Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

So, DS has basically been constantly congested and coughing for the last 5 months. We've taken him to the doc several times for this and they always say bronchiolitis. At his first daycare, we weren't surprised he was always sick cause all the kids there were, but at his new daycare, for the last 3 months, he's the only one ever sick. So we finally went back to the doc and asked that they look into other thing because we didn't believe this was the cause. We were thinking maybe allergies cause we do have a cat and dog. We were surprised to be told that children with reflux (which he has) are often constantly congested. I was very surprised to hear this. We were referred to a gastroenteroligist to check, otherwise we'd move on to other possibilities like an allergy (cause they really don't like to test infants for allergies). I was curious if anyone else had ever been told this and if your child with reflux seemed to always be congested. Thanks!

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

Good question, I would love to know.

Our experience is that Noah has Reflux but not too bad. Hes on Zantac and now at 6 months its much better then it was.

He was congested ( dry mostly) as a baby and I used saline a lot.

He never got a cold or anything till three weeks ago when his cold turned to bronchiolitis and he was hospitilized for 4 days for it.

Now he wheezes a lot after he eats, always has and the ped suggested it was reflux related...

We are at a loss....B/c we are worried about Asthma and such.

He is congested again now but totally not sick. He snores cause hes dry but if I use saline , its ENDLESS mucus( all clear)...

and honestly he has never been sick but that once and the Ped said that was great for 6 months.

So , your possibility has me thinking.

Please update if you find anything out.

( sorry I rambled there)

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

I was told this too by the doctor...I also noticed that dd boogies (sorry tmi) were almost milk like...white and pasty and the aspirator that I used to remove them smelled really bad!

Since adding rice to her bottle it has improved!

Message edited 12/17/2007 10:36:51 AM.

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

Do either of your kids have bad breath too? Noah has developed this and I was not sure what caused it?

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

oh on another note I can totally see the couch occuring as a result of reflux...when I was pregnant I had this mysterious cough which we later realized was a result of my severe heartburn and reflux

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

Posted by dm24angel

Good question, I would love to know.

Our experience is that Noah has Reflux but not too bad. Hes on Zantac and now at 6 months its much better then it was.

He was congested ( dry mostly) as a baby and I used saline a lot.

He never got a cold or anything till three weeks ago when his cold turned to bronchiolitis and he was hospitilized for 4 days for it.

Now he wheezes a lot after he eats, always has and the ped suggested it was reflux related...

We are at a loss....B/c we are worried about Asthma and such.

He is congested again now but totally not sick. He snores cause hes dry but if I use saline , its ENDLESS mucus( all clear)...

and honestly he has never been sick but that once and the Ped said that was great for 6 months.

So , your possibility has me thinking.

Please update if you find anything out.

( sorry I rambled there)

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

I noticed about 3 weeks ago Ds was getting bad breath, but I attributed it to starting other solids and table food that might have bits remaining in his mouth, but perhaps it was something else...I started brushing his gums at night before bed with that grins and giggles baby toothpaste and it seems to have gone away.

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

Posted by kra5hnburn

Posted by dm24angel

Good question, I would love to know.

Our experience is that Noah has Reflux but not too bad. Hes on Zantac and now at 6 months its much better then it was.

He was congested ( dry mostly) as a baby and I used saline a lot.

He never got a cold or anything till three weeks ago when his cold turned to bronchiolitis and he was hospitilized for 4 days for it.

Now he wheezes a lot after he eats, always has and the ped suggested it was reflux related...

We are at a loss....B/c we are worried about Asthma and such.

He is congested again now but totally not sick. He snores cause hes dry but if I use saline , its ENDLESS mucus( all clear)...

and honestly he has never been sick but that once and the Ped said that was great for 6 months.

So , your possibility has me thinking.

Please update if you find anything out.

( sorry I rambled there)

Yeah, DS is constantly wheezing. Doc said it wasn't really "wheezing". He said that the congestion is not in his lungs, it's just upper respiratory. If he coughs, it clears up and he sounds better for a bit, so that means it's not in the lungs. And DS also always snores and is worse when he's eating. Same thing, endless mucus--so much so that he screams the minute he gets on the changin table now cause he knows I'm gonna suck that nose...
I've asked about asmtha the last 3 times I've gone and all 3 docs (I've been going to see different docs at the practice to see if I was getting the same or different answers) have said that this doesn't seem asmtha related at all and that this problem in a child of his age is no indicator of whether or not he's have respiratory problems when he gets older.
I'll let you know what the specialist says after we go.

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

I just took DD to the ENT specialist for this two weeks ago. He said it was directly related and there wasn't anything to do besides give her the Mylanta 3x a day (Zantac allergy) and keep her nose moist with saline, suction only if necessary (she has the same white to clear endless boogies).

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

Re: Constant Congestion and coughing linked to reflux?

Many of you know that my DD has severe food and enviornmental allergies. When she was a few months old we took her to an ENT because of recurrent ear infections. She was always so congested - Because of her allergies. But one thing he did say is that Reflux is the cause of many ear infections and congestion. It was the first question he asked us when we went thru the medical history.