Whooping Cough-Older kid

[rooster222]

My dd is 17 and pretty sure she has (had) whooping cough. She's been sick since the end of Sept. It seemed like a virus but the cough persisted and for two weeks she's been vomiting from coughing. I took her to urgent care last week....they did not say whooping cough, that's my diagnosis. They gave her a steroid, Albuterol, and cough pills. Nothing helped at all.

Google says there isn't much to do for the cough and it can last months. She thinks we are bad parents and she needs to go back to Dr. Urgent care did a chest x-ray so she doesn't have pneumonia.

(Sidenote-she is vaccinated. Her best friend has the same lingering cough that causes vomiting.)

Do we need to go back to the Dr? Any experiences with this?

[Susie]

If your kid is up to date on the TDaP and it's not specifically known to be circulating near you and you don't know anyone else with pertussis, I'd be really surprised if it IS pertussis.  I think it's more likely that it's just a really nasty respiratory virus that she's having trouble clearing out.  I have had those, where the coughing fits were straight up violent, no other word for it, and it lasted weeks.  Unfortunately the unsatisfying dx in my case was sinus infection.  The chest x-ray was negative for pneumonia.  I got a steroid inhaler that helped a little, and had to ride it out for several more weeks.  I think that is more likely the path you are on than pertussis, in which case I don't see very much benefit in another doctor visit.  

It sounds like she feels miserable, which is both understandable and sympathetic.  But the jump to bad parents, if she's actually saying that, is just teen angst and unhappiness.  That's not worth dwelling on.

[rooster222]

Oct 31, 2024 15:39:41 GMT -5 Susie said:

If your kid is up to date on the TDaP and it's not specifically known to be circulating near you and you don't know anyone else with pertussis, I'd be really surprised if it IS pertussis.  I think it's more likely that it's just a really nasty respiratory virus that she's having trouble clearing out.  I have had those, where the coughing fits were straight up violent, no other word for it, and it lasted weeks.  Unfortunately the unsatisfying dx in my case was sinus infection.  The chest x-ray was negative for pneumonia.  I got a steroid inhaler that helped a little, and had to ride it out for several more weeks.  I think that is more likely the path you are on than pertussis, in which case I don't see very much benefit in another doctor visit.  

It sounds like she feels miserable, which is both understandable and sympathetic.  But the jump to bad parents, if she's actually saying that, is just teen angst and unhappiness.  That's not worth dwelling on.

It is circulating in our area. And the problem is the vomiting which can be somewhat spontaneous. The coughing fits leave her gasping for breath. They aren't extremely frequent but when they do happen they are bad.

[frlcb]

Are you sure it isn't walking pneumonia? My 16 year old had an awful, awful cough, took to urgent care, said it was just a virus, a week later took to the pediatrician, and it was walking pneumonia. He told me they have never seen so many cases of pneumonia in one season. Gave him a z-pac and it cleared it up.

[Deleted]

Our ten-year-old is about a week into the same thing. He sounded like a barking seal last week (for a few minutes at a time then went back to sounding normal), and had coughed so much he vomited a few times.

[waverly]

Our pedi usually prescribes budesonide (pulmacort) with the albuterol.

Mucinex can be helpful when breathing treatments are not.

Provided that it isn’t pnuemonia.

[rooster222]

Oct 31, 2024 16:14:01 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Are you sure it isn't walking pneumonia? My 16 year old had an awful, awful cough, took to urgent care, said it was just a virus, a week later took to the pediatrician, and it was walking pneumonia. He told me they have never seen so many cases of pneumonia in one season. Gave him a z-pac and it cleared it up.

I'm not sure, that's going around too. We listened to audio online of whooping cough and her cough matches, along with the symptoms.

[sillygoosegirl]

Generally speaking, when my kid asks to go to the doctor, I take her. Often it turns out there is nothing they can do, but honestly I don't want her ever to look back and think I was denying her care. And sometimes it turns out that there is more they can do than I expect.

[Jalapeñomel]

Pneumonia is so bad right now. I’d get an X-ray to see what’s happening.

I’m sorry they’re so sick.

[aprilsails]

I also know a few adults and children who've gotten croup recently. Don't know if that really changes anything in terms of treatment. But it's wild hearing an adult with a croup cough. I associate it so much with infancy that it is weird to hear. If humidity and steam help relieve the cough then that might be the culprit.

[wanderingback]

I don’t have a teen and unless they have a history of faking illness I would take them back to the doctor if they are feeling unwell and asking to go to the doctor.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Oct 31, 2024 16:23:10 GMT -5 Deleted said:

Our ten-year-old is about a week into the same thing. He sounded like a barking seal last week (for a few minutes at a time then went back to sounding normal), and had coughed so much he vomited a few times.

This sounds like Croup, not Whooping Cough.  The barking seal cough is the main indicator.  Same treatment for any respiratory infection though. 

[expectantsteelerfan]

Is your daughter congested? Is her cough productive or dry? I get upper respiratory infections often after colds (currently have bronchitis). I sometimes need an antibiotic along with the steroid, cough meds (tessalon pearls, which sometimes help, and sometimes don't do anything) and inhaler, because my cough is caused by the congestion that sometimes just won't clear without an antibiotic.

This round, I also found it helpful to not take any cough meds. during the day so I can cough up the phlegm, and then take it at night to get rest. Last night I added benedryl to help dry up the congestion, and that really helped.

[maudefindlay]

Last fall I had a respiratory infection that would not get better. I was dx with bronchitis. Turns out I had a really bad sinus infection that was the cause of it all. So I'd make sure her sinuses get checked out. Mine are apparently small and I ended up getting balloon sinuplasty. The gasping for air/coughing fits were definitely me. Antibiotics did not help, a steroid gave some temporary relief, but I needed an ENT.

[sparty04]

My friend is an ER nurse at a very large pediatric hospital and said they are filled with pneumonia cases right now. In fact, her own kid has it right now. His symptoms are similar to what you're describing

[hermione]

Pneumonia is going around. My daughter had it two weeks ago and it seems like everyone we know has at least one kid down with it.

[Susie]

YLE just mentioned in a post this morning that mycoplasma pneumonia levels are currently at 10x last year's levels:  yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/the-dose-november-1

That could be worth investigating.

[scm1011]

Echoing that there is a lot of pneumonia going around right now. Three kids from DS' class have been out with it in the last 2 weeks.

[Bad Dingo]

I'd record her coughing and go back to the doctor and share it with them. Unfortunately there probably isn't much they can do if it is whooping cough.

[devonpow]

Pertussis went around our high school last June - I know a lot of kids who had it (yes, all were vaccinated). They had all the kids plus immediate family members do a round of antibiotics, even if the immediate family members had no symptoms. So I would definitely check in with the dr.

[devonpow]

www.npr.org/2024/10/10/nx-s1-5127422/whooping-cough-outbreak-u-s-seattle

[starburst604]

I’d take her back if she isn’t improving on those meds. Any time I get a cold where the cough lingers too long, I get terrible laryngospasm that causes me to choke terribly and sometimes throw up. I started taking a PPI (Prilosec etc) for lingering colds which helped a lot with that. So just a thought that the coughing could be triggering GERD, leading to the vomiting.