Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

DS kept having a weird dry cough last night. It didn't really wake him up but it worried me each time he did it. I barely got any sleep. Then when he woke up this morning he seemed to be wheezing. Today was my mom's day to keep DS (he goes to daycare 3x/week). She didn't like how he was sounding and said she would call me if it doesn't go away. Around 2 pm she called me and said that the wheezing was not going away and that DS's nap barely lasted an hour. He normally naps between 1.5 - 3 hrs once a day. DS is 18 months old. He already had a well visit schedule for tomorrow at 11 am. I call the PED and they tell me to come in to see the Nurse Practitioner. My mom meets me there with DS. When we get there the nurse says he doesn't sound good so we will probably have to cancel the 18 month well visit and reschedule because she doesn't think he will be well enough for it.

So then the NP comes in and listens to DS breath through the stethoscope. At this point DS's wheezing does not sound as bad as it did just 5 min earlier. The NP says DS's chest sounds crystal clear and that he was infact NOT wheezing at all. He said that DS may just be extra congested and what we think is wheezing is really not wheezing, that you can only hear wheezing through a stethoscope. My mom who is a nurse did not like that response and she did not like the way he said it either. She thinks he said as if we were stupid for thinking that DS was wheezing. Mom bit her tongue and did not respond to him.

So the NP goes on to say that DS MAY have a minor upper respiratory infection but since he did not have a fever that there is nothing to do right now, just to make sure I use a cool mist humidifier at night. He said to go ahead and bring him back tomorrow for the regular 18 month appt and that he would listen to his breathing again. The well visit was already scheduled with this same NP. I normally see one of 2 other Drs (they are many doctors in this practice) but when I made the appt 3 months ago they were both already booked up and I did not want to delay the appt.

So my mom take DS home and I go back to work. DS continues to wheeze all afternoon. I brought him home and now he is in bed with that horrible cough and still wheezing. I can't stand they way he sounds. I want to make it go away!!!

I came on here and did a quick search on wheezing and from reading some of the threads it seems to me that DS may have CROUP. I googled it and DS seems to have all the symptoms except he has no fever.

My mom thinks that we should see another doctor, one who is an actual MD.

Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics and get a 2nd opinion or should I just ask aboutthe croup at our schedule appt in the morning?



WWYD???

Message edited 6/11/2010 8:51:23 PM.

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

I would take him tonight for peace of mind.

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

I would take him. I do tend to overreact and take my DS to the doctor more often than necessary, but I would feel better taking him.

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

Hmmm, this is a hard one. If he is already in bed and seems like he is resting, I would probably wait until tomorrow. However, if he is restless and seems worse, I would take him tonight.

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

My ds had the wheezing on Monday. I ran him over to the dr because I was so scared that he had pneumonia. It turns out it was the croup. When we were with the dr. the wheezing had been better. Towards the end of him seeing him it started again. Luckily because he went from being diagnosed with the fever virus to the croup.

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

I would take him in. He may be having an asthma attack.

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

Are you SURE its a wheeze? Do you hear the sound on the IN breath or the OUT breath?

Sometimes I think Chloe is wheezing but its just her congestion.

If it were a true wheeze, you would hear a bit of a high pitched squek...Usually if you can hear a wheeze its pretty bad and the fact that the Dr. didn;t hear it would be a bit of a comfort to me. Most wheezes are not even detected by our ears but only by listening ...

I would wait.

Is he breathing rapid? More then 40-50 breaths per minute and any retraction in his chest when he takes a breath.

Those would be worrisome and indicate something more, and if either of those, I'd go to PM pediatrics.

Hope he feels better SOON!!!

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

It is hard to hear wheezing without a stethescope unless he is wheezing really bad.....and I don't think it would go away totally to have the NP say he was crystal clear.....

I am going to FM you

Re: Should I take DS to PM Pediatrics or just wait for our appt tomorrow - WWYD??? (LONG)

not to scare you at all...we just got home from the hospital this afternoon (went to the ER thursday @ 1pm) with the same exact thing. DS is 14 months. I was told by the ER nurse, to ALWAYS go with your gut, especially with anything respiratory. I didn't think DS was that bad, but it was getting worse and worse and they admitted him for croup.

Based on my experience over the last 2 days, I would take him to the ER. We went from DS's cough/bark being nothing too bad at 10:30 am to being horrible and admttted to the hospital by 3pm.

good luck!

Message edited 6/11/2010 11:10:00 PM.