritin did nothing for him (or me), but the Zyrtec works great. Claritin works great for my husband, but Zyrtec does nothing for him. My other son is greatly affected by any kind of cold or allergy meds. You could also try Benedryl or Dimetapp. Dawn suggested a neti pot. My husband loves it, but I'm one of the small per centage of people who can't use one, so be sure to read up on it. I'd make the appointment to get the allergy testing done ASAP, too.
Good luck!
We give my son Claritin at night. You have to keep up with the Claritin as it takes a while for it to build up in his system. Also, we run an air purifier in his room all the time. The two together really seem to keep the symptoms down.
go to the dr. and see if he will give you a script for singular. you can also try bynadreral. good luck. mom of 7, R.
i would definately take him to an allergist. my 3 yr old has been going for over a year now due to both food and seasonal allergies. he is on nasonex and singulair and we have no problems. we have tried several different meds and this is what is working so far. good luck, i hope you get it straightened out!
My 5 yr old has extreme seasonal allergies and went undiagnosed until a couple of months ago. But we did the rounds of antibiotics and it would clear up and then come back. Finally he was prescribed 5ml of Claritin a day and after about a week or so of taking it daily his cough and runny nose was much better but not completely gone....but we stuck with the Claritin and now he has almost no syptoms. So stick with the Claritin and give it time. I also agree with not using the anitboitics anymore because they will soon lose there fighting ablities because your little one will build up an immunity to them.
Good luck!
We just went through something similar with my son who just turned six. He has been so sick for almost a year. The past six months he was on six rounds of antibiotics, mostly for ear infections, but before that he had only had one ear infection in his life, so the doctor wanted to figure out the cause rather than immediately putting tubes in. His pediatritian tested for allergies rather than waiting to get into an allergist. I could write a super long post, but the short story is that we got him a new mattress, cleaned the air ducts and carpet (have wood floors in most of the house), change his clothes after he's been outside to keep the grass out (one of his main allergies), are trying to find a home for our cat, and had a great treatment done to the dogs that gets rid of much of the loose hair and dander. We do have him on Zyrtec daily now, and it has been an enormous help. He was very irritable when on antibiotics, but I see no change in behavior when he's on the Zyrtec, except that he's happier because he's sleeping better without coughing all night. I hope you find something that helps with your son. It's hard to see them miserable.
You may consider taking him to an ENT as well or instead. My daughter got many sinus infections a year and when she was 7 we had her adenoids removed. We went through at least 6 antibiotics before finding one that would work, only to have it all start up again months later.
We also found she has a very small opening in her sinus cavity, which was preventing proper drainage. Once the infection set in, we could never really get rid of it. It's been a year since the surgery and she had only one sinus infection this year. She still has seasonal allergies, which we treat as needed, but it is all much better.
.
