Cold - When to call the doctor?

[Justinsmama]

Hi,

This is our first full winter with Justin's (8) cf diagnosis. I do not remember (or know for sure) when to call the doctor with a "cold". Everytime Justin has been sick in the past, it went from one or two coughs to a fever and clearly sick within 24 hours. This time, he has had a cough since Saturday. It seems to be getting worse, with him coughing at night and when he wakes up quite a bit. He also coughs with running around. I started him on the Symbicort and albuteral. Just wondering when to call the CF doctor or our local Ped. Our Ped had worked CF and our CF doctor is familiar with him and supports us going there (since we are over 1 1/2 hours away from her) knowing that he will run PFT's and call her to consult. He seems to be feeling well enough to be jumping through the house. He only cultered staph at his last appointment. He also has been on antibiotics 90 days in the last 361 (almost a year to the date since our diagnosis). I feel uncertain again coming up on the 1st aniversary.

Thank you for any advice.

Josette in PA

 

[JENNYC]

This has been a rough year with the unpredictable weather and constant stream of cold fronts changing what allergens we are breathing in...that being said ....When in doubt call. I would go ahead and call..also I would probably ask them if they feel like sinus' rinses would help him. If it is a sinus cough (Abby's 9 times out of 10 is) sinus rinses ease her cough so she can sleep and also gets all that infection out of her sinus'....we swear by them Good luck and I hope he feels better soon...Abby is going through the same thing right now

 

[amber682]

We start sick plan immediately, first sign of sniffles or cough. For us that is increasing vest and nebs to 3-4 times per day and a lot of nasal saline. If they are not getting better after 3 days or getting worse, the CF center wants us to call. If you are unsure over whether to call or not, just call and let them sort it out

 

[ForeverDance]

They have always told us call if cold symptoms persist longer than 5 days. That being said, they also say to call if we are concerned. Given that you are posting here, I imagine you are concerned. I would jsut go ahead and give them a call. It's what they are there for anyway.

 

[Rebjane]

We are now in the same boat. Cold started last week (I got it too). Coughing post nasal drip; but now sounding more junky cough; Course my daughter waits til late in the day to say she felt wheezy in class..Left a message in the office...

 

[Rebjane]

Just wanted to add all my little cold/cough tricks; Simply saline rinses; Extra Vest Extra albuterol, focused manual chest PT, rest, Warm baths with Epsom salt, Salt water gargles(for sore throat) decaff green tea with honey... Chicken soup...Lots of extra fluids....Extra Culturelle(cause we usually end up needing antibitoics)

 

[Ratatosk]

Ditto with extra cpt & vest. Increase fluids. Try to get ds to rest. Sometimes sinus rinse. Try to figure out the cough. Also if DS' respiratory rate increases while he's sleeping even if he doesn't have a fever, it usually means he's coming down with something. Fever and/or cough I put a call into the doctor the next day or so.

 

[Justinsmama]

Thanks everyone!!! I took him to the ped's office yesterday. He did not really seem bad at all, no fever, but did not want to take any chances. His PFT's were quite a bit lower in the 25/75 from 93% to 59%, and FEV 1 from 104% to 88. So.... we are on an antibiotic for 14 days, Symbicort, neb's 2x, vest 2x a day because he cultures staph (just regular) in the past few cultures.

Thank everyone again. I appreciate your advice and kept him from getting really sick.

Josette in PA

 

[Justinsmama]

Okay, got off the bus and he was not feeling well. Would not eat a snack and wanted to skip violin and basketball. Started to get a fever that is now between 100-101. My mommy radar was right, something is going on. Glad we are on the antibiotic. May have caught it early enough . . . sure and hoping and praying so.

Josette in PA

 

[Rebjane]

Hope your little guy starts to feel better! Good thing you brought him in. i would keep up on the Chest PT and nebs. We usually cut out extra activities when an exacerbation starts. And always keep in close contact with your CF doc/team They are there to help you.

 

[Justinsmama]

Justin has now been on the antibiotic for 13 of 14 days. He started sounding junky again yesterday, and is feeling bad today. He has been on the couch all day with a fever of around 100.5. He has a cough (his baseline is none) and complain of some pain in the lower right part of his chest, below the rib cage. Last year when he had all the back to back infections, they were all on the lower left lobe. My questions, could he be getting something if he is still on the antibiotic? If it is viral, should we still call the doctor tomorrow? We call CF clinic and go into ped if he is sick longer than 3 days, but I am thinking if he is still sick tomorrow we will go anyway. Anyone have a child come down with something or get sick while still on the antibiotic? When he got sick last year it was off a couple of days and back on but never come down with something while still on it.

Thanks for your patience and experience.

 

[Rebjane]

I would definately call. Yes my daughter has gotten sick while on antibiotics. Antibiotics do not protect you from viruses. So he could be sick with something else. My daughter's Cf doctor has extended her antibiotics doing another round (meaning another 2 weeks) when this has happened. Or cultured her again to make sure it's not a different bacteria to make sure she is on the correct antibiotic. It takes time for the CF doctor to get to know your child so I say call.

 

[Iamqueenofeverything]

some exericise is ok like a walk for a few minutes just to get things moving. on calling, it depends on how aggersive your doc and cold is. with me, i call the doc pretty much i have fever along with my chest or lung hurting because my pfts are low enough to be considered being on the transplant list. if your child starts feelling in the chest or lungs, call the doc