Re: decongestants, cough suppressants--need advice

November 29, 2002

Hi ,

First, I want to tell you that I went to your web site and you

photographs are wonderful. I loved seeing Ashton's earliest pictures,

but my gosh he was so teeny. How much did he weigh at birth? Did you

know before he was born that he had CF, or did you find out at birth?

Second, about the decongestants and cough suppressants. Some

decongestants may be drying, but this is more of an action of an

antihistamine.

My son wasn't diagnosed with CF until age 4. But before the CF

diagnosis, we knew he had allergies (he took weekly allergy shots).

His pediatrician gave us the name of a good over-the-counter liquid

cold medicine and we used it every night. Without it, often about 20

minutes after falling asleep, he'd begin coughing until he'd finally

vomit. During the worst times, we used a prescription cough med called

Tussinex.

The day was diagnosed with CF, I asked his pulmonary doctor

whether it was okay to continue using the liquid cold medicine (it

contained a decongestant and antihistamine). He said yes. I was so

relieved because I knew wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully

without it.

He also said the cough suppressant was okay. I remember this like it

was yesterday. He said there will always come a time when you just

have to use a cough suppressant especially if the cough is preventing

sleep. We all know that coughing is good because it clears the lungs

of mucus, so of course you never use it on a daily basis.

I think you followed maternal instinct and did the right thing.

Because your son has a dilated esophogeal sphincter coughing is going

aggravate it. His body is already burning extra calories trying to get

over the cold and burning calories from coughing, so you don't want

those calories being thrown up.

Since the PediaCare has an expectorant, this is going to thin the

mucus, but it can't work properly without lots of liquids. You're

already probably giving him extra liquids because of the cold, but I

just wanted to point out the expectorant needs liquids to work.

Do you run a cool-mist vaporizer in his room to help with the stuffy

nose? This can help a lot, just be sure to clean it well every day to

keep down mold. You might want to put a drop of eucalyptus essential

oil in the water -- but check the machine's directions first because

some tell you not to add anything but water, and I'd hate for you to

ruin your machine.

Eucalyptus helps open stuffy noses; it's a good antibacterial and

anti-inflammatory agent. My son and I keep a bottle of eucalyptus oil

on hand to use at the first sign of a cold or stuffy sinuses. In fact,

I put a drop in a pan of water and set the pan on my radiators to

moisten the air in my home. If you have a Whole Foods store near you,

you can pick up a bottle of eucalyptus there. In fact, the Aura Cacia

brand is on sale right now because I was just at Whole Foods on

Wednesday and noticed it when I bought a bottle of clove oil.

Also, I'm a HUGE fan of vitamin C. I've been giving vitamin C to my

kids since they were very young. We take 500 mg. twice and day

and rarely get colds but when we do, we bump the dose to a minimum of

3,000 mg. daily, and suck on a zinc tablet for 20 minutes. The zinc

kills the rhinovirus in the back of your throat.

They make grape flavored zinc/echinacea lollipops for kids. My

daughter's boyfriend bought some for her last year because she hates

sucking zinc tablets (and she's also the one who gets more colds

because she hate taking meds of any kind, so she often forgets her

daily vitamin C). Echinacea helps boost the immune system so you don't

want to use it longterm (3 months is considered long-term), but when

you get a cold it's fine to use for a couple weaks until your health

returns.

Kim

Mom to (23 with asthma and cf) and (20 asthma no cf)

> Hello all--my 20 month old is having his 2nd cold of his lifetime

> and he is starting a cough. It isn't in his lungs (yet), just in

> the back of his throat. But he coughs so much since it is gagging

> him that he is throwing up in his sleep. I know that we aren't

> supposed to give cough suppressants but he keeps throwing up all his

> feedings (he is exclusively g-tube fed). So we started giving him

> PediaCare with a suppressant, decongestant and expectorant. Is this

> OK to give? He has NO lung problems as of yet--we don't even do CPT

> anymore. We just want him to dry up this congestion and stop

> coughing so he can keep his food down. Please HELP!!

>

> (mom to Ashton, 20 months wcf, ulcerative collitis, dilated

> esophogeal sphincter, g-tube, 11 weeks premature)

>

> http://www.babyfergie.com

November 30, 2002

When my, now 4 year old, was having his first colds, around the same age as

yours, and gagging at night, we were told to give him Dimetap Cold/Allergy.

It is the purple label. There is no cough suppresant, which is good. Now,

I use iut every time he has a head cold and it has prevented it from

traveling to his lungs. Check with your doc of course, but it works wonders

for us!

Melinda - sons 4 and 7 months, both wcf and sister 26 wcf

decongestants, cough suppressants--need advice

Hello all--my 20 month old is having his 2nd cold of his lifetime

and he is starting a cough. It isn't in his lungs (yet), just in

the back of his throat. But he coughs so much since it is gagging

him that he is throwing up in his sleep. I know that we aren't

supposed to give cough suppressants but he keeps throwing up all his

feedings (he is exclusively g-tube fed). So we started giving him

PediaCare with a suppressant, decongestant and expectorant. Is this

OK to give? He has NO lung problems as of yet--we don't even do CPT

anymore. We just want him to dry up this congestion and stop

coughing so he can keep his food down. Please HELP!!

(mom to Ashton, 20 months wcf, ulcerative collitis, dilated

esophogeal sphincter, g-tube, 11 weeks premature)

http://www.babyfergie.com

November 30, 2002