When Do You Worry About a Cough?

I had a cough a few years ago that lingered for 8 weeks.
It was miserable.
Have her use a heating pad on low on her throat and chest over night.
It helped me sleep better.
At 12 yrs old - she's too old for croup anymore - that's for young kids (babies/toddlers/preschoolers) - at 12 her throat air passage should be large enough it can't swell shut anymore.
Have her use a neti pot to rinse her sinuses out with warm saline.
It'll help her rinse allergens out and help keep her nose from dripping down into her lungs.

I had chronic bronchitis for many years - every cold settled in the chest and created those loose coughing spasms. Shortness of breath is common - which is why she has more coughing if she exerts herself. It was unrelated to allergies in my case. Sometimes they just say "allergies" or "viral" or "bacterial/antibiotics" when they have no idea. So obviously the antibiotics aren't going to do a thing if it's not bacterial to begin with, and the Claritin won't work if it's not allergies (or even if it is but needs a different med). Maybe going to a new area on vacation with new stuff in the air contributed to her reaction.

I'm assuming whooping cough has been ruled out.

If she has good energy and appetite, it's probably not serious. If she has a long history of respiratory problems (as I did), then you either continue like this or you look into immune system support. That's what turned my life around. I went from 3-5 cases a year to 0 cases per year, and no more allergy meds, for the past 8 years.

Well, an antibiotic isn't going to help allergies at all. So if it is allergies, the antibiotic was irrelevant. Are you using any type of allergy medicine for her? At age 12, she can take basically an adult dose of any of the over the counter allergy medicines - claritin, allegra, or zyrtec (generics are available for all 3 to save $$). If she didn't respond to claritin, you should try one of the others.

Our kids take Bromfed when their coughs are bad, but it's not allergies or something more serious. We can only get it at Target and it is a prescription.

They shouldn't be giving her allergy meds AND antibiotics, I would think that's too much. And the doctors should be able to tell which it is.

My husband had an upper respirator infection mid January and is just now losing his cough. I don't know why it hangs on so long. You can always call the doctor's office and let them know the cough is hanging on and see what they say. My friend is a family doc and says the cold/cough condition is rampant right now.

Hope it lets you know you're not alone in this. Hope your kiddo is better soon.

There was a bug the blew in around Christmas with a blizzard and gave everyone a bad cough that took forever to go away. Many had the cough for a good month before it left. Do keep up with it and listen for any changes in the cough and head in to doctor's office. Has your little one had a chest Xray recently?

the other S.

Two weeks for a cough after a cold is pretty typical for us. A bad cold, even longer. We were always told their air passages were inflamed and took a while to heal.

Our doctor has never been concerned or put us on antibiotics unless necessary.

Some of mine have allergies - if they had a cough related to their allergies, they used their puffer and they have a nasal spray they use daily.

One thing we always were told was to offer more fluids and keep air moist.

The ones with allergies will sometimes have post nasal drip that collects in their throats at night, leading to more coughing, and more irritation/inflammation, so drinking water helps clear that. Coughs can come from just overly-sensitive air passages. So the more she coughs, the more they are sensitive, cycle. So that's why they can linger for a while.

Hopefully it clears up soon :)

I have a friend that had that problem. It was acid reflux. Maybe there is more than one thing going on?