possible diagnosis

My son Eoin 6 yrs oldhas had a troublesome dry chesty cough for some time.. usually only occurring during the night time.. effecting his sleep. Never with fever or mucus we have simply waited for it to pass. No wheezing or chest complaints although he does shorten pronunciation of words regularly.

However, the last few weeks the night time coughing has become worse and wakes him up trying to catch his breath several times.

I took him to the doctors yesterday and she checked for infection/virus.. but there were no signs of any.

Many further questions led her to suggest Asthma as a possibility.

we are non smokers, no pets either.

He has been given a preventer inhaler for use every evening and morning.. and a reliever Inhaler for use only when needed.

This is a 3 week trial period to see if the inhaler significantly reduces symptoms.

She said that full results of the medications effects should be apparent within a few days.

Then a follow up appointment will hopefully determine outcome/full diagnosis.

He used the preventer inhaler last night before bed and the night time coughing reduced by about 50%..

It appears Eoin may have Asthma

do you think that it is a likely diagnosis?

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Hi,

So sorry your son has been suffering.

His symptoms sound similair to my son's in the beginning. My son is nearly 4 and for about 3/4 months suffered with a cough throughout the day, then at night he would have coughing and almost like sleep apnea, where his breathing was erratic, fast then slow then stopping for a few seconds. The dr diagnosed asthma, and my son started using the brown inhaler on the lowest dose morning and night. After about 5 days, the sleeping problems at night must of reduced by about 80%. However, in this time we saw another dr, and she looked at his tonsils and said they were enlarged and that this can cause sleep problems too, as they block the airway when lying down.

After a long wait we finally saw a peadiatrician at the hospital, who said they were large, and that the brown inhaler will also help for tonsils as it is a medication to 'open the airways' so if the tonsils are the problem this is why the sleep apnea had improved.

Anyway, we then saw a ENT specialist and he said his tonsils were large, although he was very young to have them out and if his symptoms had improved it was best to leave well alone.

So, I'm currently in the process of going back to dr's and asthma nurses to try and get some clarification on his symptoms, He still coughs a lot, although hardly ever at night now. There is a test they can do for asthma, which you could ask about for your son, although i can't for my son as they have to be 5.

So, maybe as an idea get his tonsils checked or google it and see if the symptoms sound familiar to you.

Just an idea, who knows for sure as this is confusing for some dr's let alone us parents!

Take care.xxx