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Child With Dry Cough. Worse At Night. Had Asthma. Taking Robitussin. Suggestion?
Question: My 6 year old has had this terrible dry "chunky" sounding cough for about a little over a week now. There is no mucus. She has no other symptoms. She had asthma when she was younger but hasnt had any wheezing for some years now and has had no need of using an inhaler. She has no pain/discomfort. Plays fine with the other kids outside in the snow but just cant seem to shake this cough. Ive given her Robitussin for it and it made the cough worse as well as some other medicine she had for cough and nothing seems to work. Ive also given her Benedryl and nothing happened except for her sleeping. The cough gets worse at night. She wakes me up out of my sleep with this cough. This cough came about when it started getting really cold up here and snow began to fall. Shes overall healthy. No smokers in the home. Ive had the flu and her siblings have had colds but she just has this cough.
Hi,
Thanks for writing to XXXXXXX
From what you described, your child had asthma before which was treated appropriately. It is very much possible to get an exacerbation even after many years. The probable trigger could have been the chilly weather and the viral flu, which your family members had.
Do not worry. Give her broncho dilators as inhalers example albuterol. You may give her 2 to 4 puffs at a time with a spacer device attached up to 4 times a day. Cough syrups are not good to control an allergic cough.
However, do get her examined by a physician in case if her cough gets worse or if she runs high fever.
Hope I answered your query, wishing your child a speedy recovery and a happy new year.
Dr Arun
Thanks for writing to XXXXXXX
From what you described, your child had asthma before which was treated appropriately. It is very much possible to get an exacerbation even after many years. The probable trigger could have been the chilly weather and the viral flu, which your family members had.
Do not worry. Give her broncho dilators as inhalers example albuterol. You may give her 2 to 4 puffs at a time with a spacer device attached up to 4 times a day. Cough syrups are not good to control an allergic cough.
However, do get her examined by a physician in case if her cough gets worse or if she runs high fever.
Hope I answered your query, wishing your child a speedy recovery and a happy new year.
Dr Arun
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Shanthi.E
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