Coughing for two months now

Philomath

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My 12 year old daugher has been coughing for two months now. A dry cough and occasional sneeze. The pediatrician said to try Zyrtec to rule out allergies. We did - no effect.
I'm now thinking its gut related (she's always had some gut issues like constipation) and I am looking for some ideas on how to cleanse and improve her gut health.
I do have some cyproheptadine but I'm not sure if there's a safe amount for a pre teen.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!
 

tara

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Have you tried any kind of reduced breathing exercises with her? One of mine gets an asthmatic cough occasionally, and a few short breath holds will sometimes interrupt it. Acc. normalbreathing.com, increasing CO2 can sooth the nerves that stimulate coughing, and improve the ability to clear airways continuously by cilia and mucous.

I think Peat has said cyproheptadine is safer than cetrizine (Zyrtec), but I don't know suitable dose for young one.
 
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Philomath

Philomath

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Thank you Tara. I will try the breath holds and/or bag breathing to see if that helps.
Interestingly, Drug.com says the following:
Age 7 to 14 years
The usual dose is 4 mg (1 tablet) two or three times a day adjusted as necessary to the size and response of the patient. The dose is not to exceed 16 mg a day.
I think that would but me in a coma! 2 mg made me extremely tired. I'm 200lbs and she's 130 (tall for 12)
If I were going to try Cypro, I might try 1mg at a time. I think I might also have her checked for intestinal issues.
Thanks again!
 

Mittir

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My 8 year old niece had dry cough for about 3 months, mostly at night and
during sleep. Benadryl did not help. I tried to cut out some possible source of gut
irritants. Finally i found out she was eating frozen chicken nuggets almost every day,
which had some preservatives and additives, particularly soy protein.
It took me a month to convince her and her mom to stop that particular
chicken nuggets and she was fine within few days. She has been eating those
nuggets for years but suddenly something changed. You can look at the foods
your daughter is eating. Did you add any new foods before she was having this problem?
My experience is that most of the time it is gut irritants from foods or supplements causing
sudden health issues in most people around me.
 

EmmBee

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Coughing at night can be a sign of asthma. Maybe your Dr could check that out.
 

Mittir

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RP mentioned that high serotonin and histamine are involved in asthma and gut irritant
increases serotonin. Serotonin increases other stress hormones.
Everything goes back to healthy gut. Cyproheptadine should help with both.
Having a steady blood sugar level keeps stress hormones in check and
minimizes reaction to allergenic compounds and improves asthma
related breathing difficulty. RP used to eat a quart of ice cream to prevent
migraine episodes by eating ice cream as soon as he realized he was about to
have an attack. Later he realized that the large amount of sugar in
ice cream was preventing migraine attack.
 

pboy

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its definitely a gut thing, but that's not a simple thing

is she eating school lunches and what not? regular American diet?
 

Zachs

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I would wager its an allergy to a food. Does she eat a lot of grains? subpar dairy?
 

ejalrp

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As EmmBee said it could very well be asthma. My asthma improved tremendously after taking high doses of Vitamin D for weeks. Also magnesium seemed to help.
 

Matt1951

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Could be something serious such as tuberculosis. More likely something that needs a good round of antibiotics. Visit your doctor again. Coughing for two months needs attention.
 

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