My kid has had a cough for months that hasn’t responded to antibiotics, steroids, or allergy meds. I do not think my family members practitioner is offering suitable care and would like to see a specialist but I’m not positive what kind to get in touch with. Do I need to have an interal medicine doc or a pediatric allergist or…??? The FP is beginning to suspect asthma at this point but my kid is not wheezing or having difficulty w/physical activity or any of the other asthma symptoms, just a chronic cough.
To add much more details, I don’t want referals, can see any doc I like who accepts my insurance. Even though he’s not responding to prednisone, singular & claritin, FP stated preserve treating & come back in Oct (coughing given that June 1) for recheck. It is gotten worse in last two wks even w/meds. With school starting I think a lot more aggressive evaluation & therapy is in order!
Answer by Stariko-Tasuki No Miko
See an allergist doc 1st..they should be able to deal with asthma or even refer you to a pulmonary physician *lungs*
If you’re insurance is HMO, you will need a refferal from your PCP
but it you have PPO you just require to fina an allergist or pulmoary who accepts your insurance
Good LUCK!!
Answer by Angelgirl
An allergist. My son and daughter have allergies and asthma. The are now on Zyrtec and doing excellent. It takes awhile for it to show improvement when they start off it. Asthma does not always have wheezing that you can hear. A cough can be asthma. Excellent luck.
Sound like a whooping cough and u need to see ur child’s pediatrician
This is probably an allergic cough, but she should have responded to steroids. May be she inhaled a foreign body, See a pediatric pulmonologist.
A chronic cough might be asthma related. Asthma is an obstruction in the airway that causes decreased air entry. That means that the body will kick into life save mode and keep him coughing to try to clear the block. The fact that he hasn’t been responding to any of those medications does not mean that he isn’t asthmatic. You just haven’t found the allergen and been able to eliminate it from his environment.
Also, you cannot just help yourself to a specialist. As the specialists secretary or office manager will tell you, you need a referral from a general-family practitioner to get to see a specialist.
If you try a walk in clinic, they might be willing to refer you if you give them a little of the history, but be pre-warned that it is most likely that they will refer you back to your own GP. (They will not help you because they are supposed to support each other and not go behind each other’s backs. Also, the second doctor might agree with the route that your own GP is taking.)
Good luck with it!
consult a pulmonologist